Piedmont – great Barolos and more!

In May 2023, my wife and I enjoyed a fabulous tour of Piedmont courtesy of the ever-enthusiastic and hugely knowledgeable Amanda Courtney.  Amanda was formerly a sommelier in the US who came to Piedmont for the wine harvest some years ago and never left. She’s now married to a local winemaker and they produce an excellent Nebbiolo di Montferrato called Delinquent.  Sadly for us (but not for them) the production is always sold out in quick time!

We spent a varied week tasting wines from Barolo, Barbaresco, Alba, Asti and the Roero, as well as sampling aged cheeses, truffle hunting and learning to make the local speciality pasta, tajarin.  If you’re looking to visit the area I would heartily recommend Amanda as your guide. She also runs tours to Sicily and Puglia. Check out her website at: https://www.amandaswineadventures.com/.

Piedmont, which means at the foot of the mountains, is a beautiful region, west of Turin, with hills rising to some 650m in Barolo and c. 450m in Barbaresco. Despite water shortages in recent years, the countryside is amazingly green with a patchwork of beautifully-coiffeured vineyards, complemented by hazelnut trees and poplars. Plots tend to be small, of a few hectares, and in some prestige vineyards growers may own just a few rows. Particularly impressive is the number of younger winemakers in the region who are either continuing in the family tradition or striking out on their own. Either way they bring a dynamic approach which you can experience in their wines.

Nebbiolo is the region’s no. 1 grape variety, making structured wines with violet or rose aromas, red cherry and plum favours and high acidity, tannins and alcohol.  The wines of Barolo and Barbaresco have great ageing potential and command correspondingly high prices. Which is just as well since Nebbiolo is a challenging grape to grow and a hectare of land in the prestigious Cannubi vineyard is said to be worth €6 million!

Many grape varieties have the potential to express their terroir well but, for me, Nebbiolo can do it in spades. While Barolos are never lacking in power, the come in a variety of styles from light(ish) aromatic wines to deep powerful Barolos in Serralunga to the elegant wines of Castiglione Falletto reflecting the diverse soils in the region. More on this later.

Wines from Barbaresco tend to be a little more approachable than Barolos when young and there is definitely a continuing trend to make wines which can be drunk earlier while retaining their ageing potential. While ageing in oak is required in both DOCGs, large, used foudres, rather than new oak barriques, tend to be the order of the day as producers seek structure but not overt oak flavours.

While Barolos and Barbarescos may not fit everyone’s pockets,  we also tasted some very good Langhe Nebbiolos from Langhe Nebbiolo DOC and Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC. These are more affordable and may not be aged in oak at all or for limited periods, typically less than one year.

Barbera tends to be planted on less prestigious sites and is easier to grow than Nebbiolo although care needs to be taken to rein in its vigour. While it has high acidity like most Italian reds, its tannins are medium and its alcohol levels moderate. Typical flavours are red cherry and plum and the overall style tends to be rounded and easier drinking.  Barbera d’Asti DOCG and Barbera d’Alba DOC have no requirement for oak ageing and wines can be released after only four months. However, top quality Barberas, such as those of Giacomo Bologna and Scarpa, are made from old vines aged in French barriques for extended periods.  If you’re looking for more powerful but good value Barberas try the wines from Nizza DOCG. Nizza requires considerably lower yields per hectare (49 hl/ha vs 63hl/ha in Asti) and 18 months’ ageing, of which 6 must be in oak. If you happen to be in Canelli, the centre of Moscato production, visit the excellent Casa Crippa restaurant which must have one of the best Nizza selections around as well as being located in a beautiful cellar. I would recommend the 2020 Cipressi Nizza from Michele Chiarlo.

We visited many excellent producers on our trip but three stood out for me: the Burzi family in La Morra, the Roagna family of Cascina Val de Prete in Roero and the Dellapiana family from Cantina Rizzi in Treiso.

Alberto Burzi and his sister Caterina own 7 hectares in La Morra as well as vineyards in La Serra where they plan to make a single vineyard Barolo. They practice organic viticulture with cover crops, hand pruning, single guyot training and manual harvesting. Aside from Barolo, they also produce Dolcetto, Barbera, and Langhe Nebbiolo. In addition to their Barolo Rizzi DOCG, the family makes a high-end Barolo DOCG Capalot Vecchi Viti. This comes from a 90-year-old parcel in the Capalot cru (previously leased to the legendary Roberto Voerzio) and is vinified in the traditional way with extended maceration and ageing in large, mainly used Stockinger casks from Austria. We tasted the 2019 which was pale ruby with lovely notes of violet and rose, concentrated red fruit and a tight structure which will give it great scope for ageing.

We were also delighted to meet Giovanni Roagna from Cascina Val del Prete in Roero, about 20 km from Barolo. His grandfather bought the original land in 1977 and the family now owns some 10 hectares producing Arneis, Langhe Nebbiolo and Barbera. They farm organically but Giovanni told us that the ongoing costs and bureaucracy involved in maintaining the certification became too great and they let it lapse in 2020.

I really enjoyed his Bizzarro, an experimental orange wine made from Arneis with 3 days of maceration on skins followed by 6 months in 11-year-old barriques. A big hit with the sommeliers of Shoreditch apparently.

His red wines are mostly in stainless steel and some concrete with ageing in 225l/500l casks or larger French oak.  From Roagna you can experience two very good but very different styles of Barbera: the Serra de’ Gatti, a light, red-fruited style with six months in stainless steel followed by 3 months in bottle; and the Carolina Barbera d’Alba DOC Superiore with its concentrated fruit and a rounded structure from 12 months in 25hl oak casks and 6 months in barrel. Perhaps to Giovanni’s surprise the renowned Italian critic, Antonio Galloni, has singled out his Bricco Medica for special mention. This is 100% Nebbiolo from the sandy soils of the Roero. It has a fabulous eucalyptus nose, lovely red fruit and great freshness from 18m ageing in concrete followed by 6 months in fifth passage oak barrels (although you’d hardly know). They love it in California to where 40% of the production is exported.

We also had the good fortune to visit the welcoming Dellapiana family – Jole and Enrico – who introduced us to the range of Cascina Rizzi wines. Their aim is to produce fresh, elegant Barbarescos which reflect the terroir of the region. The estate comprises some 20 hectares in the Treiso zone, south of the town of Barbaresco at elevations of between 200m and 430m. An additional 20 hectares of the estate produce Langhe Nebbiolo, Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba and Moscato D’Asti from vineyards in the nearby zone of Neviglie. We also enjoyed their crisp, Petit Chablis-style Chardonnay.

The highlight of the visit was understanding the effect of soil on the style of Nebbiolo through three excellent but very different wines from 2020: the Barbaresco Rizzi, the Nervo and the Pajoré.  The Rizzi comes from clay rich, white marl laying over sand and combines concentrated raspberry and strawberry fruit with a pronounced menthol note and savoury underpinning. The Nervo, from sandier Serralbian soil is a degree paler with heightened aromatics, delicate fruit and fine, long tannins. (The family attribute this to the need for the vines to grow longer roots in sandy soil in order to reach water.) The Pajoré, by contrast, comes from two hills behind the Treiso which have clay-rich, blue marl. It is medium ruby in colour and shows menthol aromas and there are elements of dark fruits, sweet spices and balsamic notes. Overall, a much more full-bodied wine, capable of long ageing. Cantina Rizzi also make the Society’s great value Exhibition Langhe Nebbiolo, a pale wine, matured for 12 months each in a mixture of 50 hl large oak foudres and concrete. Described by Sarah Knowles, MW as “Barbaresco Light”, it’s a great introduction to Nebbiolo.

But there’s more to Piedmont than Nebbiolo and Barbera.  Among the reds, I was keen to try Ruchè, a red grape with its own denomination, as Ruchè di Castagnole di Monferrato DOCG. It’s not unlike Nebbiolo with high acidity, rose aromas, and powerful tannins.  Hard to find in the UK but worth seeking out.

Among the whites I find Arneis a little too neutral perhaps owing to its low acidity but I was very impressed by the aromatic but crisp Nascetta and the structure of Timorasso.

Nascetta has a reputation for being hard to grow but it has a lot to recommend it and deserves to be better known.  It’s an aromatic grape, giving Muscat-style perfumes and stone or tropical fruit flavours, depending on the ripeness of the fruit. The best example I tasted was the 2022 Langhe Nascetta DOC del Comune di Novello from Franco Conterno which had sharp acidity giving the wine excellent balance and complexity.

Timorasso comes from the Colli Tortonesi region in the south-east around Tortona (or Derthona) where Vigneti Massa are created with its “rediscovery”. I tasted a 2015 example from Vigne Marina Coppi called Fausto which reminded me of a very good white Rioja. This is a full-bodied, alcoholic wine with strong acidity and stone fruit flavours and a robust oak-based structure.

Amongst the reds, I’ve never really been a fan of Dolcetto, probably having tasted some poor examples. Contrary to my expectations its floral, red fruit notes are underpinned by medium tannins and it makes a good every day, easy drinking wine with relatively low alcohol. A bit like a more structured version of Sicily’s Frappato. And when drunk slightly chilled it makes a good aperitif.  I enjoyed the Dolcetto d’Alba DOC from Rizzi but sadly this doesn’t appear to be imported into the UK at the moment.

So Piedmont has an exciting range of red and white wines and not all are at the super premium prices associated with the best-known Barolos. Happy discovering!

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A summary of recommended wines:

Reds

Barolo – Alberto Burzi Barolo DOCG or his cru wine, Alberto Burzi Capalot Vecchi Viti. Currently available from Ultravino in the UK.

Barbaresco – From Cantina Rizzi: Barbaresco Rizzi DOCG; Barbaresco Nervo; Barbaresco Pajoré. Rizzi wines are currently available in the UK from, among others, Lay & Wheeler and the Wine Society.

Langhe Nebbiolo – Wine Society Exhibition Langhe Nebbiolo (Rizzi).

Barbera – from Cascina Val del Prete: (unoaked style) Serra de’ Gatti, Barbera d’Alba; (oaked style) Carolina Barbera d’Alba Superiore. Currently available in the UK from Ultravino.

Nizza DOCG – 2020 Cipressi Nizza from Michele Chiarlo.  Currently available from a range of suppliers in the UK including Millesima and VINUM.

Roero – (concrete ageing) Bricco Medica from Cascina Val del Prete. Currently available in the UK from Ultravino.

Whites

Nascetta – Langhe Nascetta DOC del Comune di Novello from Franco Conterno. Currently available in the UK from Vino Fandango.

Timorasso – Vigne Marina Coppi Fausto. Currently available in the UK from Wine Direct (Sussex).

Arneis – Bizzarro from Cascina Val del Prete. Currently available in the UK from Ultravino.