Braida di Giacomo Bologna – Top 100

Raffaella Bologna, Proprietor, Braida di Giacomo Bologna (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Today, wines made from the Barbera grape are respected as some of Piemonte’s finest reds, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, until recently (thirty years ago), Barbera was nothing more than an everyday wine meant to accompany salumi and pasta at lunch or dinner. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that (and there are times when I wish we could get back to those simple pleasures!), but the fact remains that a handful of vintners decided in the late 1970s to change the image of Barbera from an everyday wine to one meant for special occasions.

Arguably the most famous leader of this movement was Giacomo Bologna in the province of Asti, who was among the first to age his finest examples of Barbera d’Asti in barrique rather than the large barrels (grandi botti), which were the norm for decades. He also decided to harvest the Barbera grapes later than normal, resulting in extra natural sugar, but also slightly decreasing the overall acidity. As Barbera has naturally high acidity (very high for a red wine), Bologna and others of like mind believed that the wine would still maintain enough acidity to yield a balanced product.

His first great success with a Barbera in this style was the Bricco dell’Uccellone bottling from the 1982 vintage. The grapes were sourced entirely from a single hillside vineyard with optimal southern exposure and the wine was aged for more than 16 months in French barrriques – a practice largely unheard of at that time. This wine was previewed at the VinItaly wine fair in 1984 and was instantly singled out as a new direction for Barbera. although initial reaction was almost evenly split among lovers of the wine’s style and its detractors.

Bologna kept at it and soon added another single vineyard Barbera, called Bricco della Bigotta; the first bottling from the 1985 vintage. Some wine journalists thought this new wine was even better than the Uccellone; clearly, both wines are first-rate, though tend to differ a bit in style, as the Bigotta wine is generally more approachable upon release, given that these vines are ten years younger than Uccellone (Bigotta planted in 1982 – Uccellone planted in 1972.)

A third Barbera, named “Ai Suma” was released in 1990, just after Giacomo Bologna’s death. The wine is made from late-harvested grapes and is quite ripe with licorice and marmalade notes. The name of the wine means “we’ve done it” in local dialect, a reference to Giacomo’s quest for perfection.

Today his ebullient daughter Raffaella runs the winery, while her brother Giuseppe is the winemaker. All three of the bottlings of Barbera are still ranked as among the finest of their type each year, as are their charming versions of Moscato d’Asti – whimsically named “Vigna Senza Nome” (“vineyard without a name”) – and Brachetto d’Acqui, a slightly sweet red sparkling wine from grapes in the province of Asti. Both of these light sparklers are ideal with fresh fruit, but are quite delicious on their own.

Braida Brachetto d'Acqui with Strawberries (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

As she carries on the work done by her father, Raffaella Bologna remembers the true meaning of his vision. “He gave the producers the courage to leave behind the path of tradition and to cross new roads.”

Aging Barbera

After spending a bit of time in the province of Asti tasting Barbera last week (thanks to the organizers of Barbera Meeting 2010), I can report on one aspect that is rarely mentioned regarding this variety; the ability of Barbera to age well.

In reality, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Barbera can age; after all, this is a variety with nautrally high acidity. Yet, as the grape also has extremely low levels of tannins, many wine publications emphasize this factor. The writers of these journals naturally compare Barbera to Nebbiolo, a very tannic variety that does produce long-lived wines, such as Barolo and Barbaresco. But of course, the potential to age is not just the amount of tannins, it’s a balancing act, as some vintages of Barolo such as 1989, 1996 and 2001 age better than vintages such as 1990 and 2000, as the latter two vintages don’t have the proper acidity levels for long-term pleasure.

Yet, given the history of Barbera as a simple, high-acid wine best served with antipasti, it’s easy to see why few have considered Barbera as a variety that would be thought of for its longevity. The most widely planted red variety in Piemonte, it has been referred to as the “Coca-Cola” or “Pepsi-Cola” of the region, hardly a term of endearment. So when a few producers started to focus on making a more “serious” Barbera (for lack of a better term), these vintners turned heads in the area.

One of those quite famously was the late Giacomo Bologna, who started to experiment with aging in French barriques for Barbera instead of the usual large casks (botti grandi). He focused on specific vineyards and decided to harvest the grapes a bit later than normal, looking for a riper, more powerful wine that could age. A later harvest meant that the acidity would decrease, but given its naturally high levels to begin with, Bologna and other producers reasoned the wine would still have sufficient acidity and balance.

Raffaella Bologna, Braida di Giacomo Bologna (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

I attended a special tasting at the winery (known as Braida di Giacomo Bologna) in Rocchetta Tanaro, a short ride from the town of Asti, which was hosted by Giacomo’s daughter Raffaella and son Giuseppe. There are three top-end bottlings of Barbera d’Asti: Bricco dell’Uccellone, Bricco della Bigotta and Ai Suma. The last, meaning, “I’ve got it,” in local dialect is a wine made from very late harvested grapes and has a notable ripe quality when young, yet rounds out nicely with several years in the bottle. The other two wines have rightly been celebrated as among the finest of all Barbera; from year to year, the press has favored one or the other – Uccellone from older vineyards and displaying greater intensity, while Bigotta is generally a bit lighter on the palate, though this is all relative, as it is a deeply concentrated wine in its own right.

Here are notes on the wines presented in this tasting at the winery:

2001 Bricco dell’ Uccellone

Roast coffee and dried cherry aromas; beautifully balanced from start to finish with excellent concentration and very good acidity. 5-7 years more on this.

1999 Bricco della Bigotta

Medium-full with very good concentration and excellent acidity; nice complexity with a lengthy finish with distinct herbal notes. 3-5 years on this.

1998 Bricco dell’ Uccellone

Raspberry and dried brown herb aromas; notable acidity- wonderfully elegant. 3-5 years on this.

1997 Ai Suma

Maple and dried coffee aromas with a light raisiny note; excellent concentration with notable grip in the finish. Though 1997 was not as great a year in Piemonte that some have proclaimed, it was ideal for this late-harvest wine. 5-7 years more.

1996 Bricco della Bigotta

Coffee, dried strawberry and cherry aromas; excellent concentration; very good acidity; quite round and complete; 5-7 years on this – maybe longer?

1995 Bricco dell’ Uccellone

Nearing peak, this has distinct herbal notes and very good concentration; 2-3 years on this.

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The other producer I visited this day was La Ghersa in the small commune of Moasca (population 461, as it was proudly pointed out), near the town of Castelnuovo Calcea. This estate is run by Massimo Pastura and with a last name like Pastura, you can imagine how nature plays an important part in his winemaking!

My fellow journalists and I were treated to a vertical tasting of  seven vintages of their Vignassa bottling. Produced from a single vineyard planted in the first decade of the 20th century, this wine is a Nizza Superiore, one of the most restrictive DOC designations in all of Italy. Yields are quite low and vineyards must be south or south-east facing to catch as much of the sun as possible; these factors combine to yield deeply concentrated wines.

Instead of giving notes on each wine, a few overall comments. The differences in the wines were due to vintages – 2000 being rather simple with moderate acidity, whlie a wonderful year such as 2004 showing excellent depth of fruit and structure. This tells me two things; the consistency of the winemaking as well as the excellence of the site. The oldest wine we tasted was the 1989, a legendary vintage for Piemontese reds; this has wonderful balance and complexity and was quite stylish, though nearing peak. I’d have to say that my favorite wine was the 1996; Massimo commented on how this is not a vintage that is discussed much for Barbera, but after tasting this wine as well as the Bricco della Bigotta (noted above), I’d have to state that 1996 was an outstanding year for Barbera. There is plenty of still-fresh black cherry fruit and the mid-palate is wonderfully generous, while the acidity is simply beautiful. The lengthy finish and fruit persistence argue for another 5-7 years.

These wines offered more proof not only of the excellence of Barbera, but also the surprises one finds in Italian wines. Barbera as the everyday soda pop wine of Piemonte? Not from these two producers!

The Decade’s Best Producers – Part One

Falanghina Vineyard of Mastroberardino (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

 

For my final post of 2009, I want to salute some of the finest Italian producers of this decade. Each year in the Spring issue of my Guide to Italian Wines, I list the year’s best wines and producers. I’ll be working on that shortly, but for now, let’s focus on the most important producers of the decade. There is no way I can do this with a single post, so this is part one. I’m juding not only on the quality of the wines, but also the influence these producers had in the marketplace and media and among their peers.

PIEMONTE

Vietti

If Luca Currado at Vietti only made Barolo, this winery would have made the list, but there are also gorgeous bottlings of Barbera, as well as a sleek, delicious offering of Arneis. The wines are beautifully made and sell through in good order.

Cavallotto

This family-owned winery makes the list for maintaining its traditional winemaking methods, as the great Barolos are aged in botti grandi - no barriques here. Is there a more graceful and ageworthy Barolo than the Bricco Boschis San Giuseppe Riserva?

Roberto Voerzio

Very modern Barolos here, aged in barrique, but amazing concentration and style. You may or may not like this style of winemaking, but you cannot help but admire the class of the offerings here.

Produttori del Barbaresco

Ultratraditional wines that show what the local terroir of Barbaresco is all about. An excellent Barbaresco normale and outstanding (often stunning) cru bottlings from the town’s best sites, including Asili, Rabaja and Montestefano. General manager Aldo Vacca is as classy as his wines!

Orsolani

I am saluting Gian Luigi Orsolani for his outstanding work with the Erbaluce grape, an indigenous white variety from northern PIemonte. Orsolani is the finest producer of this grape type in my opinion, crafting first-rate examples of dry white, sparkling and passito versions.

Braida – Giacomo Bologna

Splendid bottlings of Barbera d’Asti, from the humble to the sublime, especially the Bricco dell’Uccellone and the Bricco della Bigotta. Still one of the finest and most influential producers of Barbara d’Asti. Also a superb Moscato d’Asti (Vigna Senza Nome) and arguably the finest bottling of Brachetto d’Acqui. Raffaella Bologna is continuing her late father’s work in fine fashion.

Raffaella Bologna, Braida (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Fontanafredda

This gorgeous estate in the heart of the Barolo zone has been improving dramatically for the past decade, thanks to the efforts of general manager Giovanni Minetti and winemaker Danilo Drocco. A few years ago, Oscar Farinetti, the owner of the gourmet food store, Eataly, became the prinicpal owner of the winery and has already shown his influence by introducing value-priced Barbera and Dolcetto. There are so many excellent wines produced at Fontanafredda; this is an estate that has numerous wines for a wide consumer base and any producer that wants to grow their business in the coming decade should be looking at this model.

TOSCANA

Tenuta San Guido/Tenuta dell’Ornellaia

I am putting these two estates in Bolgheri together, as they both produce outstanding examples of local reds that not only are beautiful wines on their own, but are also known around the world. These estates, along with Grattamacco and Le Macchiole continue to be the identity for Bolgheri, Tuscany’s new light.

Bottles of Ornellaia and Masseto, Tenuta dell’Ornellaia

(Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Il Poggione

Brunello di Montalcino has been in the news as of late, and not for all the right reasons. So let’s salute Il Poggione for making Brunello the right way – the traditional way. Winemaker Fabrizio Bindocci has a gentle winemaking hand, as he prefers to let the local terroir shine through in his wines. I’ve tasted examples of Il Poggione Brunello from the 1970s that are still in fine shape. As for the recent controversy about the possible inclusion of grapes other than Sangiovese in Brunello, well, there was never any doubt about that at Il Poggione; so the respect for the land and the wine as seen here (as well as at dozens of other local estates such as Biondi-Santi, Col d’Orcia, Talenti and Sesta di Sopra to name only a few) needs to be saluted.

Poliziano

Federico Carletti has done as much as any producer in Montepulciano to revive the fortunes of its most famous wine, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The regular bottling is always very good, but it is the Vigna Asinone bottling is the star here. Deeply concentrated with new oak and sleek tannins, this is a modern, but very precise wine that is one of Tuscany’s finest.

CAMPANIA

Mastroberardino

Campania’s most historically important winemaking estate, this winery continued to improve after a family split in the 1980s (some of the family members established a new winery in the Avellino province) and the change in leadership from Antonio Mastroberardino to his son Piero. Clonal research became an important factor here, and today, the family is producing the best examples of Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino and Falanghina they have ever made. Of course, Taurasi is still the most important wine here, and if today’s bottlings are not as staunchly tradtional as those from the 1960s and early 1970s, they are still first-rate and just as importantly, are not covered up by the vanilla and spice of new oak that other Taurasi producers seem to prefer these days. How nice that this defender of the local winemaking heritage is doing so well these days!

Feudi di San Gregorio

This estate made a splash with its entrance on the scene in the mid 1980s and they are still one of Campania’s most important producers. Rich, deeply concentrated bottlings of Taurasi, but even more impressive white wines, especially Cutizzi Greco di Tufo and Pietracalda Fiano di Avellino. Now there are even beautifully made single variety sparkling wines in the classic method produced from Greco, Falanghina and Aglianico. Congratulations to owner Antonio Capaldo on his innovative efforts at this great estate!

Luigi Maffini

Luigi Maffini is making some of the most brilliant white wines in all of Italy as his small estate in the province of Salerno, south of Napoli. While his reds made from Aglianico are nicely done, the whites made from Fiano are routinely outstanding. There is the non-oak aged Kratos and the French oak-aged Pietraincatenata, an age-worthy Fiano. There is also a sumptuous Fiano Passito, which in my opinion, is one of the greatest dessert wines in all of Italy (the 2004 is particularly exceptional).

Cantine Marisa Cuomo

This small estate, located in the town of Furore on the Amalfi Coast, is set in an exceptionally beautiful seting, as the pergola vineyards cling to steep slopes a few hundred feet above the sea. Marisa and her husband, winemaker Andrea Ferraioli, are best known for the exceptional white, Fiorduva, a blend of indigenous varieties (Ripole, Fenile and Ginestra), but I think the Furore Rosso Riserva is also an important wine. This is extreme viticulture at its finest!

Pergola Vineyards in Furore, Cantine Marisa Cuomo

(Photo ©Tom Hyland)