North-West Italy Flashcards

1
Q

piedmont climate

A

moderate continental cold winters/hot summers

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2
Q

alps climatic influence on piedmont

A

protects from:

  1. north winds and rain from the north
  2. cold mediterranean/appennins influences
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3
Q

piedmont threats

A

late frost
thunderstorms
hail
fog

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4
Q

rainfall in piedmont / periods

A

low in june to september high late september/october (bad for late ripening)

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5
Q

nebbiolo growing cycle

A

early budding late ripening (very late)

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6
Q

nebbiolo vigour

A

high vigour

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7
Q

nebbiolo style

A

pale ruby to garnet high acidity/tannins pronounced violet, rose, red cherry, red plum full body, high alcohol

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8
Q

best soils for nebbiolo

A

calcareous marl

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9
Q

best sites for nebbiolo have what aspect?

A

south, south-west

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10
Q

pruning problems with nebbiolo and most used techniques

A
  1. first few buds are infertile - pruned with more buds
  2. trimming the canopy takes too much time - single guyot to mechanise trimming
  3. too much vigour - cluster thinning ad canopy to balance shading (needs perfect sun balance not much not less)
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11
Q

clonal research in nebbiolo

A

research for more colour as is sometimes too pale someone says that these clones have lost some aromatics

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12
Q

mass selection for nebbiolo: what kind of vines are used?

A

low vigour (more concentration)
open bunches (reduce fungal) small berries (more colour)

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13
Q

how barolo came to fame in the past?

A

association with local royal House of Savoy “wine of kings, king of wines”

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14
Q

general altitude of Barolo

A

200-400

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15
Q

how is the growing season in barolo?

A

long

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16
Q

barolo maximum yields

A

56 hL/ha

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17
Q

ageing for barolo

A

barolo docg - 38 months (18 in oak) from 1rst november of harvest
barolo riserva docg - 62 months (18 in oak)

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18
Q

general soils in barolo

A
  1. north-west - blue-grey marl (light, aromatic, wines)
  2. south-east - yellow-grey compacted sand and clay (tannic, ageing)
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19
Q

styles of barolo

A
  1. blend (numerous vineyards from different villages e.g. bartolo)
  2. commune
  3. MGA
  4. MGA that includes single vineyard with vigna name
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20
Q

pioneer of single vineyard in barolo

A

bruno giacosa
angelo gaja (in barbaresco)

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21
Q

what is barolo chinato?

A

a barolo sweetened and infused with herbs and spices (quinine)

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22
Q

how big is barbaresco compared to barolo

A

1/3

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23
Q

differences between barolo and barbaresco

A

lower altitude
slightly warmer style (harvest is a week earlier)
shorter minimum ageing

24
Q

ageing for barbaresco

A

barbaresco dogc - 26 months (9 in oak) from
november 1rst barbaresco riserva docg - 54 months (9 in oak)

25
Q

maximum yield in barbaresco

A

as barolo - 56 hL/ha

26
Q

traditionalists style

A

long maceration (3 to 4 months) 5/6 years ageing all to soften tannins

27
Q

general barolo winemaking

A

ripe skins and seed (eliminate aggressive tannins) maceration up to a month

large cask or mix large and smaller cask (avoid overly vanilla flavours)

28
Q

gattinara/ghemme climate and specs

A

continental climate with greater diurnal variation (higher acidity) 300 mt altitude (mostly south facing sites - light body but high perfumes) sometimes is blended with local varieties

29
Q

langhe nebbiolo and nebbiolo d’alba specs and winemaking

A

younger vines/less favoured sites

7-10 days maceration
1 year ageing in neutral containers

sometimes there are barolo/barbaresco parcels that doesn’t met required quality

30
Q

barbera: how much is planted?

A

three times as much as nebbiolo

31
Q

areas of plantings of barbera

A
  1. towns of asti and alba
  2. monferrato
  3. langhe (sites that are not suited for barolo)
32
Q

barbera growing cycle

A

early budding late ripening

33
Q

barbera diseases

A

it is highly resistant to diseases
susceptible to fan leaf virus

34
Q

fanleaf virus

A

virus distort the leaves into a fan shape colour change to mottled green
growing tips are splitting into 2/3 shoots with distorted nodes and canes
leaves then will become yellow in patches or veins
yields will fall and stop

remove and destroy infected material, replant with virus free plants
vector is nematodes insect (nematode resistant rootstock)

35
Q

styles of barbera and what is the main reason

A

reason: barbera is highly vigorous so you can control the style of wine

  1. early drinking medium to deep colour, red fruit and black pepper, high acidity, low/medium tannins and alcohol
  2. concentrated styles with oak barriques at lower yields (e.g. Giacomo Bologna)
36
Q

barbera d’asti docg maximum yield and ageing

A

barbera d’asti - 67hL/ha - 4 months ageing
barbera d’asti superiore - 14 months (6 oak)

37
Q

nizza yields and ageing

A

49hL/ha 18 months (6 oak)

38
Q

piemonte doc yields and what is it for?

A

mostly for barbera and other local or international varieties not much used 84hL/ha

39
Q

dolcetto ripening

A

early

40
Q

dolcetto main features

A
  1. can be grown on cooler sites
  2. low vigour
  3. in the winery is reductive
41
Q

why plantings of dolcetto are going down?

A
  1. ripening can be blocked by cold
  2. higher prices for nebbiolo grapes
42
Q

how to deal with reduce flavours in dolcetto?

A
  1. pump overs
  2. rack/return

add oxygen and eliminate off flavours

43
Q

maceration for dolcetto

A

7-15 days soft extraction to avoid high tannins

44
Q

ageing for dolcetto

A

stainless steel concrete preserve primary fruit

45
Q

best aops for dolcetto

A

dolcetto d’alba (67hl/ha)
dogliani
dolcetto di ovada (and superiore)
piemonte doc (higher yields 77hl/ha)

46
Q

cortese main features

A

high yielding thin skinned (prone to grey rot)

47
Q

cortese winemaking

A
  1. mid range fermentation
  2. pre-ferment maceration for higher quality
  3. aged in stainless steel to preserve primary aromas
48
Q

cortese style

A

early drinking, good quality, inexpensive to mid price

49
Q

gavi/gavi del comune di gavi hl/ha + ageing

A

gavi - 67hl/ha
gavi del comune di gavi - 45hl/ha + 1 year ageing in any vessel

50
Q

gavi significant producers

A

castellari
bergaglio
la scolca

51
Q

where is arneis grown?

A

in the roero

52
Q

main feature of arneis

A

acidity drops rapidly needs to be picked sooner than later

53
Q

style of arneis

A

light intensity, white flowers, chamomile, withe peach lemon, medium minus acidity, good quality with some vg and premium examples

54
Q

roero arneis docg laws and main producers

A

95% arneis 70hL/ha
vietti, bruno giacosa

55
Q

who is owning vineyards in piedmont?

A

mostly all small estates in the past some growers used to sell their vineyards to large holdings e.g. fontanafredda but now with rising prices they keep the land

56
Q

barolo barbaresco exports number %

A

barolo 85% barbaresco 75%

57
Q

why wines of piedmont are rising?

A
  1. bordeaux/burgundy alternatives
  2. develop quickly tertiary aromas
  3. suz-zones and single vineyards can be parallel to burgundy
  4. has many sub areas and docs for cheaper wines (more market)