WTN: Freisa 1953-2009

Yesterday I traveled to Turku to attend a Freisalicious tasting. It was well worth the trip, though I did miss my train back and had to wait an hour for the next one.




1953 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Freisa Riserva - Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC (5/21/2012)
"Propri Vigneti Canubbi" - so are Canubbi and Cannubi the same vineyard? Pale, orange color. The nose seemed quite far gone: lots of malty aromas, but also some lovely aged fruit though that pretty quickly became too oxidized. The palate was better: lovely intensity, not much fruit of course, but lovely aged character and for about a half hour after opening it was vibrant. I'm sure many will people have these lying around still so drink up quickly!

1971 Gaja Langhe Freisa - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
A very fruity and sweet aroma of tinned peaches. It did have aged character to it, but the bright peachiness was the most memorable thing about it. Sweetish fruit, fairly low acid, still some tannic bite. Some around the table thought it lacked a bit of focus and precision and I do agree with that, but I still thought it was a very enjoyable wine.

1973 Giacomo Conterno Vino Freisa - Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC (5/21/2012)
Of the old Freisas, I thought this was the best. Dark and dusty fruit, a bit of the peachiness that I found in the Gaja, but not in such absurd and dominating amounts. Rather this was a very savory wine. Still quite tannic, dense but lively and very moreish. A down-to-earth, charming, slightly brutish relative of Barolo.

1997 G.D. Vajra Langhe Freisa Kyè - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
A really enjoyable Freisa with dark, savory fruit; good grip, but fairly low acidity. Long and savory. Could use a bit more age.

2008 G.D. Vajra Langhe Freisa Kyè - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
By far the worst wine of the tasting - Vajra has apparently since 2006 changed the style of the Kyè and it is now a modern wine. It could be from anywhere: Chilean Cabernet, Ozzie Shiraz, whatever. And it tastes incredibly alcoholic as well: the 1997 was only 12,5% but this 2008 is 14,5% and it cannot handle such an amount. Bad wine.



2003 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Langhe Freisa Toetto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
A hot year and it shows: dark, almost raisiny fruit; yet the palate is quite a bit better as it has real grip and the fruit doesn't seemed dried up. Nice enough.

2004 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Langhe Freisa Toetto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
Obviously flawed but we couldn't come up with a proper diagnosis: possibly some contamination from one of the unenjoyable strains of brett, possibly mildly corked, possibly both or something else completely. But it was off-putting with its strong cats' piss and band aid aromas; no fruit, no finish. NR (flawed)

2003 Cavallotto Langhe Freisa Bricco Boschis - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
A nice wine and doesn't suffer too much from the hot year. It still has some lovely dark, savory fruit and good grip (but lowish acid). Seems fairly light - especially for 14% abv. Nice!

2003 Franco Conterno Langhe Freisa Vigne Bussia - Pugnane - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
A hugely enjoyable wine and no need to qualify that by saying it's good for a 2003; it is just plain good! Bright, delineated fruit, savory. Bright and light, tannic and moreish. Deliciously light at only 12,5%. Very moreish.

2009 Giuseppe Rinaldi Freisa Langhe - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
A darker style but not over-ripe, very savory, very crunchy fruit, very good grip, delineated despite fairly low acidity. Very good.

2007 Cantina Terre del Barolo Le Terre Langhe Freisa - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (5/21/2012)
Not too keen on this. It had a bit too much of something sharp and off putting on the aroma, a bit like cat's piss. Light but tannic. Outclassed by the other Freisas.




After the tasting a few random bottles were opened (we Finns are a thirsty people):

2001 Recaredo Cava Reserva Particular - Spain, Cava (5/21/2012)
Corked. Which is a shame - it would have been fun to taste one of these "super" Cavas - this one apparently costs c.60€! NR (flawed)

2011 Domaine d'Emile et Rose Vin de Pays des Côteaux du Libron Aramon - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays des Côteaux du Libron (5/21/2012)
100% Aramon. A difficult wine to try now: very sweet, lacking acidity, but still quite fresh, reductive. Might be interesting to try with more exposure to air. It certainly seemed to transcend the workhorse, bulk quality reputation of the Aramon variety.

2007 Franz Strohmeier Blauer Wildbacher - Austria, Styria, Weststeiermark (5/21/2012)
I thought this was amazingly good. A very dark, savory aroma of wild berries and wood (though not as in oak, as this sees only neutral). Crunchy, wildly tannic, grippy and palate-cleansing. Ferocious. I love it.

Nice.

Fascinating. I haven't seen a Freisa around for many years and had no idea that it had ageing potential.

NWR - I see that Ryanair now proposes a flight from Brussels/Charleroi to Turku at (initially?) very reasonable prices. I guess, though, that the flight saving could be wiped out by the train fare to Helsinki.

Fascinating. I haven't seen a Freisa around for many years and had no idea that it had ageing potential.

NWR - I see that Ryanair now proposes a flight from Brussels/Charleroi to Turku at (initially?) very reasonable prices. I guess, though, that the flight saving could be wiped out by the train fare to Helsinki.

There seem to be two styles of Freisa: a frizzante, often slightly sweetish, which in most cases is meant to be drunk young. Then there is the Barolo lookalike, which can age well. All of these of the latter type.

The train between Turku isn't too bad: it's a two hour trip and costs c.30€ one way. Or is that expensive for a 200km trip over there?

Hi Otto -

Thank you for the very interesting writeup. All of the Freisas that I've been able to try have been made in the frizzante style (which can be a very pleasant, well-made wine). It's nice to see that this variety can age and improve if treated and vinified properly.

I'm surprised to hear about the 2008 Vajra at any rate - any idea if there has been a philosophical change there as well? Recently, I have been thinking I need to try more of Vajra's wines over the next few years, since I have enjoyed the few that I have had.

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised to hear about the flawed bottle from G. Mascarello. Too much of what I've tried from that producer has been noticeably off in some way.

I'm surprised to hear about the 2008 Vajra at any rate - any idea if there has been a philosophical change there as well?

One of the participants of Sunday's tasting said it was only the Kyè which has changed. Others still should be made in a traditional style.

I'm surprised to hear about the 2008 Vajra at any rate - any idea if there has been a philosophical change there as well?

One of the participants of Sunday's tasting said it was only the Kyè which has changed. Others still should be made in a traditional style.

Otto -

Thanks for the info.