The Vintner's Press
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! THE VINTNER’S PRESS A Publication of the Wisconsin Vintners Association Volume 49 Number 11 December 2018 Nebbiolo: The Premier Grape of Italy Stephen Franzoi Nebbiolo is a red grape variety that is indigenous to the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. The region borders Switzerland to the north and France to the west and is surrounded on three sides by the Alps. This is why its name in medieval Latin means “at the foot of the mountain.” Piedmont has a continental climate with hot, humid and relatively dry summers, cooling foggy falls, and cold winters with frequent heavy snowfalls. The region’s geography is 43.3% mountainous, along with substantial areas of hills (30.3%) and plains (26.4%). The soils of Piedmont are clayey and calcareous and generally poor in nutrients, and the winds from the Alps that sweep through from the north lead to perennially late grape harvests. Piedmont is in the northwest of Italy. Some Basic Nebbiolo Facts The name “Nebbiolo” is believed to have been derived from the Italian word nebbia, which means "fog." The grape’s association with fog most likely refers to the following two facts: (1) during harvest time in late October, an intense fog blankets the region’s vineyards, and (2) as the Nebbiolo grapes ripen and Fog covers Piedmont vineyards in the fall. mature, they develop a fog-like milky veil over the skins. In 2004, DNA testing found that Nebbiolo is an offspring of two aromatic grape varieties — the Freisa grape of Piedmont and the French Rhone variety Viognier. Additional testing suggested a parent-offspring relationship between Nebbiolo (the parent) and several other Italian grapes, including the Lombardy red grapes, Rossola nera and Brugnola. However its name was derived and whatever its origins, the one undeniable truth is that this grape has great value to both the inhabitants of the region and to wine lovers around the world. Indeed, the Nebbiolo grape is so prized within Piedmont that in the 15th century laws were passed stating that the penalties for cutting down a Nebbiolo vine ranged from a heavy Yine to having your right hand cut off (repeat offenders were hanged). Despite the high value As they mature, a fog-like veil develops on Nebbiolo grapes. placed on Nebbiolo by Piedmont residents, only 8 percent of the grapevines here are Nebbiolo, which causes one to wonder whether there are still shrewd one-handed Nebbiolo haters roaming the region. The red grape varieties Barbera and Dolcetto are much more widely planted, as is the white grape Moscato. Nebbiolo is one of the Yirst varieties in Piedmont to bud, but it is also the last variety to ripen, meaning that when it is harvested in mid to late October vintners have often already completed fermentation of their Barbera and Dolcetto grapes that grew nearby. By law, there is no irrigation in the region with the exception of young vines. To increase the likelihood that Nebbiolo has a good opportunity to ripen, vintners plant it on south and southwestern facing slopes at between a 500 to 1,000 foot elevation so that the vines have more access to direct sunlight. The traditional method used for Yinding the best locations to plant Nebbiolo vines was to wait 2-3 days after a snowfall to see what areas among the patchwork on a hill melted Yirst; those were the prime spots. Nebbiolo needs sufYicient warmth and sunlight to develop the sugars and fruit lavors needed to balance the grape's naturally high acidity and tannins. Nebbiolo produces pale garnet wines that have high tannins and high acidity when young. As they age, wines made from Nebbiolo grapes develop a brick-orange hue at the rim of the glass and have aromas and Ylavors such as violets, tar, wild herbs, cherries, raspberries, tobacco, and prunes. Depending upon how it is made, Nebbiolo wines can easily require at least a decade of aging to balance its high tannins and high acids with its other lavor characteristics. The Four Major Categories of Italian Wine Before describing and discussing the two primary wines made from the Nebbiolo grape in the Piedmont region, let us brieYly review how Italy classiYies wine. In the second half of the 20th century, the Italian government established a series of laws to safeguard the quality and authenticity of their wine. These laws designated protected zones where vintners and producers must adhere to strict regulations in order to be granted certiYied status. CertiYication falls into four categories of decreasing strictness: DOCG, DOC, IGT, and VdT. Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG): This category identiYies Italy’s most famous wines, wines that meet the strictest regulations possible in their production. Wines with DOCG status must come from vineyards with low grape yields, the wine must be made in the same place where the grapes are grown, and the resulting wines must pass an in-depth technical analysis that guarantees quality. Currently, about 70 Italian wines qualify for DOCG status. Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC): This category identiies wines that still meet very strict regulations, but not as strict as the DOCG standards. For example, the geographic zone might be a little larger or the rules about what kind of grapes are in the wine might be less stringent. There are more than 300 Italian wines that have earned DOC status. Indicazione GeograGica Tipica (IGT): This category was created after the DOC and DOCG designations in order to identify some very good wines that could not meet all the DOC or DOCG regulations for one reason or another. The IGT label indicates that the wine is from a particular geographic area, but that’s all. VdT (Vino da Tavola): This is the most basic category of Italian wine, which simply stipulates that the fruit in the wine is of Italian origin. Virtually all restaurant “house wines” in Italy are VdT wines, but there are many good, inexpensive Italian wines in this category. Twenty-ive percent of commercial Italian wines carry the DOC or DOCG designation, meaning that the government believes that one out of four Italian wines are “Yine wines,” which is debatable. If you think that number is too high, in Piedmont the percent of wines that carry the DOC or DOCG designation is a whopping 63 percent! Although Piedmont ranks only seventh in overall production among all the country’s wine-producing regions, it has more DOC and DOCG classiications than any other wine region (55 DOCs and 16 DOCGs). Not surprisingly, Italy’s classiYication of wines is not without its critics, many of who are the country’s most famous winemakers. Some of the critics believe there are too many wines included in both the DOCG and DOC categories, making it difYicult to ensure that they are all of high quality. Others simply assert that quality cannot be created by law. Barolo, the King of Italian Wines The most famous wine made from Nebbiolo is Barolo, which was the favorite wine of France’s “Sun King”, Louis XIV, who reigned from 1643 to 1715. Other royalty also loved this wine, and perhaps for this reason, Barolo has long been known as “the Wine of Kings and the King of Wines.” At irst, this wine was called “Barol,” but then in the 1830’s the wine was named after its town of origin, “Barolo.” The only area where Barolo can be made is within a designated zone in southwestern Piedmont called Langhe. There are 11 villages within this zone. To the west are the villages of Barolo, Diano d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour, Novello, Cherasco, La Morra, Roddi and Verduno where more fertile soils produce Barolos that tend to be softer and slightly more delicate. To the east are the villages of Monforte d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d’Alba, where the poorer soils tend to produce fuller, more muscular Barolos. In these 11 villages there are more than 900 producers authorized to use the name Barolo for their wine, but only if they meet the following strict DOCG regulations. First, all vineyards must be located on hillsides and must be predominantly south facing and each hectare (which is 2.47 acres) can produce no more than 8 tons of grapes, which is 3 ¼ tons of grapes per acre. Second, bulk aging must be at least three years, with the Yirst year starting on January 1st of the year following the harvest. Two years of bulk aging must be in oak barrels. When subjected to aging of at least ive years before release, the wine can be labeled Borolo Riserva. Diano d’Alba in the Barolo Zone In bottle, Barolo is often described as having aromas of tar and roses, and its color takes on a rust red tinge as it matures. The wines are almost always lightly colored, varying from ruby to garnet in their youth to more brick and orange hues as they age. Due to its high tannin, it can take more than 10 years for this wine to sufYiciently soften so that it is ready for drinking, but it will continue to mature for at least 30 years. Up until the mid-20th century, wine production in the Barolo Zone was dominated by large negociants who purchased grapes and wines throughout the zone and then blended it together. This practice began to change in the 1960s when individual vintners began estate bottling and producing single vineyard wines from their vineyards. Traditionally, the way that winemakers made Barolo was to allow the Nebbiolo grape skins to macerate on the fermenting juice for at least three weeks, extracting immense amounts of tannins before pressing.