2004 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco Piedmont Italy. 13.5% alcohol. http://www.vietti.com/ Imported by Remy Cointreau USA, Inc. New York, NY. $22.99 at Chambers Street, NYC. Asimov/Chambers/Lyle. Deep red color, deep hue, restrained but complex aromas of earth, fruit, spice, and hints of chocolate and mint and mushroom, very good flavors of fruit and spice with many flavor notes, medium mouth feel, fairly light acidity and tannis, very well balanced, long finish with many flavor notes. A very nice wine with a simple pasta dish, but even better drinking alone and developing in the glass. Remarkable at this price point. 4*+.
Notes:
Asimov/Lyle wines are intended to teach me something new about wine, and this one sure did so. Mary Ewing Mulligan reviewed the wine itself recently, and existence of Langhe DOC was news to me -- I had thought "Langhe" on the label just meant it was from that general area.
Baby Barolo, Mary Ewing-Mulligan, May 8, 2007 -- Extracts. http://www.winereviewonline.com/OMT_Vietti.cfm
Vietti, Langhe (Piedmont, Italy) Nebbiolo 'Perbacco' 2004 (Remy Cointreau USA, $21): This wine has so many stories to tell, I'm not sure where to begin. There's the story of Nebbiolo, of course: Italy's very special, very particular noble red grape. And there's the story of the Langhe Hills, the wondrous wine district of tiny hilltop villages that evoke a calm, simple approach to the good life. And the story of Vietti, a family winery whose owners, the Currados, have long been leaders in bringing the warmth and richness of the Piedmont region to American wine lovers.
Nebbiolo is the variety that makes Piedmont's legendary red wines, Barolo and Barbaresco. The Barolo and Barbaresco zones are the two most blessed vineyard areas in the Langhe Hills surrounding the town of Alba, a patchwork of wine districts, which includes production zones for other wines such as Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo d'Alba. Producers in this area can call their wines by the name of a smaller area, where applicable, or by the name Langhe, with or without a varietal designation.
The wine called Perbacco is 100% Nebbiolo and it could be a Barolo, but it's designated as a Langhe Nebbiolo instead. Its grapes come from vineyards in the Barolo zone, mainly around the village of Castiglione Falletto, where the Vietti winery is based, and are vinified exactly as Vietti's Barolos are, except that the wine is released slightly sooner. Vietti's Barolo wines--four single-vineyard bottlings and a Barolo from several vineyards, called Barolo Castiglione--start at $45 a bottle in this country, but Perbacco costs only $21. It is in every sense a Baby Barolo. Like any self-respecting Nebbiolo--especially one from the Barolo zone--Perbacco has a complex aroma/ flavor profile. Its nose suggests ripe red fruits (strawberry and cherry) with top notes of mint, menthol and licorice, and base notes of tar and mushroom. In the mouth it is full bodied and dry, with Nebbiolo's classic, high-acid/firm-tannin combination, a one-two punch of structural power that's balanced by fresh, ripe fruit character. Compared to a Barolo, this wine is fruitier and fresher but in all its other characteristics, it is classic Nebbiolo. However, it will not age as long as its big brothers that go by the Barolo name.
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Langhe DOC covers the wines made around Alba that do not fit into the existing DOCs, which include Barolo, Barbaresco, Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba, Roero Arneis and many more. The DOC avoids the use of VDT or IGT, and was thought to reduce pressure to tinker with the regulations governing the existing DOC wines (especially Barolo and Barbaresco) that are all made from single grapes. Thus tradition is saved, and innovation recognized. It's all quite glowing, and the vintners interviewed are extremely positive. I wonder, though. Italian wine is very complex and difficult to learn -- the DOCG/DOC regulations introduce an element of certainty. As one commentator put it:
"For example, Barolo is a wine made from specific varietals of the Nebbiolo grape grown in non-north-facing vineyards in the 5 townships around Barolo; it must mature for 3 years, 2 of which in wood (4 years for the Riserva) prior to its release. Even though there is considerable variation in fermentation technique and wood use from producer to producer, you have a fairly good idea of what you're getting when you buy a bottle -- a full bodied, elegant, powerful wine.
"The Langhe DOC sets no restrictions on grapes used -- they can be red (Nebbiolo, Syrah, etc) or white (Chardonnay, Viognier, Arneis), or any blend the vintner chooses to try. While I have nothing against the use of non-traditional grapes or blends (the labels pictured in the article stated what went into the wines), it is stretching the concept of DOC to say that anything and everything qualifies.
"... The Langhe DOC covers the entire area. Were it monotonous this would be fine, but the Lange are topographically and geologically varied; some parts of the region are perfectly suited for the production of wine and others less so. The Langhe DOC includes them all; it thus becomes a catchall for grapes grown in the region but outside the areas that have been traditionally recognized as excellent. This again goes counter to the philosophy behind the concept of DOC."
" ... Since Langhe DOC wine can contain any grape or blend of grapes, be fermented and aged as the vintner pleases, and come from any part of a very diverse region, consumers will have no way of knowing what's really in a bottle short of buying and tasting. In final analysis, the Langhe DOC strikes me primarily as a marketing ploy that will give vintners the opportunity to classify wines that break with local tradition as something other than a plain table wine (VdT). Considering that the Super Tuscans gained worldwide renown while classified VdT, I'm not sure this new DOC is necessary." http://italianfood.about.com/library/snip/blsip046.htm
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It's all news to me -- I wonder how the Langhe DOC is working out among more knowledgeable consumers. It sure worked well in this one case, at least, for me.
Regards, Bob