North-West Italy - Piemonte Flashcards
Where is Pimonte
North-West corner of italy
What is the weather?
Mountains in north = rain shadow, protects region from winds and precipitation
What is the climate in Piemonte
What is the climate in Piemonte? Threats? Rainfall?
Moderate and continental with long, cold winters and summers,
thunderstorms, hail and fog and frost
low rain in June-Sept = good ripening
higher rain in autumn, threat to Nebbiolo
What are the moderating influences in Piemonte?
Po River in southern part of region
Lake Maggiore in the North
Describe the terrain in Piemonte
Area noted for foothills
100-600m
Different aspects and altitudes for viticulture
Describe the Nebbiolo grape/ vineyard
Until recently only grown in Piemonte
Early budding (frost)
Vigorous = canopy management - to avoid unripe fruit due to leaf shading
Single guyot
High Trained/Pruning due to first few buds infertile, pruned with more buds
Best quality require time-consuming cluster thinning
Late ripening
South/southwest facing sites
Describe a wine made from Nebbiolo
Typically pale, ruby to pale garnet (3-5 yrs) pronounced intensity aromas and flavours: violet, rose, red cherry, red plum, herbs, dried flowers
Full Bodied, hi tannins, hi acidity, hi alcohol
What soil does the finest, most perfumed wines grow on?
Calcareous Marls
What is the disadvantage of new clones?
producing a deeper colour, but have lost some aromatics
Which producer prefer mass selection to propagate new vines?
Gaja (seeking vines with low vigour = higher concentration, open bunches (less fungal disease) and small berries (good depth of colour)
Where is Barolo DOCG?
Named after village Barolo, incorporates a number of villages south west of the city of Alba.
Describe Barolo?
Dry, tannic wine made from 100% Nebbiolo
What is it also known as?
The King of Wines, the Wine of Kings (House of Savoy)
Where are the vineyards planted for Barolo? height? result? effect on grapes? effect on wines?
South and South-West facing slopes, 200-400m high = good sunlight interception with cooling influences = slow ripening, long growing season, produces wines of pronounced aromatic intensity and hi acidity
What are the max yields for Barolo DOCG?
56 hL/ha
How much have plantings increased in the last 30 years?
doubled to 2,000 ha
What are the ageing requirements for Barolo DOCG?
Aged for 3 years and 2 months from 1 November of the year of harvest, incl 18m in oak
What is the effect of the ageing requirements?
Add to costs of production
resulting in v good-premium wines, outstanding quality and premium and super-premium priced
Describe the 2 different types of soil in Barolo DOCG
Villages with blue-grey marl in north and west = La more = wines lighter and more aromatic
Villages in South and east = Serralunga d’Alba = closed wines, tannic and require cellaring for 10-15 years
Why might producers blend their wines
for complexity
Bartolo Mascarello
why might producers use single vineyards?
high reputation for quality
Gaja and Bruno Giacosa
What are the sub-zones of Barolo DOCG? (2010)
Entire village (ie, La Morra)
Specified Single Vineyard
Number of specified vineyards
Describe Barolo Chinato
a Barolo wine, sweetened and infused with herbs and spices