Piemonte Winemakers: Olek Bondonio, Andrea Bosco, Davide Germano

Winemakers Andrea Bosco, Davide Germano and Olek Bondonio with a rep from Tanaro River Imports

This was a fun Friday evening tasting with three very engaging and enthusiastic young winemakers from the Piedmont. All three of them belong to families that have somehow been involved with growing grapes and/or producing wine in the region for a long time, and all three have chose to commit themselves to winemaking. All three are also generally applying traditional methods in the making of Barolo and other typical wines of the region. All three producers are imported by Tanaro River Imports LLC out of Irvine, California. I was particularly impressed with the Olek Bondonio bottlings. The Bosco Barolo La Serra was also quite good. For more information on each of the producers and my tasting notes, see below:

Olek Bondonio is a retired snowboarding champion turned winemaker who has been making wines since 2005 at an ancient farmhouse, called La Berchialla, that has been in his family for a couple centuries. He inherited a piece of the vineyards that used to belong to the family there, but mainly purchases fruit to make his wines, which currently include the Grignolino, Langhe Nebbiolo and Barbaresco I tried, as well as a Dolcetto and Rosso. He completed agricultural studies at Turin University in 2002, and then learned his craft assisting winemakers in Oregon, Australia and New Zealand, as well as working harvests and in cellars in the Langhe, before starting his own project.

The delicious '07 Barbaresco comes from vines planted in 1979 in the Roncagliette vineyard of Barbaresco. It neighbors Gaja's great Sori Tildin and Costa Russi vineyards. It is made in a fairly traditional fashion, including long maceration for 24-28 days, fermentation on indigenous yeasts, and aging in Slovenian botti for 18 to 20 months. The result, I thought, was quite impressive. Olek's Langhe Nebbiolo was also quite good, for about half the price of the Barbaresco.

• 2010 Olek Bondonio Piemonte Grignolino 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC

  Medium red color with pale meniscus; floral, tart red fruit, cranberry, bark nose; floral, tart red fruit, cranberry, roses, red berry, bark palate with firm tannins, needs 1-2 years; medium-plus finish

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• 2007 Olek Bondonio Langhe Nebbiolo 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Medium red color with pale meniscus; intriguing, appealing, red berry, dried berry, wild berry, spice nose; very tasty, spicy, dried berry, currant, palate, approachable now but will be great in a few years; medium-plus finish (55 year old vines; 14-16 mos. in Slovenian oak botti)

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• 2007 Olek Bondonio Vino Rosso 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Medium orange red color with 5 millimeter clear meniscus; nice, redolent, dried orange, dried cherry, baked berry nose; tasty, sexy, rich, complex, medium-bodied, dried berry, orange, subtle chocolate palate, lithe and appealing; medium-plus finish 93+ points (22-24 mos. in Slovenian botti)

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Andrea Bosco joined his father in making wine on the land his grandfather first farmed. The family now farms four hectares of vineyards in La Morra. Andrea studied winemaking at Alba’s Scuola Enologica.

The Barolo La Serra is vinified in steel tanks for 14-15 days, then raised in barriques and 500 liter French barrels for 10-12 months before being moved to large Slovenian botti for another 16 to 18 months. The Barbera is aged for 14 to 15 months in barriques, 70% of which are new. Bosco Agostino also makes a Langhe Nebbiolo which I did not try.

• 2009 Bosco Agostino Dolcetto d'Alba 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba

  Dark red violet color; diffuse, floral, hibiscus, cranberry nose; tasty, poised, earthy, red berry, tar, charcoal, mineral palate; medium finish

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• 2007 Bosco Agostino Barbera d'Alba 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

  Very dark black red violet color very nice, tar, dried berry, blackberry nose; tasty, blackberry, tart plum, dried berry palate; medium-plus finish (14 mos. in oak, 60% new)

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• 2007 Bosco Agostino Barolo La Serra 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Medium red color with pale meniscus; appealing, dried red berry, rich cinnamon, roasted red fruit, dried cherry nose; tasty, tight, elegant, dried berry, tar, black raspberry palate with depth, needs 3-plus years; long finish

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Germano Angelo has been making Barolo since 1908, and young Davide Germano is now the winemaker. His grandfather, Davide, was one of the founders of the Consortium for the Defense of Barolo and Barbaresco Wines in 1934. Germano Angelo produces several Barolo bottlings, of which we only tried the basic. It was good, but I'm sure one or more of the reservas and single vineyard Barolos they produce would have been even more impressive. The nose on the Langhe Nebbiolo was unfortunate, and hard to get past.

• 2008 Germano Angelo Barbera d'Alba La Soleggiata 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

  Medium dark red color with some sediment; red berry, wild berry, roasted nose; tasty, roasted fruit, charcoal, dried berry, smoke palate; medium-plus finish (stainless steel raised)

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• 2007 Germano Angelo Langhe Nebbiolo 87 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Medium red color with 3 millimeter clear meniscus; dried red fruit, dried currant nose with a sense of cat pee; tight, dried currant, herbal palate; medium-plus finish (15 mos. in oak)

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• 2007 Germano Angelo Barolo 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Medium reddish orange color with two millimeter clear meniscus; redolent, oak spice, dried berry, cranberry nose; tasty, poised, tart dried red fruit, red berry palate with grip, approachable now, but will be very nice with 2-3 years age; medium-plus finish

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