Piemonte Flashcards
What is the climate of Piemonte?
Moderate continental, with long, cold winters and hot summers.
What are the natural factors affecting the vineyards of Piemonte?
Alps to the north provide shelter from northern winds and rain.
Protection of Mediterranean weather systems by Apennines
Lake Maggiore in the north and the Po River in the south provide some moderating influences.
Foothills with vineyards from 150m to 600m altitude.
What are the main grapes of Piemonte?
Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto
Cortese and Moscato
What is the general aspect and altitude of vineyards in Barolo?
South and south-west facing and between 200-400m in altitude
What Piemonte DOCGs are 100% Nebbiolo?
Barolo and Barbaresco
What are the key wine laws of Barolo DOCG?
Aged for 3 years of which 1.5 in oak
Reserva an extra 2 years ageing
Grapes can be from different villages
Village name can appear on a label if grapes from that area
Best examples from named vineyards/crus, e.g. Barolo Cannubi DOCG
What aged characters appear from bottle aged Barolo wines?
Tannins softer with truffles, tar and leather
What are the key winemaking developments for Nebbiolo in the past few decades?
Traditionally very long maceration on skins with over 5 years of ageing in large oak casks to soften tannins.
Movement to have wines with deeper colour, softer tannins with lees ageing and new oak flavours. This raised quality and prices
Current practice lees extreme. Picking only ripe skins and seeds to remove harsh tannins, macerate for 3-4 weeks and age in large French/Slovenian oak or combo of large and small casts. Only small proportion of new oak as too much vanilla and spice can mask delicate aromas
What are the main natural factors in Barbaresco and their impact on their wine style?
South facing slopes with lower altitudes compared to Barolo.
Also a local river.
Slightly warmer
Nebbiolo ripens earlier than Barolo so wines are fruitier and less perfumed.
Acidity and tannins similar so still age worthy.
What are the main wine laws for Barberesco DOCG?
Age for 2 years.
Reserva extra 2 years ageing
What are they key grapes in Asti and Alba?
Barbera and Dolcetto, under labels of Barbera d’Asti DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC and Dolcetto d’Alba DOC
Nebbiolo is also widely planted
What is the general style of Barbera wines?
Medium to deep coloured, high acidity, medium tannins, medium intensity, red cherries and plums and sometimes black pepper.
Unoaked are fruity and oaked have spicy characters
Good to very good
Inexpensive to mid-priced
Where is Dolcetto generally planted and why?
On coolest sites and ripen earlier than Barbera and Nebbiolo
What is the general style of Dolcetto wines?
Deep ruby, medium (+) tannins, medium (-) acidity, medium (+) acidity, red cherries and floral
What factors contribute to the long, slow ripening of Cortese grapes in Gavi?
Altitude from hills and sea breezes
What is the general style of Gavi wines?
Medium body, high acidity, light intensity, citrus, green apples, pears, white flowers
Good with some very good
Inexpensive to mid-priced
What winemaking methods are used to add complexity to Gavi wines?
Old oak fermentation and lees stirring
What are the main labelling terms in Gavi?
Gavi DOCG, Cortese di Gavi DOCG and Gavi di Gavi DOCG
What are some of the natural risks facing Piemonte vineyards?
Thunderstorm Hail Fog Late frost Low rainfall during ripening but increases towards end of growing season
What are the key characteristics of the Nebbiolo grape?
Early budding and late ripening
Vigorous, regular canopy management to avoid unripe grapes
Best examples grown on calcareous marl
What is the style of a typical Barolo DOCG?
Pale ruby/garnet, high acidity, high tannins, full body, medium to high alcohol, pronounced intensity, violet, rose, red cherry, red plum
Very good to outstanding, premium and super premium priced
Why do growers of Nebbiolo prune their vines high and use single guyot?
First few buds are infertile and single guyot allows mechanical canopy trimming.
What’s been some of the outcome of clonal research for Nebbiolo?
Deeper colour, but possible loss of high aromatic intensity
How do producers like Gaja have vines with low vigour (higher concentration), small berries (deeper colour) and open bunches (reduce disease)
Propagate via Mass selection
What style of Barolo wine is produced in the north and west on blue grey marl soil?
Lighter, more aromatic and drinkable after a few years
For Barolo wines made in the South and East of the area on yellow grey sand and clay, what is their general style?
Closed and tannic in youth, needs cellared for 10-15 years
What is the name of the sub-zone system introduced in 2010 in Barolo?
It is called MGA, the sub-zones are:
Entire village (La Morra) Single vineyards (Cannubi) Combination of specific vineyards (Terlo MGA)
What is a Barolo Chinato?
Sweetened Barolo wine infused with herbs and spices
What is the general quality and price of Barbaresco DOCG?
Very good to outstanding
Premium and super premium priced
What other DOCs and DOCGs in Piemonte also make wines using Nebbiolo?
Roero DOCG Gattinara DOCG Ghemme DOCG Langue Nebbiolo DOC Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC
What are the key characteristics of the Barbera grape?
Similar to Nebbiolo, early budding, late ripening and vigorous.
Disease resistant and high yielding
Name the DOCs and DOCGs that use Barbera grapes?
Barbera d’Asti DOCG
Barbera d’Alba DOC
Nizza DOCG
Piemonte DOC
What DOCs and DOCGs use Dolcetto grapes?
Dolcetto d’Alba DOC
Dolcetto di Ovada DOC
Dogliani DOCG
Piemonte DOC
For Riserva Gavi wines, how long does it need to age for?
One year in any vessel
What is the style of Roero Arneis DOCG?
Medium (-) acidity, light intensity, complex aromas of flowers, chamomile, white peach and lemon
Good with some very good
Inexpensive to mid-priced
With Piemonte still mainly made up of small family owned vineyards, do small growers tend to sell grapes to larger producers?
Historically yes but today many small estates bottle and market their own wines due to higher prices for Nebbiolo wines
Majority of Barolo and Barbaresco wines are exported, but what is the percentage?
Barolo 85%
Barbaresco 75%
For both, Key markets are USA, Germany, UK and Scandinavia
What has been the recent market trend for collectors in relation to Nebbiolo wines?
With Burgundy and Bordeaux prices increasing rapidly, Nebbiolo’s ability to bottle age meant there’s been more interests from collectors
Sub-zones of Barolo and Barbaresco are gaining momentum, especially better known sub-zones
