The place for all things wine, focused on serious wine discussions.

WTN: Nine AltoPiemonte Wines...(long/boring)

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7856

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

WTN: Nine AltoPiemonte Wines...(long/boring)

by TomHill » Mon Sep 24, 2018 5:23 pm

We tried last week (9/13/18) at BacchusBadBoys some Alto Piemonte Nebbiolos:
1. Conti Origini vino rosso (12%; old vine Croatina + Nebbiolo/Vespolina/Barbera + others in Boca;
Neal Rosenthal Imports) Cantine del Castello di Conti Elena, Anna, Paola/Maggiora 2014
: Dark color; strong
Nebb/floral/violets some spicy/road tar some grapey/blackberry very perfumed nose; quite tart/acid rather
hard/structured some spicy/Barbera light floral/Nebb flavor w/ ample hard tannins; very long hard/acid/tart
strong spicy/blackberry/Croatina/Barbera very light floral/lilacs/Nebb finish w/ loads of hard annins;
dominated by the Barbera/Croatina and Nebb speaks w/ a whisper; badly needs age; very structured and a
great value for those w/ patience. $18.00 (H-T)
__________________
2. LePiane maggiorina vino rosso (12.5%; DinoCapriottiSlctn; Nebbiolo/Croatina/Vespolina; www.bocapiane.com/en/)
Boca 2015
: Med.dark color; quite fragrant Nebb/floral/violets slight tarry/graphite fairly perfumed nose;
very acid/tart structured some bright Nebb/floral/lilacs some licorice/pungent/tarry flavor w/ modest bit
bitey tannins; rather tart/tangy fairly floral/Nebb/violets light tarry/pungent fairly rich/smooth finish w/
modest ripe tannins; speaks quietly of Nebb by good tannin management; needs 3-6 yrs of age; good value at
$20.00 (WoP)
__________________
3. LaPrevostura Garsum Dd'OC: Coste della Sesia Rosso (55% Nebbiolo/35% Vespolina/10% Croatina; 12.5%)
Lessona 2013
: Med.light color; very fragrant/perfumed floral/Nebb/violets/lilacs light tarry/pungent/truffly
spicy lovely nose; quite acid/tangy strong floral/Nebb/violets/lilacs light tarry/truffly slight grapey/
plummy/blackberry quite structured flavor w/ some hard/crunchy tannins; very long fairly strong Nebb/floral/
lilacs some tarry/pungent/truffly some complex finish w/ modest hard/chewey tannins; speaks strongly of Nebb
w/ nice pungent/truffle character; needs 3-8 yrs of age; a steal at $15.50 (BB)
__________________
4. Baldin DOC: Bramaterra (70% Nebbiolo/20% Croatina/10% Vespolina; 13%; KermitLynch) Baldin Matteo/Lozzola/
Piemonte 2013
: Med.dark color; light Nebb/floral/violets/lilacs quite strong pungent/tarry bit earthy fairly
intense nose; quite tart/acid/almost screechy fairly pungent/tarry some floral/Nebb/lilacs rather rich/
structured flavor w/ modest bitey/crunchy tannins; very long strong pungent/road tar modest floral/Nebb/lilacs
quite tart/acid structured finish w/ some hard tannins; speaks more of road tar and less of floral/Nebb;
needs age. $35.00 (KL)
__________________
5. Platinetti Guido Nebbiolo DOC: CollineNovaresi (13%) Fontana Stefano e Andrea/Ghemme 2013: Med.dark color;
very fragrant/perfumed floral/Nebb/violets/bright/spicy slight metallic/graphite slight bretty/horsecollar
nose; quite tart/acid fairly hard/tannic/bit lean/austere rather floral/lilacs/Nebb/bright slight metallic/
tangy flavor w/ modest hard/bitey tannins; very long quite tart/acid some lean/hard/austere bright/floral/
Nebb/violets finish w/ some hard/angular tannins; lots of bright floral Nebb fruit more like a B/B than
AltoPiemonte with lean/angular mouthfeel; badly needs age; a steal at $19.80 (BWS)
__________________
6. Platinetti Guido Vigna Ronco al Maso DOCG: Ghemme (100% Nebbiolo; 13%) 2010: Very dark color; very fragrant/
perfumed floral/Nebb/violets fairly tarry/road tar/pungent some spicy/earthy quite attractive nose; rather
tart/acid strong floral/Nebb/violets rather road tar/pungent slight earthy/loamy big/structured flavor w/
ample hard/crunchy tannins; very long/lingering quite tart/acid very floral/Nebb/violets rather pungent/tarry
some earthy/bit coarse fairly rich/structured/hard finish w/ ample hard tannins; my favorite of all these wines;
a rather big/rich/rugged very structured Nebb at a very reasonable price. $27.00 (BWS)
__________________
7. Francesco Brigatti DOCG: Ghemme Oltre il Bosco (14%) Suno 2011: Dark color; very unusual earthy/metallic/
burning metal/pungent some earthy/loamy/coarse light pungent/tarry/licorice/herbal little floral/Nebb rather
interesting nose; fairly tart/tangy some earthy/metallic/burning metal/welding shop/pungent rather rich/
mouthfilling bit earthy/loamy/herbal little floral/Nebb flavor w/ modest ripe tannins; very long pungent/
burning metal/earthy/herbal some tart/acidic unusual finish w/ modest ripe tannins; very little floral/Nebb
character and a bit oafish/coarse expression of Nebb; maybe somewhat reductive in character; a real outlier
for Nebb but actually somewhat interesting. $26.10 (BWS)
__________________
8. Ioppa DOCG: Ghemme (13.5%; www.GiulianaImports.com) Romagnano Sesia 2011: Very dark color; strong pungent/
licorice/tarry/Neb strong plummy/floral/Nebb bit toasty/oak nose w/ lots of ripe fruit & bass notes; lightly
tart/tangy rather rich/lush somewhat tarry/pungent/road tar/licorice rather plummy/floral/Nebb flavor w/
modest chewey tannins; very long/lingering slight tart rather rich/lush/mouthfilling plummy/floral/big fruit
almost Mourv-like light toasty/oak finish w/ ample soft/ripe tannins; pretty unusual rendition of Nebb made
in a modern style but quite interesting if atypical. $34.00 (LM)
__________________
9. Cantine Guidetti DOC: Boca (14%) Guidetti Filippo e C./Boca 2012: Very dark color; very fragrant/perfumed strong
Nebb/floral/lilacs/violets light tarry/pungent bit complex lovely nose; rather tart/acidic quite floral/Nebb/
lilacs/violets/rose petal light tarry/pungent/truffly/mushroomy fairly complex flavor w/ ample ripe tannins;
very long/lingering fairly tart/acidic strong floral/Nebb/violets/rose petal some road tar/pungent rather
structured/rich finish w/ ample ripe/soft tanning; a very attractive balance between floral and tarry sides
of Nebb; my 2'nd favorite of these wines; great price at $26.10 (BWS)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
More erkswampus from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. LePiane: There is an L.A.LePiane wnry located down in Lompoc. No relation. But AlisonThomson's Nebbiolo is
absolutely first rate. Highly recommended. OliverMcCrum also imports a LePianelle from AltoPiemonte
that is outstanding.
The "maggiorina" refers to a special pruning/training method that was once used long ago in the Boca
region. LaPiane maintins a few old vnyds in Boca trained to this method. You can see pics of it at:
(www.bocapiane.com/en/vineyards-and-vine ... -vineyard/)
With this system, 2-3 vines are planted in the same hole in the ground, but maintain their own individual
trunks. They are then trained upwards in the shape of a goblet, with arms pointing to the 4 points of the
compass. Looks pretty bizarre. Requires a ton of hand labor. Obviously a training system they should be using
all up&down the coast of Calif.
___________________
2. Wow....what a tough slog this tasting was. Across the board, the wines displayed high acidity and very strong,
sometimes fierce, tannins. Tasting a bunch of Nebbiolos is hard work. The Nebbs of the Alto Piemonte are
often quite different because they can have blended in, to varying degrees, Croatina and Vespolina, occasionally
Uva Rara and Barbera. These blends often give a richness and texture that you don't find in B/B. The Croatina and
Vespolina are occasionally made as mono-varietals and can often be quite good on their own. Though they often
lack that ethereal Nebb perfume you get in B/B wines, the AltoPiemonte Nebbs, along w/ the Valteline and
Val d'Aosta Nebbs, are my favorite expression of that grape.
Tom

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ClaudeBot, Google [Bot] and 1 guest

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign