Italy - North West And Appellations Flashcards
What varieties can be found in Piemonte/Piedmont?
Home to the Nebbiolo variety, producing some of Italys most prized, aromatically intense and long-lived wines, especially but not exclusively in the Langhe, part of the Cuneo province.
It also grows Barbera (most grown) and Dolcetto, and the white varieties Cortese and Arneis.
What style of wine is produced by Braccheto?
A rosé sparkling similar to Moscato d’Asti.
What is the breakdown of the top varieties of Piemonte?
Barbera 30%
Moscato Bianco 21%
Dolcetto 13%
Nebbiolo 10%
Cortese 6%
Brachetto 3%
Where is Barolo DOCG located, and when does it date back to?
Takes its name after the village of the same name and incorporates a number of villages to the south west of the city of Alba.
Barolo as a dry, tannic, red wine of 100% Nebbiolo dates back to the middle of the 19th century and came to fame through its association with the Royal House of Savoy, leading to the name ‘wine of Kings, the king of wines.’
What is the general topography within Barolo DOCG? What does this result in?
Vines planted on south and SW facing slopes, typically 200-400m combining goof sunlight interception with cooling influences, allowing grapes to ripen fully but over a long season: pronounced intensity and high acidity.
What yields are permitted in Barolo? What has the trend of plantings been?
56hL/ha.
Plantings of Nebbiolo have nearly doubled to just short of 2000ha in the period 1980-2013, reflecting the great success in recent decades
What are ageing requirements for Barolo and Barolo Riserva DOCGs?
Barolo: 3 years 2 months from 1st Nov of the year of harvest, including 18m in oak.
Riserve: 5 years 2 months with a minimum 18m in oak.
These long maturation times add to costs of production.
What are the soil types of Barolo DOCG? How do these affect styles?
Complex, but a contrast is often made between:
• villages with blue-grey marl in the North and west (eg La Morra) that produce lighter, more aromatic wines that become drinkable after a few years in bottle.
• villages in the south and east with less fertile, predominantly yellow-grey compacted sand and clay (eg Serralunga d’Alba) producing closed and tannic wines that should be cellared for 10-15 years.
What are the stances on blending in Barolo DOCG?
Historically, most producers prided themselves on blending wines from the grapes of a number of vineyards, searching for more complexity, as continues to be done by some (most notable Bartolo Mascarello).
However, certain single vineyards have long had a reputation for high quality (Cannubi or Vigna Rionda).
Significant producers who early adopted single vineyard wines were Angelo Gaja and Bruno Giacosa.
What was introduced in Barolo DOCG in 2010?
An official system of sub-zones, called Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive (MGA or MeGA, official additional geographical indications), within the rules of the Barolo DOCG.
What are the sub zones of Barolo DOCG, as per the system of sub-zones?
• entire villages (eg La Morra)
• specified single vineyards (eg Bussia or Cannubi)
• a number of specified vineyards now made into a single MGA (eg, the Via Nuova vineyard was included within the Terlo MGA)
In what situation can the word Vigna appear on the label for Barolo DOCG?
It can now only appear as a labelling term if the name of the MGA is also stated.
What is Barolo Chinato?
Barolo wine, sweetened and infused with herbs and spices. Small amounts are made.
Where is Barbaresco DOCG located? What size is it?
Takes its name from the village of the same name and incorporates a number of villages to the easy of the city of Alba.
Roughly 1/3rd the size of Barolo.
What is the typical climate and topography of Barbaresco DOCG?
Shares many characteristics with Barolo, though most vineyards are slightly lower altitude and the climate is slightly warmer. As a result, harvest is typically a week earlier.
What are the minimum ageing requirements and max yields for Barbaresco DOCG?
Reflecting the subtly tiper style, ageing requirements are slightly shorter.
2yr2m from 1st Nov for Barbaresco, with 9m in barrel.
4yr2m for Riserva, then the same.
56hL/ha
What was introduced in Barbaresco DOCG in 2007?
An official system of Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive, within the DOCG.
Earlier than Barolo as its a smaller area.
What is traditional winemaking for Nebbiolo?
Used to involve long maceration on the skins (3-4m) followed by 5-8yrs ageing in large wood vessels to soften the tannins.
What style of winemaking did Nebbiolo see in the 1970s and 80s?
A group of young producers (Elio Altare in Barolo and Angelo Gaja in Barbaresco) sought deeper colour, softer tannins and less need to be aged, and with new oak flavours.
Arguably credited for raising the quality and prices of the region.
Where does modern day winemaking stand for Nebbiolo?
The extremes have been moderated.
Most producers pick only grapes with ripe skins and seeds (eliminating aggressive tannin), macerating on the skins for 3-4 weeks for top wines and age their wines in either large format oak (French or Slavonian) or a combination of large and smaller format oak (barriques and up to 500L), only a small proportion being new.
Most, but not all, now agree overt Vanilla and spice from new French oak masks the delicate Nebbiolo aromas.
What are the three other DOCGs for Nebbiolo? Where are they located and what is the climate? What is differentiating about the winemaking?
Roero DOCG, North of the Tanaro River.
Scattered in often-historic denominations in the North of Piemonte, close to Milan, including Gattinara DOCG and Ghemme DOCG that have a continental climate with greater diurnal variation, resulting in wines of higher acidity.
South facing sites at around 300m enables fruit to ripen. Wines are light bodied but pronouncedly aromatic.
(Similar wines are also made at much higher altitudes, up to 750m in Valtellina)
Often blended with other varieties.
What other DOCs are there for Nebbiolo? What are they often used for?
Langhe Nebbiolo DOC or Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC. Made for early drinking.
Typically made from young vines or less favoured sites.
During winemaking, maceration lasts for 7-10 days and the wines are aged up to a year in neutral containers.
Some producers use Langhe Nebbiolo DOC to bottle parcels from Barolo or Barbaresco that do not meet the quality required in top wines, and so offer wines at more accessible price points.
Generally cheaper to produce and mid to premium.
Where do you find Barbera planted?
The most grown variety in Piedmont, 3x Nebbiolo.
Widely grown in the region but concentrated around the towns of Asti and Alba, and the area known as Monferrato.
The best quality come from Asti and and its sub zones, including Nizza, which has now been promoted to a DOCG of its own.
It is also grown around Alba, but here the best sites are reserved for Nebbiolo.
Barbera grown in the Langhe can be of high quality as it is less sensitive to site than Nebbiolo.
How are high quality Barberas made?
Grown at lower yields, often from old vines, and the wines are aged in French oak barriques, as pioneered by Giacomo Bologna.
Oak tannin from the barrel adds to the body of these wines and gives them ageing potential. (Adds to cost)
