On April 27th,
after my study group tasted two white wines (an Arneis and a Gavi di Gavi) a
Dolcetto d’Alba, two samples of Barbera d’Alba, a Barbaresco our last two wines were a
Barolo (a Nebbiolo from Piedmont, Italy) tasted side-by-side with a Nebbiolo from
Sonoma, California. While the Barolo was a “grid wine” in preparation for the
Court of Master Sommeliers’ Advanced exam the California Nebbiolo was not but
was tasted in order to compare Old and New World versions of Nebbiolo.
Nebbiolo and the Barolo DOCG
The Nebbiolo
grape is the most prestigious grape in Piedmont, in Northwestern Italy. In
the Novara and Vercelli hills of northern Piedmont Nebbiolo is known as “Spanna”
and in the Lombardy region of Valtellina the grape is known as Chiavennasca.
Nebbiolo is the central
grape for four DOCGs (Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara and
Ghemme) and eight DOCs in
Piedmont, of which the most important are the Barolo DOCG and Barbaresco DOCG (10
miles northeast of Barolo). In the Barolo DOCG and Barbaresco DOCG the wine must consist of 100% Nebbiolo. But in
the Gattinara DOCG up to 10% Bonarda may be added and no more than 4% of Vespolina.
In the Ghemme DOCG up to 25% of Bonarda and/or Vespolina may be added.
Barolo is produced
in eleven “communes” or village territories, all situated on the scenic Langa
hills shaped by centuries of vine cultivation and dominated by medieval
castles. The other communes included in the Barolo production area are: La
Morra, Monforte, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglio Falletto, Novello, Grinzane
Cavour, Verduno, Diano d’Alba, Cherasco and Roddi. However, while Barolo and Barbaresco are 100% Nebbiolo these
communes are only permitted to cultivate Nebbiolo for Barolo on a part of their
territory.
Barolo must be aged a minimum of 3 years
before release, 2 of which must be in barrel. Barbaresco must be aged for a
minimum of 2 years (including at least 9 months in cask) prior to release, or
for a minimum of 4 years if labeled riserva.
The Winery: Cavallotto
 |
| Cavallotto Vineyards |
The Cavallotto family winery was founded in 1948 and is now
in its fifth generation of winemakers. Production is overseen by the
great-great-grandchildren of founder Giacomo Cavallotto, Laura, Giuseppe, and
Alfio. The winemakers are Alfio and Joseph Jumper. The winery is situated on the top
of the Bricco Boschis cru, just outside the village of Castiglione
Falletto, in the heart of the Barolo region. All of their grapes are made from
their estate vineyards. The Bricco Boschis estate consists of 23 hectares
(56.83 acres), with approximately 50% of the vineyards planted to Nebbiolo. The
rest of the vineyard is planted to Dolcetto (5 acres), Barbera (2 acres),
Freisa, Grignolino, Chardonnay, and Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir). The vines are trellised using the Guyot method with pruning
done at 8-10 buds for Nebbiolo and 5-7 for the other varieties. The vineyards are planted to approximately 5000 plants per
hectare.[1] In 1961,
the Cavallottos divided the Bricco Boschis estate into three sub-crus: San
Giuseppe, Colle Sudovest, and at the highest elevation with sandy soils is
Punta Marcello.
While there are many Barolo producers that are making wine
in a more modern style, the Cavallotto family maintains a modified
traditionalism profile of age-worthy wines using Slovenian oak while incorporating
some of the more modern vinification practices without changing the style of
the wine.[2]
The Wines
In order to
discern the distinctiveness of the Nebbiolo grape grown in its homeland from
another terroir, we sampled side-by-side a Barolo and a Nebbbiolo from Sonoma,
California - both of which are from the 2008 vintage. Both of these wines were
decanted at least 2 hours before they were tasted.
The 2008
Cavallotto Bricco Boschis Barolo is a clear,
light ruby red at the core to garnet at the rim, with just a hint of burnt
orange around the edge with medium+ viscosity. On the nose strawberries,
bramble berry, baked pie, layers of spice, olives, leather, mocha, chocolate
powder, coffee, purple and red flowers, tar and blacktop asphalt, and a very
distinctive aroma of old world barnyard. It has well-integrated high tannins,
medium+ acidity, medium+ alcohol and a complex medium+ length finish. This wine
sells for about $60 per bottle.
The 2008 Jacuzzi
Nebbiolo, Sonoma Coast, is a clear, light ruby red at the core to garnet at the
rim, with just a hint of burnt orange around the edge with medium+ viscosity.
On the nose it has subtle aromas of macerated dried red cherries, dried figs,
licorice, spice, mushrooms, beef bullion, cloves, dark soil, hint of mint and
eucalyptus. It has high tannins that have an aggressive attack on the front of
the palate, it has medium+ acidity, medium+ alcohol and a moderately medium length
finish. This wine sells for about $28 per bottle.
The 2008
Cavallotto Bricco Boschis was the preferred wine between the two as it was much
more complex and layered with distinctive old world earthy notes, but of course
it costs twice as much as the 2008 Jacuzzi Nebbiolo. The following day I sampled
these wines again and the additional time greatly improved the Jacuzzi Nebbiolo
as the tannins, while still very high, were not as seemingly aggressive on
entry.
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