Italy 2012 - Piemonte
La Morra
Tasted Sunday, July 8, 2012 - Saturday, July 14, 2012 by godx with 1,132 views
Introduction
We arrived in La Morra from Lake Como in the early afternoon so we checked in to our hotel and chilled by the pool for the afternoon. After cleaning up we headed over to Bovio for dinner.
Flight 1 - Dinner at Ristorante Bovio (2 Notes)
We did the tasting menu which I thought offered good value at 45€. It included several ‘typical’ appetizers, raviolini, braised beef in Barolo and a selection of cheeses. The food was excellent and plentiful as my wife and I were stuffed after the braised beef and didn’t even get to the cheese course. The wine list is quite good, with many deals to be found, but there are also some wines that are priced for tourists.
Flight 2 - Bartolo Mascarello (4 Notes)
We were greeted by Alan, a native New Yorker who moved to Piemonte in 2010, who was an extremely knowledgeable and informative host. He explained the traditional aspects of Bartolo Mascarello (30 day minimum maceration…in 2010 56 days, how the blend is determined in the vineyard, etc.). Since Maria-Theresa took over in 2005, she made the decision to keep everything the same as her father Bartolo did. The only thing she did was clean up the winery a bit. Up until 2008, labels were put on by hand. The Barolo is aged for a minimum of 3 years in Slovenian oak and the total production is 30k bottles, 16k of which is Barolo. After our tasting we chatted with Maria-Theresa and Alan for a while and then headed over to Barbaresco for a visit at Produttori.
Flight 3 - Produttori (6 Notes)
Our appointment was with Luca who was very friendly and knowledgeable about the history of the Langhe and specifically of Barbaresco. He told us in how Produttori has always had three primary rules: first, 100% of the fruit from the growers goes into the cooperative; second, members of the cooperative are not allowed to make their own wine; and third, the cooperative pays top dollar to the growers for their fruit, and the amount is determined by quality, not weight. He also explained that all nine Riservas are treated the exact same way (35 day macerations, 3 years in oak, 1 year in bottle), to preserve and allow the differences to show.
Flight 4 - Dinner at della Saracca (1 Note)
After Il Centro failed to inform us that they decided to be closed tonight (even though we had a reservation), we starting driving around looking for a place to take us at 9:30pm with no reservation. We first tried La Libera, but they were full, so we went over to Le Case della Saracca in Monforte and had a great meal at their restaurant. The atmosphere and architecture (think medieval) is really cool, the food is very good, the service is personal and friendly and the wine list is well priced with an adequate selection. My wife and I shared a plate of cured meats to start than she had vegetarian lasagna and I had carbonara risotto. The lasagna was good, with nice pesto oil on top. My risotto was excellent—a raw golden yolk in the middle with bacon and oil gave the dish a nice richness to match the superb flavours.
Flight 5 - Vietti (9 Notes)
We had a wonderful visit with Elena who toured us around the cellars. She explained for the Barolos, on average, that malolactic fermentation and the first 3-4 months of aging occurs in low toast French barrels, then the wines are transferred to 10-30 year old Slovenian oak casks (30-34/hl) for 2-3 years. Towards the end of our tasting, Luca was sampling some 2009s (which were going to be bottled the following week) and offered us a taste of these as well. This was a fun and laid back visit with a great set of wines.
Flight 6 - Lunch at Centro Storico (1 Note)
After our visit at Vietti we went to Centro Storico in Serralunga for lunch. We sat on the back patio as there was a constant breeze which made the 35 degree temperature bearable. The chilled bottle of Champagne also helped with the heat. The service was excellent and timely, but minimalist, allowing us to enjoy our meal in what felt like a totally private atmosphere. The wine list is excellent, especially in the Champagne department. We shared a starter plate of red and yellow peppers with oil-cured tuna which was simple, fresh and tasty…and most importantly worked beautifully with the bubbly. For mains we both got (different) pasta dishes which were excellent—simple, elegant, fresh and insanely delicious. Highly recommended.
Flight 7 - Aldo Conterno (6 Notes)
After our wonderful lunch at Centro Storico we headed over to Aldo Conterno for our next visit. Giacomo hosted us for a 3+ hour tasting that was relaxed and personal with lots of great conversation. He is clearly very passionate about what he does and his enthusiasm is remarkable. This was a great way to spend the afternoon.
Flight 8 - Dinner at La Ciau del Tornavento (1 Note)
Our dinner at La Ciau del Tornavento was somewhat mixed. The setting and atmosphere of the dramatic dining room is incredible. While the service was fairly good, I found several of the servers to be somewhat confused/incompetent on a few occasions. And very few servers were native Italians and didn’t seem to really know the food or the wine list well. The food itself was excellent: creative, artistic flavorful and sophisticatedly presented. Between my wife and I we had several dishes, all which were incredibly good (plin ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese, veal sweetbreads and tortellini filled with burrata, for example). The wine cellar is simply insane. They keep around 28,000 bottles in the restaurant’s cellar and there is another 22,000 stored offsite. They have Monfortino going back to 1945, a good selection of top Burgundy and Bordeaux, but obviously the focus is on Italian wines and boy do they have everything covered. This restaurant was recommended to me by several people, one whom I completely trust and respect when it comes to fine dining, so I will chalk my mixed experience here up to the servers having an off night and I will try again next time I’m in Piemonte.
Flight 9 - Giuseppe Mascarello (8 Notes)
We met with Maria Teresa for a very relaxed and personal visit. We did a quick tour of the facilities than proceeded to taste the wines. Maria Teresa speaks French and Italian, but very little English, so communication was a bit of an effort as our French is rusty, but with the use of our hands and getting creative we were able to fully understand each other and this made for a fun and interactive tasting. Maria Teresa is a warm, friendly and passionate lady and we really enjoyed our time with her. The wines of Giuseppe Mascarello are some of my favorites in Piemonte and this set that we tasted confirms that. Traditional, complex and pure.
Flight 10 - Elio Grasso (5 Notes)
We met with Roberto who showed us around the very impressive facilities and newly completed massive horseshoe shaped cellars. When then took a tour of the property and headed back inside for our tasting.
Flight 11 - Giacomo Conterno (5 Notes)
We met with Roberto and Stephanie (who helped translate when needed) for a personal visit in the cellars while barrel sampling five wines. Barrel sampling nebbiolo is an extremely difficult and mouth punishing exercise (I give all the credit in the world to those who can do it with any kind of accuracy and consistency), but what a treat it was to taste this wines with Roberto and get to try two vintages of Monfortino. I asked Roberto about his decision to make Monfortino in 2002 (but no Cascina Francia) when it was right-off year for many of the top estates in Piemonte, and he said that part of the Cascina Francia cru was unscathed by the hail and the fruit looked excellent. After the wine was vinified he felt the wine was worthy to be Monfortino and decided to give it an extra year in botti, for a total of eight years instead of the usual seven.
Flight 12 - Dinner at Antine (2 Notes)
We had read Antine in Barbaresco was a great value considering the quality of food and its one Michelin star rating, so we were excited to go here. We also had read the wine list was impressive and fairly priced with a good number of older vintages of Produttori. Well, the food was excellent and the prices are very fair, but the wine list must have been thoroughly picked over as there were very little aged options and the only vintages of Produttori represented were 2005 and 2006. What was also strange was that it was us, along with one other couple (non-locals), alone in the restaurant…no other diners; awfully bizarre for a Friday night. Do the locals know something that we don't? Either way, we had a great and very fairly priced meal and drank a wonderful bottle of ‘05 Giacosa Barbaresco. Service was adequate and personal (clearly with only two tables) and the food was excellent. The presentation was also very nice, especially on the amuse bouche, both of our appetizers and our shared dessert.
NV Bruno Paillard Champagne Rosé Brut Première Cuvée 91 Points
France, Champagne
(7/8/2012)
Drank at Bovio in La Morra. From 375ml. Disgorgement November 2011. Onion skin colour. Beautiful nose of orange peel, strawberry, yeast and hints of toast. On the entry there are more autolytic flavours with a creamy texture on the mid palate and crisp acidity on the dry and lengthy finish. Mousse is soft and fine. This is drinking very well but will develop and improve for 5+ years. Excellent. 91+
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1996 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
(7/8/2012)
Drank at Bovio in La Morra. Decanted and served 30min later. Nose was fairly pronounced with aromas of licorice, cherries and rose water. Cherry and licorice dominate the palate with flavours of ripe strawberry and toffee also coming through. In the mouth it was perfectly balanced with medium to high acidity, firm tannins and a rich red fruit finish. As it sat in the decanter it seemed to get younger, showing more fruit and more weight and flavours of juicy red currants and red cherries leading the way. This is quite approachable now but another 3-5 years and this should be even better. Excellent. 92+
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue