Salon Saturday: The Wines of Piemonte

This Salon Saturday radio show aired on January 6, 2024.

Italy has more than 500 native grape varieties and at least 175 of those ends up in everyday wines, making Italy one of the most challenging countries to explore and describe in toto.  Even Wine Folly agrees with me on this point. Instead we are focusing on one wine region, but it is one of the country’s premier regions and home to the Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto grapes. That would be Piedmont or Piemonte, home to some of Italy’s greatest wines.

Major wine regions

There are 15 major wine regions in Italy, which includes the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and another four minor wine regions. There were over 1,700,000 acres of vines under cultivation as of 2016. Sicily, Puglia, Veneto and Tuscany account for 55% of that. Piedmont adds about 8-9% to the total.

Italian quality levels:

The term, Superiore, generally indicates a wine at a higher quality. Reserva is another term that refers to a higher quality wine using select grapes and longer ageing requirements.

• IGP/IGT: Often table wines from broad regional classifications, except for Tuscany
• DOC: There are 329 DOC-rated wines, many offer good value
• DOCG: There are more DOCG wines in Piemonte than any other region: Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Ghemme and Gattinara wines are all DOCG.

Piemonte history

During the Italian unification of the 19th century, many Piemontese winemakers and land owners played a pivotal role. The famous Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi was also a winemaker. Camillo Benso was a wealthy vineyard owner who went abroad to study advances in viticulture prior to founding the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. He was highly influential in the adoption of many French viticultural techniques among the Piemonte vineyards.

The Austrian government’s act to double the tariffs of Piemontese wines into the Austrian-controlled lands of Lombardy, Emilia and the Veneto had a crippling effect on the Piemontese wine industry, essentially cutting them off from their main export market and led to the Italian revolt.

In 1846, King Charles Albert of Sardinia spoke to the Piemontese winegrowers where he assailed the Austrian oppression. By 1848, Piemonte was at war with Austria which eventually led to the unification of the Italian peninsula under the rule of King Charles’ son Victor Emmanuel.

Piemonte grapes and terroir

• Nebbiolo: Also known as the king of grapes and the grape of kings. Medium-bodied but with a kicker of a tannic backbone, these wines are best drunk after 5 years to allow the tannins to mellow. Many are good for 40 years or longer.
• Barbera: A great food-pairing grape with sour cherry and licorice with dried herbs. Barbera d’Asti is a Barbera from Asti, Piemonte.
• Dolcetto: Plum, blackberry and black pepper with lower acidity. Drunk young as most don’t age well. A very popular NM variety that does have good acidity.
• Muscato Bianco: The well-traveled Muscat grape is most commonly used in sparklers, but also makes an excellent still wine in Strevi.
• Gavi di Gavi: This Gavi subregion, Gavi di Gavi is the name used for the best vineyards coming from within the main town of Gavi. This is where the best examples of this Cortese grape-based wine are made. Very acidic but the southern, warm part of Piemonte near Liguria makes superb examples with good minerality similar to Sancerre and Chablis, but at a better price.

The Nebbiolo Grape

There are two primary areas of concentration of Nebbiolo within Piemonte. The more southerly region is around Barolo, Barbaresco, Alba and Roero within the broader region of Langhe. The more northerly region is situated around Ghemme and Gattinara and a number of DOC regions. To the west and further north on the border with Val d’Aosta is Carema. The other area of note is Valtellina in neighboring Lombardy which makes a lighter more Pinot Noir-like wine.

Wine Folly Nebbiolo Facts

As always, Wine Folly is the first place we go for wine information that is clear, concise and layered with excellent graphics, such as the wine map above. So here is a quick snapshot and overview of Nebbiolo.

• Nebbiolo is a very old grape, first being referenced as far back as the 13th Century!
• The name Nebbiolo derives from nebbia, the Italian word for “fog.” This is likely from the white, powder-like natural bloom on the grapes that appears during harvest season. Or, from the fact that the best Nebbiolo sites are located above the fog that collects in the valley.
• Even though Nebbiolo only makes up ~8% of all the grapes grown in Piedmont, more of this grape is grown here than anywhere else in the world. Over 92%, followed by Mexico with 3%.
• Despite being an essential part of two of the country’s premier wines, Nebbiolo is rarely grown anywhere else in Italy. However Nerello Mascalese has very similar characteristics.
• Much like Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo is an incredibly fussy variety to grow. It flowers early, ripens late, and can struggle to ripen fully. It also seems to prefer specific hillside locations and clay- and silt-based soils. In other words it needs good drainage and lots of sun.
• Also like Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo is considered to be a “terroir-expressive” variety, in that it picks up more of the earth, soil, and climate characteristics versus other grapes, thus it can taste wildly different depending on where it’s grown. A point we’ll explore below.

Nebbiolo Geeky Facts

Even though Nebbiolo wines look deceptively light because of the pale color, while still young they do have a richer darker color. However, the color fades quickly. The reason is Nebbiolo’s anthocyanins (water-soluble pigments) that contain few stable colorants and more easily oxidized peonidin and cyanidin glycosides, resulting in a rapidly decolorizing wine over a short period of time. See, I knew you wanted to know that.

Since the majority of wine drinkers are averse to waiting a decade for a wine to be drinkable, many of these wines are made softer and more approachable using advanced winemaking techniques such as extended maceration to soften tannins.

Nebbiolo DOCG and DOC locations

Here we cover select DOCG or DOC subregions within Piemonte. Recall that these are defined areas with specific rules to be followed to permit a wine to wear the DOC/DOCG label. That includes permitted grapes and blending percentages and aging requirements.

Barolo DOCG: (est. 1980)

Barolo wines age at least 18 months in the barrel, with a total of three years aging before release. Most traditionally-made examples only start to come around at 10+ years.

• Riserva Wines labeled Barolo “Riserva” are aged for a minimum of five years.
• Vigna on a label indicates a single vineyard wine.

There are eleven communes of Barolo, with two different taste styles based on the soil being either predominantly limestone or sandstone.

• The lighter-tasting wine communes include La Morra and Barolo, with limestone-based soils.
• The bolder-tasting wine communes include Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte d’Alba, and Castiglione Falletto, with more weathered sandstone-clay soils.

Barbaresco DOCG (est. 1980)

The region is based around the towns of Barbaresco, Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d’Elvio. The best Crus are located south of the town of Barbaresco towards the hamlet of Tre Stelle and Treiso.

• Neive produces the most powerful & structured wines.
• Treiso produces the most graceful and refined wines. This region contains tall forests and temperatures that are noticeably cooler, especially at night.

Despite being made from the same grape and produced in neighboring areas less than 10 miles from each other, the wines of Barbaresco and Barolo do have some distinct differences. Located south of the river Tanaro, the Barbaresco zone receives a slight maritime influence which allows Nebbiolo to ripen a little earlier than in Barolo. This allows the grape to get to fermentation earlier with a shorter maceration time. The early tannins in a young Barbaresco are not quite as harsh as Barolo and under DOCG rules it is allowed to age for a year less than Barolo.

Langhe DOC (est. 1994)

An even more approachable style of Nebbiolo comes from the adjoining Langhe area, which surrounds the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco. Eric Asimov in his NY Times wine school covered this region a few years ago, recommending it for that very reason.

Because of the fog that settles in the valleys of this region, the best expression of the Nebbiolo grape is on the slopes of the hills where the Nebbiolo grape can achieve perfect ripeness. Years ago I bought a 6-pack of Massimo Rivetti Langhe from a heroic vineyard (high elevation and steeply-sloped) that I consider better than many Barolo wines.

For your consideration: Kirkland Barolo 2019 DOCG 13.5% ABV, $20

While shopping for prime rib at Costco, I came across this well-priced Barolo from Simone Tablino. Rich garnet color with notes of vanilla and rose petal on the nose; this full-bodied wine delivers black currant and licorice on the palate. The 2019 vintage was judged as much better than 2018.

Jon Thoreson: The Reverse Wine Snob (https://www.reversewinesnob.com)

I’ve mention Jon Thoreson many times, because he has a lock on recommendations for Trader Joe’s and Costco wines. He also used a wine label conversion table to decode the actual producer of this 2019 and it’s once again the highly respected Fontanafredda. His notes are below.

“The 2019 Kirkland Signature Barolo begins with a pleasing aroma of leather, black cherry and cedar plus a little licorice, black pepper and spice. The wine tastes smooth and has good structure and acidity. Rather light to medium-bodied, it features nice fruit with well-integrated touches of spice. Firm and even slightly dusty tannins lead into the dry, chewy, tannic and long finish.”

“It is very similar to the 2017 although I do think the 2019 probably has a bit more aging potential. By day two it was perhaps even a bit more harmonious while still being quite chewy on the finish. Just as we noted on the 2017, this still strikes me as a better example of a Langhe Nebbiolo than Barolo. Still, it definitely is an official Barolo but it’s not often you get one for just $20.”