Piedmont Trip Report

[Diddy]

As we sped (at least by Australian standards) down the Autostrade from the ancient seaside town of Syracuse to Catania airport, weaving in and out of traffic like a true Sicilian, I was equal parts forlorn and excited. Our Sicilian adventure was coming to an end, marking 10 days of stunning turquoise beaches, captivating medieval towns, mouth-watering cannoli, the best antipasto plates in the world and perhaps most of all, some of the warmest, loveliest people we had come across on our travels.

The familiar site of Mr Etna with its ever-present plume of smoke somehow filled me with hope that one day I would return. But alas, Piedmont beckoned! Months of dreaming and weeks of planning was now just a short plane trip away. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit nervous – would all of my appointments logistically work out? Would the wines live up to their reputations? Would my wife be able to handle all the back-to-back tastings without getting bored (sacrilegious, I know)? I needn’t have worried.

We landed in Turin ahead of schedule and I literally ran out of the terminal to make sure I was first to the rental car check-in desk. They were running short on cars, so we got upgraded to a Mercedes – bonus! Our GPS then mistakenly took us on a scenic trip through the centre of Turin, which wasn’t all that unpleasant in the end, as it gave us a nice visual taste of a city I hadn’t yet been able to visit. There was a certain serenity and order to Turin that gave it a nice, welcoming feel. Perhaps we’d become too acclimatised to the chaos of Sicily!?

I would have loved to have stopped and explored a bit, but we’d managed to score an afternoon visit in Barbaresco so were on a tight schedule. The drive from Turin wasn’t really all that eventful to be honest. Even when the GPS said we were but a few kilometres away, I was ever so slightly concerned – we were still surrounded by relatively industrial looking villages and non-descript landscapes. Boy was I in for a surprise!

I’d brought along a copy of Kerin O’Keefe’s book “Barolo and Barbaresco: The King And Queen of Italian Wine” with its picturesque cover of the Piedmont country-side. I wasn’t prepared for the fact that literally everywhere I looked was as beautiful and idyllic as depicted on that front cover.

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I must say that Piedmont has some of the most dramatic and visually stunning scenery of all the wine regions I’ve visited. With the onset of autumn, the foliage had only just started to take on some brown and yellow tinges, but was for the most part a luscious green, thanks in part to the decent downpour of rain the prior week – apparently much needed after a stifling summer. A particular feature of the landscape was the spectacular amphitheatre-esque aspect of the best sites, with vines planted in order to access the full spectrum of sunlight and weather conditions. I won’t bore you too much with my commentary and instead let the pictures speak for themselves.

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[Diddy]

Visit 1 – Moccagatta

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Our first of eight scheduled visits across Barolo and Barbaresco was with Moccagatta, a medium sized modernist Barbaresco producer that perhaps flies a bit under the radar compared to some of the bigger names in the region.

We were met by the ever so sweet Martina, who in keeping with the family nature of the business is the grand-daughter of its founder, Mario Minuto. The family had been involved in both the cultivation of grapes and production of wine since the late 19th century until the estate was split between the two brothers. Martina’s grandfather founded Moccagatta in the family estate and his brother Luigi Minuto went on to start up Cascina Luisin just next door.

Today, Martina (who has studied wine making), works alongside her father, uncle and cousins in the family business which sees them produce around 65,000 bottles annually. As alluded to previously, the family has more ‘progressive’ views on the production of their wines utilising mostly small oak with some larger vessels spotted.

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Our visit started with a tour of the family’s modern and well appointed facility, which was buzzing with activity in the middle of harvest. It speaks of the generosity and kindness of Martina (and other producers I met on my travels) to take time away from the what is likely one of their most stressful and busiest periods of the year to accommodate and educate visitors from around the world.

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After dragging myself away from the stunning view of the Muncagota vineyard, we retired inside for what would become an epic line-up of wines and which truly set the bar high for the remainder of the trip.

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Wine 1 – 2016 Langhe Chardonnay
- I was interested as to whether it was financially viable to produce a Langhe white – the answer was that the believed the source vineyard was not suited to reds
- 100% stainless steel
- Nice acidity of the palate – retains a delicious freshness
- The palate also has notes of white peach and spice, with a nice balance of rich fruit
- Very enjoyable start!

Wine 2 – 2015 Langhe Chardonnay Buschet
- Barrique version of their chardonnay
- Beautiful nose – flinty, struck match characters
- A buttery roundness that speaks of the oak treatment, certainly rich but not too flabby
- Also has those Malibu coconut notes on the nose – similar to the Menfi chardonnay from Planeta

Wine 3 – 2016 Dolcetto d’Alba
- No oak treatment
- Light, gentle tannins
- A fresh, tart acid
- Made in an easy drinking style
- Fresh light red fruits

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Wine 4 – 2016 Barbera d’Alba
- Darker in colour than the Dolcetto
- Has a pleasant sweetness of fruit and fuller bodied than the Dolcetto
- Balanced by an earthiness on the nose
- Only just bottled a month or two prior

Wine 5 – 2016 Langhe Nebbiolo
- Beautiful tannins – now we’re talking!
- Light ruby red colour
- Crunchy red fruit
- Very nice drinking

Wine 6 – 2014 Barbaresco Basarin
- Comes from a site near Neive that is richer in sand
- Oak is certainly present, but not too much
- Grippy tannins
- Quite aromatic and perfumed
- Powerful wine

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Wine 7 – 2014 Barbaresco Bric Balin
- Bit more closed on the nose up front
- Beautiful grip
- Long finish
- Acidity stronger than the Basarin
- More of a longer term proposition I think
- Comes from the vineyard in front of the winery (see photos)

Wine 8 – 2014 Barbaresco Cole
- Different soil complexion than the Basarin – clay and blue marle
- Barbaresco location
- Really enjoyed this wine – so much so that the only notes I had was that it seemed to have the best parts of the Basarin and the Bric Balin combined into one wine

Wine 9 – 2006 Barbaresco Basarin
- What a surprise to see this at the end
- Museum release from winery stocks
- By all accounts the 2006 vintage was highly variable – very hit and miss
- Moccagatta seemed to think it was a highly underrated vintage so I was keen to find out
- Hardly any browning on the colour
- Tannins still present – suggests plenty of life left in it
- beautiful leathery secondary characters starting to develop on the nose
- Classical tar and roses
- Absolutely delicious
- The oak from the 2014 version had well integrated – hopefully a sign of things to come

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Wow! In hindsight, I recall feeling slightly ‘euphoric’ after this tasting. I don’t know whether it was the sheer elation of being in Piedmont or the nine beautiful wines I tasted (without spitting), but I loved it!

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Such a great introductory tasting that featured all of the main varietal protagonists of Piedmont with a few interpretations of chardonnay thrown in for good measure. The museum release was also a really nice touch, so much so that I grabbed a bottle to bring home along with the Barbaresco Cole. Thank you Martina!

Overall Rating 4.5/5.0

[Ian S]

Loving the write-ups, and this one I was keenly awaiting as we'd been there ourselves, coincidentally when the 2006 Basarin was the current release (we bought a bottle as well as a couple of bottles of the 2010 Buschet Chardonnay). The latter was certainly pretty full-on in terms of oak treatment and mixed experiences of the two bottles, both drunk in 2015, with one unbalanced a overpowered by the oak, whilst the one tasted 3 months later was better integrated, reminding me of a slightly subtler version of the old fashioned NZ buttery style (e.g. Church Road Reserve from 1-2 decades ago).

Regards
Ian

[Ozzie W]

Excellent trip report, Diddy! I'm sure you've put in many hours of work to post all these reports. Much appreciated.

[Diddy]

Visit 2 – Cantina Cavallotto

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The next morning I was out on the road nice and early, except this time I’d traded in my wheels for runners. In a vain attempt to remain calorie neutral (however futile), I thought I’d try and make amends for the sins of the night before. As amazing and hedonistic as the Piedmontese cuisine is, I really struggled with the guilt! It wasn’t the greatest run of my life, mostly because I found it too hard to resist stopping every 500 metres and getting the phone out to take a few snaps! I also learned the difficult way that there are very few flat roads around La Morra!

After a quick shower and a refuel at the breakfast buffet (which essentially undid all the good work of my run), I was back in the hire car for a quick drive down the hill to Castiglione Falletto for my first visit of the day at Cantina Cavallotto.

Cavallotto are a proud family owned and operated winery, with their connection to the vineyard extending back four generations to the 1920s. Today, they consider themselves a medium sized producer with annual volumes of circa 110,000 bottles.

There I met my gracious host Valentina and joined in with a group of Scandinavian visitors for the tour.

A tour of the winery revealed their obvious traditional predilections; not a barrique in sight, instead favouring large Slavonian oak for its neutrality. It was clear to me that the topic of barriques can still be divisive, after I received a rather direct response to my question as to whether they would ever experiment with small barrels. Some of their botti were remarkably aged up to 40-50 years old. Incidentally, I learned that Slavonian oak hails from north-eastern Croatia and is not to be confused with Slovenian oak from Slovenia.

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Cavallotto’s minimalist approach carries over to wine-making through its hands off style – there is no pressing of nebbiolo grapes and maceration occurs very gently using a machine that tenderly rocks the wine like an infant child. This is designed to ensure the seeds remain intact so not as to impart any bitterness or unnecessary tannin into the wines. Fermentation then occurs in cement tanks that are lined with fibreglass.

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Next year’s Barolo release (2014) was a disastrous vintage for Cavallotto – two hailstorms wreaked havoc on their crops and as a result they suggested no Barolo might be released, with the fruit likely to be declassified to Langhe nebbiolo. On the other hand, the 2017 harvest represented one of their earliest ever owing to the hottest vintage they could recall. Such are the perils of winemaking I guess.

Perhaps my favourite part of the visit (and many others) was the moment you emerge from the cellars to the beautiful outdoor terrace and take in the incredible view of the estate vineyard of Bricco Boschis up the top and San Giuseppe in the middle.

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I’m not sure why producers didn’t make the most of the wonderful setting and temperate weather and conduct the tastings outside – instead we were ushered back inside. Seemed a shame to waste that view! I guess the incredible collection of empty bottles from friends and colleagues wasn’t too bad an alternative.

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Wine 1 – 2015 Barbera d’Alba “Vigna del Cuculo”
- Aged in Slavonian oak casks
- Dark red colour
- Has a certain sweetness on the palate
- Doesn’t have tannin of Nebbiolo
- Strong acid
- Dark red fruits - nice length
- Bit of a hole of the mid palate
- The neutral oak is apparent
- Not bad drinking

Wine 2 – 2015 Langhe Freisa DOC
- This varietal is related to nebbiolo
- lighter in colour than Barbera
- More earthiness and perfume on the nose
- Tangy acid – tartness
- Sweet light red fruits to balance out the acid
- No tannin grip – very fine
- Bit more complexity on offer
- Good opening experience with this variety

Wine 3 – 2015 Langhe Nebbiolo DOC
- Comes primarily from Bricco Boschis
- Young vines – 30% of production
- Has nice silky tannins
- Presents as a polished version of nebbiolo
- Red fruits – lighter spectrum
- Nice perfume
- Some spice

Wine 4 – 2013 Barolo Bricco Boschis DOCG
- Good vintage – no Langhe made in 2013
- Soft velvety tannins
- A touch deeper colour than the Langhe
- Palate is a touch closed at the moment – not giving much
- Very nice wine – quite elegant
- Their biggest production wine

Wine 5 – 2011 Barolo San Giuseppe Riserva DOCG
- Deep red colour
- Powerful nose – perfume plus!
- Palate – dark red fruits, power but restrained
- So, so silky
- Long finish – yum!
- Made each vintage

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Overall Rating 3.5/5.0

[Ian S]

Great to see their Freisa on tasting - a variety that deserves a higher profile. Conversely a shame the Dolcetto 'Vigna Scot' wasn't in the tasting, as I think it's a really good wine. I've also been a fan of their Langhe Nebbiolo, one of the first basic Nebbiolo wines that really reminded me of the grand wine(s) but without the typical structure.

[Diddy]

Visit 3 – G.D. Vajra

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Next up was the short drive across to the village of Vergne for an appointment with G.D. Vajra.

By now I must be sounding like a broken record, but such is the epic, breathtaking scenery of Piedmont that it was truly impossible to resist pulling the car over to the side of the road for yet another photo opportunity.

I received many bemused and concerned looks from locals who perhaps disapproved of my parking skills as they navigated the steep, narrow and often blind corners only to find this foreigner with his hire car perched perilously on the side of a vineyard slope, hazard lights blinking away as he happily snapped away on his camera phone – this time of Castiglione Falletto.

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As I would learn multiple times throughout this trip, Italian street addresses and GPS units aren’t always a good mix – many of the secondary roads rarely seem to exist in the list of known streets. With this in mind, I’d highly recommend taking the time to pre-load the addresses into your map/phone/car so you’re not having to madly steer with one hand and work the GPS with the other – harder still with a few tastings under your belt. Unfortunately I didn’t heed this advice when heading to G.D. Vajra and alas, I was dumbfounded to find there was no such address according to my phone. Computer says no!

In saying that, is there really anywhere else you’d rather get lost than Piedmont?

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As I snaked around the busy roads leading into Barolo town, I was captivated by the magnificent Castelli Falletti which stood proudly and regally above the town having endured many centuries of wars, invasions, neglect, renovations and now tourists.

I fortuitously spotted a roadside cheese and charcuterie van that looked like the ideal tourist information point in my time of need. There I found the most magnificent collection of assorted small goods. Unfortunately I was too flustered about arriving on time and eating was the last thing on my mind. Incidentally, I returned later in the afternoon to sample his wares, but it was too late – sadly he’d already moved on.

Thanks to the cheesemonger’s animated hand gestures (directions), it wasn’t too long until I was at my destination. The village of Vergne is a mere few kilometres from Barolo town, perched at one of the highest spots in Barolo at around 400m above sea level. It’s no wonder the cheese monger kept pointing to “up there”!

The nondescript house at the front of the winery makes you wonder in doubt whether you’re actually where you need to be – surely many visitors before me have done multiple passes up and down the street looking for the miniscule “Vajra” sign. Once inside, you head down their driveway where the large, modern winemaking facility awaits, perfectly hidden away from the roadside.

My motivation to visit G.D. Vajra had been driven by recent critical acclaim from their 2012 and 2013 releases. I don’t know whether they have become victims of their own success, but unfortunately this visit would not live up to expectations or the high standard set by other visits in Piedmont.

I arrived in the tasting room ahead of schedule for my appointment, but was told that I would instead be joining in with another group that had already commenced their visit some half an hour earlier. I had thought this might not be such a big deal, until I realised that they had all but finished their tour and were back to the facility. No winery tour for me...

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As a result, I didn’t get to capture much of the history of the winery and instead, shall rely upon my online research to fill in the blanks.

G.D. Vajra were started in the early 1970s by Giuseppe Domenico Vajra. Today, the operation is on to the fourth generation of family winemakers, continuing the legacy that started back in the 1940s when the vineyard was first planted. The winery still employs mostly traditional methodologies in the production of its wines preferring aged Slovenian oak for at least 30 months on the Barolos. I did spot a number of used barriques that are utilised for some of the other wines in the expansive range.

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Perhaps one of the features of the winery is their incredible stained glass window features that were designed by a Franciscan monk – the late Father Costantino Ruggeri. My research reveals an amazing portfolio of artistic works to his name well worth a look - http://www.padrecostantino.it/le-opere/?lang=en and http://www.gdvajra.it/en/colors.

Whereas most wineries you’ll encounter favour utilitarian and functional design rather than aesthetics, it is clear that G.D. Vajra have set about to do something different from the norm. The vibrant, electric colours create a visually stunning display contrast against the stainless steel tanks, making you feel part underwater and part in some sort of hallucinogenic nebbiolo induced haze. I would have loved to have heard the story about the genesis of the windows (pun intended) but unfortunately I missed out.

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Before long we were back in the tasting room where we would taste through a number of G.D. Vajra’s current releases. I could have sworn we tasted more wines than just the three below, but my notes make no reference to any others and the frugal offering does seem consistent with the overall rushed feel of the visit.

Wine 1 – 2016 Langhe Riesling
- Comes from fruit at La Morra and Serralunga sites
- Planted from vine cuttings originating from Alsace and Germany
- GD Vajra were the first to plant Riesling in Langhe
- Picked earliest of their grapes
- The colour is a clear and translucent with the slightest gold tinge
- Has a pretty, floral perfumed nose
- Has a pleasant acidity, but not quite as sharp as I’m accustomed to with say a Clare Valley Riesling (for example)
- On the palate lemon/lime citrus notes with a little spice
- Finished off nicely with a touch of residual sugar, but not too much
- Pleasant drinking

Wine 2 – 2014 Barbera d’Alba
- Carries the ‘Superiore’ designation – wood aging and at least 12.5%+ alcohol
- Has a vibrant purple/red hue
- Dark red fruits on the palate, which impart a richness, but not too sweet
- Oak seems to contain the fruit well
- Nice acid – lower than other examples I’d tasted
- All in all, a very nice wine

Wine 3 – 2013 Barolo Brico Delle Viole
- 32 months aging in large format oak
- Bright ruby red colour
- Very fine tannins with nice grip and structure
- On the nose , some nail polish/varnish/VA, but in a pleasant way
- Not sure whether the bottle was too fresh, but fruit not showing much yet
- Seemed to be hiding behind the oak a little
- Amazing acid – should be good in time
- Long term proposition

I had considered purchasing a bottle of the BDV, but was politely told it wasn’t yet for sale from the cellar door, despite it being available for retail purchase in and around the region, not to mention being available 16,000kms away back home in Melbourne, Australia!

All things considered, it was a somewhat disappointing visit. As you’ve probably gleaned from my posts thus far, I take a great deal of interest in learning about the people, the history, the lands and the wines of the producers I visit. Regrettably my experience wasn’t conducive to furthering my understanding of any of these.

Overall Rating – 2.5 out of 5.0 

[Ian S]

That's a real shame. When you get such treatment in Piemonte (and to be fair, in most of Italy away from the tourist trail), it really stands out when seen in comparison to the usual exceptional hospitality. I don't mind sharing a visit with others, but joining you up halfway through is surprisingly rude.

Vajra have chugged along nicely for many years, always well-regarded, but never lauded as the next 'investment opportunity'. Often a very sound choice for good true to type table wines / luncheon wines. If some critic has started 'bigging' some of their wines up, then they deserve a contemptuous look.

[JamieBahrain]

Oh great, just found this Diddy. I forget about this section for months on end. Will digest your report over time.

Yeah Vajra was shocker and your generous with your marks!

I bought their wines 25% cheaper at a wine shop off Duomo square in Alba. I kid you not. 2013 BDV and Ravera! I think it best if they drastically reduce appointments.