Mon/July 20
Several months ago, I was given a head's up, as part of the NEB organization, that DavidArthur was growing and
making Nebbiolo in a tiny amount for their wine club members. I contacted Nile Zacherle, winemaker and viticulturist
at DA and he confirmed that to be the case. A small plot of Cab in a low-lying block was grafted over to Nebb in 2010.
Nile had had in the back of his mind that Nebb might be something interesting to try at DA as something new. After
David returned from a trip to Italy, he asked Nile what he thought about grafting over a plot to Nebb, to which
Nile jumped at the chance. They planted FPS Nebbiolo 6, 8, 11; which I believe are all Lampia selections from Univ
of Turino.
Since I was out there for RibollaFest that night, I requested a visit to try his Nebb, along w/ the offer to
bring along a couple of my favorite Calif Nebbs to try. Though just back from vacation the day before, Nile thought
that to be a fine idea. He fleshed out the tableau w/ two Baroli. Joining us was David Long. owner of DA. This
is a tasting that he & Nile had wanted to do for awhile, so the timing was exactly right. The wines were all bagged
and tasted blind. Always a humbling experience.
1. CastelliVnyd Nebbiolo Estate/GreenVlly/RRV 2008: Pale bricked color; rather tarry/earthy fairly floral/lilacs/
violets bit alcoholic quite soaring aromatics characteristic of older Nebb; quite hard/tannic tart/lean
somewhat tarry/pungent/earthy light floral/lilacs/violets flavor w/ some rather hard/bitey tannins; very long
light violets/lilacs rather tarry/pungent/earthy finish w/ some hard/astringent tannins; leans towards the
tarry/pungent part of the Nebb spectrum but w/ the light/delicate/soaring aromatic you expect in an older Barolo;
the tannins are on the astringent/bitey side and the wine may never outlive the tannins; hard to say. I was
certain it was an older Barolo and quite surprised that it was Emilio's Nebb. Seems to be moving right along. $28
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2. Ceretto Barolo 2010: Med.light color; rather herbal/floral/lilacs/Nebb bit dusty/earthy nose; slight tangy/acid
light floral/lilacs/violets/Nebb bit herbal/earthy/dusty/mushroomy flavor w/ modest bitey tannins; very long
quite floral/lilacs/violets/Nebb/perfumey slight dusty/mushroomy/herbal finish w/ modest slightly bitey/angular
tannins; lots of classic Nebb floral aromatics w/ little of the pungent/tarry character; suprisingly modest
levels of tannins; not a classic Barolo but quite an attractive Nebbiolo. $40.00
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3. Oberto DOCG: Barolo Vigneto Rocche dell'Annunziata 2010: Med.color; bit pungent/smokey/tarry/toasty/smoked meats
modest floral/lilacs/violets/rose petal/perfumed slight earthy/truffle nose; slightly tart lightly floral/
rose petal/violets some pungent/tarry/Nebb flavor w/ modest bitey/sharp tannins; very long lightly floral/violets/
rose petal/Nebb slight pungent/tarry bit earthy/dusty finish w/ some bitey/hard/gritty tannins; fairly classic
young Barolo but more balanced/drinkable than most young ones; quite an attractive Barolo but a bit disappointing
given its pedigree. $100
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4. David Arthur Nebbiolo Estate/PritchardHill (14.2%) 2011: Med.color; fairly grapey/floral/cherry/Calif Nebb
lightly floral/lilacs/Nebb light tarry/pungent/mushroomy/dusty very attractive nose that speaks of Calif Nebb;
slightly soft/lush/round fairly strong grapey/floral/lilacs/Nebb very slight pungent/tarry flavor w/ light
bitey/angular tannins; very long strong grapey/floral/lilacs/Nebb slight tarry finish w/ light angular tannins;
this was clearly a Calif Nebb because of the rich/ripe fruit that I thought was the Idlewild.
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5. David Arthur Nebbiolo Estate/PritchardHill (14.9%) 2012: Med.light color; somewhat low-key/elegant/perfumed
floral/lilacs/rose petal/violets very light pungent/tarry slight smokey rather aromatic nose; bit soft round/smooth
lightly floral/lilacs/violets/rose petal/lush lightly tarry/smokey flavor w/ light/gentle/ripe tannins; very long/
lingering elegant/gentle some lush/smooth/floral/lilacs/violets/Nebb very light pungent/road tar finish w/
light smooth/round tannins; a bit quieter than the '11 but bang-on Calif Nebb character; my favorite of all
these Nebbiolos.
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6. Idlewild Nebbiolo FoxHillVnyd/MendocinoCnty 2012: Light, slightly bricked color; some tarry/pungent light
floral/lilacs bit earthy somewhat beaten-down nose w/ maybe a hint of TCA; very lightly floral/lilacs slight
tarry/pungent bit softer flavor w/ light/bitey tannins; med. lightly tarry/pungent very slight floral/lilacs
finish w/ light somewhat bitey tannins. Nile picked up a TCA taint on this wine but it was nothing that I
could overtly identify as TCA. But the wine was not as perfumed/aromatic as when I'd had it before and
seemed somewhat beaten down from what I recall, so it was probably robbed by the TCA. Too bad, because it's
one of my favorite Calif Nebbs. $35.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. To tell the truth, I was not expecting to be excited by the DA Nebbs. They are a highly regarded PritchardHill
Cab producer. However, I've seen many a NapaVlly Cabernet producer, early on, jump on the Syrah bandwagon and
their Syrahs come out tasting like a Syrah made by a Cabernet producer. Though there's not really a Nebbiolo
bandwagon leaving the station, I was expecting these wines to taste like a Nebbiolo made by a Cabernet producer
w/ lots of new/Fr.oak. I was dead wrong.
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2. This was a very interesting tasting. Having never had the DA Nebbs, I didn't know what to expect, but suspected
there would be lots of oak. There was not. I thought sure the two Baroli would be pretty obvious, mostly because
of the acid & tannin levels. They were not. They were surprisingly forward & drinkable. I very much liked the
Castelli Nebb because it has that soaring aromatics that you get from older Baroli and, to me, was clearly
an older classic Barolo. It was surprisingly far along for a 2008 Nebbiolo and obviously the oldest one of the
six, but I don't think it's in a danger of falling apart very soon.
But the real surprise was the DA Nebbs. For little experience w/ that grape, I thought Nile & David had
pretty much nailed it from the get-go. It had the lovely floral aromatics of Nebbiolo, the richness & lushness
you get from Calif Nebb, no obvious new oak, and very finely managed tannins. I thought these two were every
bit as good as any of my favorite Calif Nebbs (Castelli, DueVigne, Idlewild, Giornata, Harrington, Fogarty).
They were not very similar to Langhe Nebb, but more towards the Valtelline or AltoPiemonte part of the
Nebbiolo spectrum, but clearly w/ a Calif slant. I was favorably impressed.
I'm hoping they can show the (unreleased) '12 at NEB#6 in April. I hope to take the '12 to show in the
Valtelline in Oct as what Calif is capable of doing w/ their grape.
Tom