“Wine TO Magic” is the title chosen by AIS for the 48th edition of the National Congress, which this year was held in Turin, land of th notorious red wine Barolo, Barbaresco and more! And the prism of Pink Floyd modified using a wine glass (and not a triangle) represt it perfectly.

It has been a great opportunity to know more about the area of production, the great reds from Piemonte and France, the european whites.

An intense program, from Saturday  (the 22nd) in the morning with a meeting and a congress about the “MeGa” (additional geographical areas) and then the different tastings until Monday 24, along with assignment of some awards. Please find here more details:

• MeGa Presentation
  

  congress

The Congress has been a great stage to present additional geographical appellation of Barolo and Barbaresco. They are very tight production areas that many would recognize more easily with the concept of “cru” as in France: single small vineyards for the production of a single wine.

The path – started in the 90s – has not been easy, at first because of the heated discussions between the producers in order to identify and limit the single areas and then, because of the skepticism of the National Committee for the management of appelations of origin, due to the fact that these areas, identified and mapped in Piemonte stand out from the most common concept of “sub-areas” we are used to in Italy, which are much larger.

Until a compromise has been found, MeGa do not replace the sub-areas but hey are additional appellations producers can offically put on the label: 181 for Barolo (officially provided on the label form the vintage 2010, so by now) and 66 for Barbaresco (officially provided on the label from the vintage 2007 and so on the market already). We are already used to read the name of the vineyards on the labels of these 2 wines even going back to the beginning of the XX century (such as Cannubi, Ovello, Vigna Rionda, Rabaja and so on) but now the areas have been officially classified and geographically limited in order to ensure greater transparency to the consumer. The news is the launch of the App that allows to geolocalize the vineyard in which the wine is specifically produced; it is available in two languages (ITA and ENG), with partial functionality in off-line and several additional services.

glasses

Going, however, over the bureaucracies and details the fascinating aspect of the matter is that you can have wines, produced from the same grape (Nebbiolo) but grown up in vineyards far 200 m away from each other, which different shades! Even if, some ask if the differences exist for real, or -at least- are so obvious. The choice is yours!

• Tastings

After meetings, presentations and greetings, the program started to focus on wines, real attractors of our senses and our presence.

3 tasting open to all: “tasting of Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero” available in the afternoons of Saturday 22 and Sunday 23; Preview the last harvest on Monday morning 24 and the tasting of European whites throughout the day of Monday, 24.

Finally three major tastings by reservation only: Tribute to Bordeaux on Sunday morning 23, Tribute to Burgundy on Sunday afternoon until after the inevitable tasting of great vintages of Barolo and Barbaresco on Saturday 22 in the afternoon that I would treat separately, below.

• Barolo and Barbaresco, great vintages

A perfect location: the historical Barolo Palace, a symbol of a wine and of an area. The “important” red, the red wine to be aged for decades, but please, not just for special occasions! These wines can have different prices and also depart from approximately 20/25 euro offering an experience even before a tasting!

Mauro Carosso, Roberto Marro and Ivano Antonini are the qualified sommeliers who led the tasting that I would define “teaching” as, beyond the personal taste on each wine, wines and vintages was chosen for a specific reason and in order to tell the story of these 2 great wines, such as Barolo 1961 by Giacomo Conterno, the first vintage curated by the 2 sons of Giacomo; Barolo Granbussia Reserve 1970 by Aldo Conterno, the first vintage of Aldo Conterno after leaving the family business; Barbaresco Sori ‘Tildin 1970 by Gaja winery of a young Angelo, the current and notorious owner; yet Barolo Brunate 2000 by Voerzio, which gained 100 points of the influential American magazine Wine Spectator.

Here are some notes. Let’s start with my favorite ones:

wines

• BAROLO RISERVA “ROCCHE DELL’ANNUNZIATA” 2001 BY PAOLO SCAVINO: It must have been the year 2001, known for being excellent in many areas of production but it was a very good wine. A wine that is elegant and balanced representing perfectly its territory of origin “La Morra”. The bouquet  encourages drinking with aromas of ripe red fruit and balsamic notes. On the palate is smooth and complex. One note: the wine is still young!
• BAROLO “BRUNATE” 2000 by ROBERTO VOERZIO: a perfectionist can only have a classy wine! The wine at the nose is intense and complex with notes of dried fruits and dried flowers; the palate is rich, round, with notes of flowers, red fruits, sweet and spicy spices. It seems that he only drinks Mascarello and Conterno beyond Voerzio!
• BAROLO “FOR CRISTINA” 1999 by CLERICO: excellent, rich, full, pleasant but also young. We all defined it energetic, as the producer! A recognizable signature then.
• BAROLO “CANNUBI BOSCHIS” 1998 by SANDRONE: a name you can trust. Vintage 89 along with the 90 one is great but strangely neglected. The centrality of the fruit is clearly stronger than the spices and toasted noes.
• BAROLO “VIGNA RIONDA” 1989 by ODDERO: it was served by Magnum (like few others),what a wine! The nose is intense, immediately, with notes of ripe fruit, cherry, spices but also of porcini mushrooms! The taste is floral, balsamic, very persistent.
• BARBARESCO “TETTINEIVE” 1988 by SCARPA: I appreciate it throughout the all afternoon because it evolves in the glass giving a new twist to each new approach. It has an inviting bouquet with notes of chocolate, flowers, rose. In the mouth it is full, enveloping, particularly pleasant. I remember that we are already bach in the 80s!
• BAROLO 1961 by CONTERNO: I really have to comment? Are the name and the vintage not enough? If not: Surprising! It has much to express despite his age: excellent fruit, good balance and with a clear note of coffee powder that persists. A masterpiece.

Tastes are personal but on this occasion, with these names and all the rest, giving scores would not really make sense to me, please find some notes about other wines (13 in total) I would never, ever miss:

• BARBARESCO “ASILI” RESERVE 2007 by GIACOSA: expresses all the elegance of this cru “Kindergartens” differently by the equally famous cru “Rabaja», which is harder. Still young and increasingly attractive as it evolves in the glass.
• BARBARESCO 2004 by GAJA: This is a particular vintage because the wines were ready immediately but at the same time they can express so much even after these 10 years!
• BAROLO “MONPRIVATO CA’D’MORISSIO” 2004 by GIUSEPPE MASCARELLO, another signature which does not need notes. Mineral and vegetal notes on the nose. A wine that I would try and try again in a few years.
• BARBARESCO “Rabajà” RESERVE 2001 by GIUSEPPE CORTESE: another cru of Barbaresco (other than the cru “Asili” I mentioned above), wines from Rabaja area are better after time and with a vintage 2001 you start to appreciate it, however, it still needs time and this is why I would try it later on. A wine certainly structured with a “dusty” notes typical of Cortese.
• BARBARESCO “SORI Tildin” 1970 by GAJA: a vineyard purchased by a young Angelo (current and notorious producer) that had, even then, the idea of giving name of the vineyard to wines. This is one of the wines we paired to the music of the piano!
• BAROLO “Granbussia RESERVE” 1970 by ALDO CONTERNO: here is a wine that is technically “veiled” (not perfectly clear) but who cares?! A wine that could still wait, an excellent expression of the territory and the vine!

To close: pleasant and very original the gala scheduled on Saturday evening at the Royal Palace of Torino with a magic show, visit at the palace at night and Champagne tasting accompanied by buffet.