For what with global warming and wild fire, Rick’s Giaconda vineyards, planted in the early 1980s with the Chardonnay first bottled in 1986, have been feeling the heat of late. So six years back he grafted Nebbiolo onto half a hectare of wilting Pinot Noir. He’s happy with the result, as are the hacks at the Wine Advocate apparently, rating his Nebbiolo as the best tasted outside Italy. I sense though that his new business partner Michel Chapoutier is not so keen, preferring Syrah instead. Rick stresses he’s not out to make a me-too Barbaresco or Barolo style wine, but one that reflects the lower pH  granite and schistous soils that lie on the Victorian Alp foothills at between 500-700 metres above sea-level, made with the same painstaking care that characterises all his wines; wines that are truly hand-made, without recourse to yeast, pump or filter.

He lost no time in getting amongst a small selection of Piemontese friends/producers I’d lined up for him – Mario Fontana, Davide Rosso, Maria Teresa Mascarello, Teobaldo Rivella and Luca Roagna – quizzing them about everything from the amount of leaves left when thinning to the levels and timings of sulphur additions.  And to return the compliment, he shared out a bottle of his exquisitely poised 2008 Chardonnay and compact blue-blooded 2006 Warner Vineyard Shiraz both no doubt benefiting from Rick’s dabbling in the occult:

evangelical biodynamicist and friend Alex Podolinsky visits Rick from time to time…

And who better to visit during this particularly hot and humid spell than this former air-conditioning engineer from Queensland – although I’m not sure if he ever did get around to mending Cascina delle Rose’s dehumidifier that packed up recently, much to owner Giovanna Rizzolio’s despair.

The barrique revolution spurred the traditional, large oak botti wine producers into raising their game: a touch less tea-leaf, more fruit please. And as Pieremilio Garbellotto points out in my interview, there’s been a concurrent leap in the understanding of the role of oak, with customers far more demanding and knowledgeable about the type of oak influence they’re after. Now they’re enjoying one of their busiest periods ever, aided by a new line in ‘off-the-shelf’ French/Slavonian 10 hectare litre barrels. Even staunch Barolo modernists such as Roberto Voerzio have recently bought in a battery of botti; the first time in 14 years since trading-in the botte for the barrique.

It was more a pilgrimage than business as usual as I finally arrived at the mecca of barrel makers at Conegliano, Veneto. The Garbellotto family have been in business since 1775, with three brothers Pieremilio, Piero, and Piergregorio now representing the 8th generation. Pieremilio, head of production, whizzed me round in his golf buggy, explaining how a third of the oak used is French, the rest coming from the Balkans (‘Slavonian’); the oak is either Quercus Petraia (compact grain) or Quercus Pedunculata (broader grain) – the more agricultural Quercus Alba is favoured by the American growers/coopers. Production is 80% botti (10-100 hectare litres), 20% fermenting vats, botticelle and yes even some barriques! Toasting is still traditional and time-honoured using a fire (right), gently preparing the wood rather than burning it via a fast and fashionable zap of a laser. The wood is seasoned for a minimum two years prior to use; and it’s not just oak but also the much revered cherry, pungent chestnut, acacia and even ash. All felled in accordance with the FSC agreement set up with the WWF; the minimum oak age being approx. 120 years old.

Of the fifteen cantine visited over four-and-a-half days – cantine selected for their artisan size/focus – 40% reflected the more extracted style as championed by Dal Forno, the rest finding solace in the soil. But then as Paolo Galli of Le Ragose stated, admittedly from his historical vantage point above Negrar, ‘you can’t buy experience’; nor prime sites unless you’re willing to rebuild abandoned terraces – one I met had spent four years piecing together a two hectare vineyard. Faced with such ‘adversity’ and an increasingly competitive market, ‘new-start’ cantine are taking refuge in the technology to see them through rather than trusting in the trowel.

In these warmer times it seems that the pergola trellising system may be making a comeback, with its higher acidities, even if the higher density guyot produces a richer, earlier, more even crop year-in, year-out. The change in the weather has also accelerated a flight to the hills, in search of relief and terroir; Dal Forno for one has just bought a piece up from the valley floor in the valley of Mezzane di Sotto.

It was heartening to come across producers who had not chosen to ‘muddy the waters’ and manipulate the must (with rotos, cryomaceration, selected yeasts, enzymes, tannins etc…). I applaud the ‘traditionalists’ who seek to convey the quality of their ancient volcanic and calcareous terroir to shine through giving wines of real identity, distinction/nobilità, and drinkability. It’s a terroir particularly visible among the ‘Classico’ valleys of S.Ambrogio, S. Pietro in Cariano, Fumane, Marano (left), and Negrar, with fine sites at 250-350 metres, but also elsewhere, as per the high chalky site above Mezzane di Sotto, home to Marinella Camerani’s property Corte Sant’Alda (in the video below). It’s a terroir that deserves to be articulated clearly through the wines.

This is also the view of the Consorzio, as they look to ‘rediscover the lost identity’ of the region. Not only have they facilitated the DOCG for Amarone  and Recioto, partly to reflect the quality but also as a measure of increased control (and lower yields), but moreover they have begun promoting the individual sub-zones; no doubt in time to become ‘crus’ as here in Piedmont.

*The total surface area of  the Valpolicella district is approx. 30,000 hectares, of which hillsides (75%), valley floors (17%) and urban areas (8%). Of this 6,300 are vineyards (20% planted in the last 10 years), split equally between the historical ‘Classico’ area (fie communes above) and the more recent ‘non-Classico ’ (14 communes) extension. Interestingly of the ‘Classico’ region ‘hillsides’ represent 60%, while this figure is 46% for the ‘non-Classico’ zone. There are 2600 farms averaging 2.16 hecatre, with 93% of properties having fewer than 5 hectare –  source il Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Valpolicella.

Gone are the days of digging a trench and planting by hand. Now it’s done mechanically, inserting the young vine (left) into carefully prepared soil via a GPS-controlled navigation system to ensure the contours are matched. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, you’ll see from the video below the detail with which Nebbiolo clones and rootstock are mapped out according to the subtle changes in soil composition and aspect. Chiara, now ably assisted by her brother Giorgio (recently released from his duties at ‘Borgogno’, the old family winery in Barolo), is sowing the seeds for greatness – if the taste of her 2006 Cannubi, sampled this morning, is anything to go by…

With temperatures, and canopies, now rising, it was time to take to the hills this weekend, the maritime Alps an hour west of Alba, to join Chiara and her 19 cows who’ve recently made the transhumance. Chiara’s part of a ‘herd’ of Barolo producers: the so-called ‘I dieci Martini’ (so named after the ubiquitous family living in the area), investing in the renovation of derelict villages around Castelmagno; a region famous for the quality of its cheese. I didn’t so much as see the cows as hear them high above on the ridge; their bells clanging as they munched.

And then it was back down to earth, to Alba for my son Nicholas’s (left in the photo above) football final; scoring a hat-trick and awarded player of the tournament…let’s hope Fabio’s lot fare as well over the coming few weeks!

That view’s very different to the one I’m used to here in the Langhe, Piemonte. It’s not simply because of the predominance of (Tuscan) woodland over vine – leading to a certain isolation, non? -  but also there appears to be a cultural aspect too. Despite an ancient Etruscan history, I found that in too many cases the ‘cultural’ bit seems to have been lopped off the prefixes ‘viti’ and ‘vini’. Surely ‘viticulture’ and ‘viniculture’ are more than just the cultivation of grapes and production of wine thereof? What of that interaction between the land and its people, preserving heritage and communities; enriching lives at all levels through cultural and product integrity? It’s what makes wine more than just an alcoholic drink, does it not?

I arrived in the expectation that Sangiovese – a cultured rosy (not black) pearl if ever there was one – had never tasted so good. Since the DOCG was awarded in 1984, the Chianti Classico Consorzio (representing the growers) has reduced the defective wines of the immediate post war period. Via the ‘Chianti Classico 2000’ project they’ve helped producers improve their viticulture through better clones, advice on training methods, planting densities etc.. The upshot being vineyards designed for quality wine production and not ones that characterised the polycultural existence of yesteryear. Significantly it’s also reduced disease pressure and so in theory the use of chemical sprays. In short the potential for Chianti Classico producers to make delicious, elegant Sangiovese, in pale purezza ideally, that sings, as only it can, of the prized alberese (calcareous) and galestro (schistous) soils of Gaiole, Radda, Panzano, Castellina, Greve and Castelnuovo Berardenga is well within their reach, and yet, and yet…

…the market has changed. Recent enlargements of the (7,500 hectare Classico) zone, particularly an additional 1,200 hectare of (unpoliced) IGT Toscana, along with eyebrow-raising investments in nearby Montalcino (again in less than prime soil) and further south ‘on the beach’ – sorry – in the Maremma, has only added to the woes. The marketplace is crammed, especially in the USA but also at home, with producers of every size forced to go that extra mile to catch the eye.

This has led to too many producers seeking an exaggeration of colour, fruit and concentration in their once elegant wines. High planting densities might work for Merlot or Cabernet but don’t suit Sangiovese, leading to high alcohol fruit bombs that could have been made anywhere in the world. Then there’s the noble adoption by artisan producers of organic and biodynamic techniques in the search of terroir expression and differentiation…aped by larger entities chasing the same labels for other less honourable reasons.

Crucially I sensed that there are too many absentee landlords, whether displaced  internationals or historic families who should know better, now relinquishing control to ‘(in)famous’ consultents in return for wine journal points, access to ‘key’ journalists and to favourable sales channels….just as they once handed the keys to the contadini tending their land according to the Medieval ‘mezzadria’ system. This has in turn led to a compromise of the unique Chianti Classico brand; something in my view that needs to be articulated and protected, both in content and style. Among those on the right track, despite (they admit) sacrificing ‘Points’, are Badia e Coltibuono, Isole e Olena, Il Borghetto, Felsina, Bibbiano, Montevertine, Poggerino, Villa di Geggiano, Castello di Ama, Riecine, Monte Bernardi and San Giusto a Rentennano…

As Marco Pallanti (above), mercurial winemaker at Castello di Ama, and also President of the Consorzio, points out: ‘There’s a risk that the consultant becomes too important, for it’s the land that should lead the winemaker, not the other way round. He quotes Henri Jayer in saying that we need to understand the technology more so as to be able to do less.

This weekend’s migration took me south to Lucca, that fine walled city, in search of enlightenment. It was the annual Anteprima Costa Toscana, a spread of properties covering the more marginal wine regions round Grosseto, Livorno, Massa, Pisa and of course Lucca; almost all showing off the juicy 2009 vintage from barrel. While those round Lucca and Livorno generally showed best balance and consistency – with Tenuta di Valgiano (above left) crowning the lot – it was the Pisa crowd that have most to do; a raggedy bunch if ever I saw one. Still, amongst their number was Caiarossa, a Bordeaux-owned property trying earnestly to raise their game. Indeed word has it they’ve recently beaten a path to the door of Valgiano, cap in hand no doubt, to glean the secrets of successful biodynamic viticulture….

I too trod the path to Valgiano, to catch up with owners Moreno Petrini and Laura di Collobiano (right) at their elegant 16th century abode overlooking the city below.

And how ironic, as I turned for home and the Langhe hills, so radio RAI 2 should run a really great slot on organic farming, its nutritious as well as environmental value…before closing the piece, as only Italians can, with a rollicking rendition of AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’!

Now I’m not that good at accents, but what was it Noël said about his approach to biodynamics these past twenty years?  Something about being a ‘pratiquant non croyant’ (a ‘practising non believer’); and yes they have been doing it that long (in the vineyard) and not a certificate in sight. Noël’s been winemaker at the estate for 30 years; his father-in-law Gaston Huët buying the then three hectare property, ‘Le Haut-Lieu’, in 1928.

As hoped, this event was more than just a promotional platform for the iconic Gaston Huët domaine, all 35 hectares of it, with its distinguished Chenin Blanc vineyards: Le Haut-Lieu, Clos du Bourg and Le Mont. The evening was not simply a 12 wine tasting but an entertaining insight, full of vignettes as to what makes Huët more than just Vouvray; just as I’d always viewed those of François Cotat as more than just Sancerre: scintillating wines in a class of their own.

I smiled at how Noël confessed to making the Huët wines purely for himself, not for the market; anything left over is then offered out for sale. He’s even inclined to call time on the sales of a vintage, returning the stock to the safety of the dark cellars; to see the light when old enough to be appreciated. So while an average of 150,000 bottles are produced annually; there’s approximately four years’ stock tucked away in the dark, damp (100% relative humidity) tuffeau/chalk cellars hewn from ancient banks of the Loire.

Indeed that’s one reason, he cites, for the absence of screwcap on his wines; the humidity would rust this fair weather closure in seconds. “Show me a 60 year- old Vouvray closed with screwcap!” Meanwhile, he marvels at the 1947 at home; the one stoppered with a cork. Oh, another reason being that he can never remember the French for ‘screwcap’…

Noël respects what the vintage brings, rather than delivering commercial conformity. He picks the fruit to arrive at a certain level of alcohol, while the grams of residual sugar (RS) are a natural by-product of this decision; his Secs lie in the 7 – 10 gram bracket; Demi-Secs 17 – 20; Moelleux at the 60 gram level. Call it biodynamics or sensible yields but the wines have a salty dry extract that echo those of Zind Humbrecht and the like, rendering them seemingly dry to taste and excellent food wines.

Among the other benefits of biodynamics, Noël went on, is the refreshing levels of (tartaric) acidity, over and above the dominant, apply malic (the wines do not go through malolactic conversion); hence the soaring light and life of the wines. He’s found that the vineyard character and quality have been more clearly defined, compared to those of the Before Biodynamic period (’BB’ – pre ’89). That translates into a elevated sense of place, be it the gravely fruitiness of Le Haut-Lieu, the heavy clay fleshiness of Clos du Bourg, or the limestone minerality of Le Mont (generally picked last).

The downside of biodynamics – holy cow! Are you sure, you cry! – is that the harvest is earlier than during the BB epoch when the month long picking went on until early November. Now it doesn’t. Compounded by global warming, November harvests are a thing of the past, part of his father-in-law’s era. Earlier, shorter harvests are playing havoc with his logistics and equipment; he must buy a second press to accommodate the deluge of fruit arriving simultaneously. The warmer conditions accelerating the sugar accumulation and abbreviating the hang-time, meaning that bunches risk never reaching the sweet spot of the growing season: physiological ripening, when sugar, tannins and acidities mature in sync. In fact so worried is Noël that he’s even playing with the idea of planting other varieties such as those of the Rhône: the white Roussanne and Marsanne to cope with the new norm…but this would place him even deeper in the mire with the Appellation Controlée authorities. His practice of eschewing green harvests – “a 50% drop does not result in the equivalent reduction in yield, but only 30% less, as berries swell disproportionately” – is frowned upon by the authorities. He prefers that the vine, plant by plant, finds its own crop load naturally, according to its age, with Noël passing through in a series of ‘tris’ to select what he needs; this way the berries remain balanced.

Sorry if you’re finding all this a bit ‘sec’ (dry), here’s a flavour of the wines tasted:

- 2005 Petillant: a well-poised cider apple thing thanks to a 2nd bottle fermentation, three years sur lattes and a dosage drop of Moelleux

- The pair of 2007 Clos du Bourg and Le Mont Secs: chalky pure, the Clos du Bourg lusher than the quivering Le Mont; gorgeous now with sea or shellfish

- The 1996 Haut-Lieu Sec and 1995 Le Mont Sec showed the merit of cellaring these wines; still young they exuded charm with verbena (the ’96) and orange (’95) notes, to match with hollandaise sauce dishes, with fish or fowl

- The Demi-Sec style, the true expression of Vouvray in Noël’s eyes on account of its foodability (?) was expressed through the 2008 Le Mont (pinging this way and that), while the 2002 Le Mont was pure bliss: a sublime salty thing (at approx 18 grams RS). The older Demi-Secs, while delicious and still young (oh! to have a deep chalk cellar of one’s own, on wheels pls), reiterated Noël’s point about lack of vineyard definition pre-biodynamics: the ’85  Le Mont limy light, angelic even, while the ’76  Le Mont was a hedonistic sun-tanned beauty

- All were seduced by the four Moelleux. The 2008 Le Mont 1er Trie sensationally complex and adolescent (62 grams RS) thanks to a 18hl/hectare yield; a rich tarte-tatin ’96 Le Mont 1er Trie with taut acidity the perfect match for Roquefort-esque cheese; while Noël’s favourite vintage, the non-botrytic ’89 Le Haut-Lieu 1er Trie brimmed with the succulence and muscle to go with baked foie gras; the crescendo, the 2005 Cuvee Constance, from botrytic fruit picked berry by berry to deliver deft purity (and 136 grams RS).

While digesting all that, the question I should have asked was flighted towards our guest: ‘So what’s the difference between Vouvray and Cöteaux du Layon?’

Richard Kelley MW, Loire expert  and Noël’s importer, snapped up the query mid-flight, putting the audience straight as to the geological fault (whose?) between the younger chalky limestone soils of Vouvray and the ancient schistous Layon. Noël reflected and then put it another way: Vouvrays are gentler, lighter, more convivial expressions (of Chenin Blanc), while those of Layon are pithier, dark and brooding. Much could be said about their creators, Monsieur Pinguet; the pleasure was all ours! Thank you.

 
As to his Barolo wine Ravera (from Monforte not Novello), I tasted it only in recent months. For some reason he’d never spoken of it during earlier visits to the cantina/winery; or perhaps I wasn’t asking the right questions. But then he makes a mere 150 cases of it a year, so easily overlooked. Compared to the sandier, iron-richer, more grasso Barolo Boscareto from Serralunga (just below Giacomo Conterno’s Cascina Francia/Monfortino site), the vertical Ravera site is altogether cooler, east-facing, pitted with tons of small lime-stones that break easily to reveal a cool blue marne heart and boasting the ancient, high quality ‘michet’ clone.
 
I’d been dying to make it over to the site, to see for myself what it was all about, and I can’t wait to return and work it by hand. Being located on the southern fringe of the Barolo zone it benefits from the biodiversity of the Alta Langhe; the wilderness that lies beyond the dense planting of Nebbiolo vineyards. This helps in maintaining a biodiverse balance in the vineyard – just listen to the ‘uccellini‘ , the chattering of little birds in the video; something which Ferdinando now prizes. For it was in 2003 that he made the decision to move away from the world of consultants and their prescriptions, both in the vineyard and cantina. And he’s been rewarded by the purity and drinkability of his wines, notably the perfumed 2008 Langhe Nebbiolo Coste and, for later, the compact mineral 2006 Barolo Ravera.
 
And as if to re-inforce the uniqueness of the Ravera site, there’s a solitary wild apricot tree standing in its heart, a mass of candy pink flowers against the grassy vineyard with its gnarled old trunks; you might just be able to make it out in the clip. Ferdinando tells me that it doesn’t always fruit, but that when it does…wow! Perhaps that’s the way the vine should be too.
 
p.s. sorry about the truncated interview; it’s the first time my batteries have fizzled-mid flow!

I lapped up my first tour of the Austrian winelands, not just the cucina with its tendency towards consommé soups, boiled meats and carp (once it’s had time to sift out the mud in a fresh water lake that is), but also for the originality and warmth of the people, and hence the wines; qualities no doubt brought to bear by surrounding Bohemian, Slavic and Slovak influences.

The quality and character of the Austrian 2009 white grape harvest was shaped by a natural thinning of the Grüner Veltliner crop caused by a cool flowering, triggering millerandage (flowers fail to pollinate so drop off leaving few berries, thicker skins and healthier open bunches) while the later flowering, more abundant, and so vulnerable Riesling was hit hard by two weeks of solid rain in mid September, blighting the riper (softer skinned) vineyards forcing (top) producers to select hard. A mild damp summer kept acidities high, irrigation taps turned off while the quality was sealed by a long dry harvest through to early November.

It wasn’t hard to spot or smile at the high quality of the ‘09s, a perfect harmony of richness and racy acidity; the Veltliners delicate yet expansively textured with flecks of white flowers, pepper and stone fruit, while the Rieslings are compact and confident; especially those of the Lower Austria zones of Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal. Dare I say that the Veltliners have the edge in 2009? Michael ‘the Monk’ Moosbrugger (left), the mild-mannered manager of Schloss Gobelsburg (whose spires are in the picture, right), a Cistercian estate, refers reverently to ’09 as being like ’07 and ’05; now there speaks a man who’s in it for the long term having secured a two-generation lease in ‘96! There’s much in Michael that reminds me of Andre Ostertag, not least the quality of his gentle yet profound wines. Toni Bodenstein of Prager presented an immaculate range as ever, drawing on peerless old vineyards (Achleiten, Klaus, Wachstum Bodenstein) and the latest technology. While the young Franz Hirtzberger, recently married and now resident in the ‘manor’ house, struck me as a star in the making; and that’s not just because he served his apprenticeship in Italia! (good man). Below is a (slightly windy!) video of him talking about his wines. Maria-Angeles Hiedler’s wines at Langenlois, just along from Gobelsburg, re-inforced the quality of Kamptal’s ‘09s (especially her old vine Grüner  Kittsmannberg), with their calcareous loess soils; though I fail to see the connection she draws between her large dog ‘Pongo’ and husband Ludwig…wet nose?

One last thing before leap-frogging from the banks of the Danube to those of the Rhine: time to check out the quality of the Burgenland reds, south east of Vienna, in particular the Blaufrankisch grape from the likes of Prieler and Moric. Maybe it was the connection through the Leithaberg Mountains – in effect the tail end of the Alps north west of the Neusiedlersee Lake – or the grape’s predilection for large Slavonian or Austrian oak barrels but these wines have something of Piedmont about them, eight hours drive to the west…and no I wasn’t homesick. But watch this space…you’re sure to be ‘Blaun’ away!

Now to the Germans…it’s been a few years since I last visited the Rhine and its tributaries but my! how they’ve grown! The conservative Donnhoff is now pulling in fruit from his Nahe neighbours to meet demand; Johannes Leitz is weighing in at an eyebrow-raising 40 hectares compared to 7 ha a decade ago; Roman Niewodniczanski of Van Volxem, the Bitburger beer scion, is cornering the Saar market growing to 42 hectare these past years (including 2.5 hectare for 25 growers!), determined to conquer the thriving domestic market (and who knows where next?); even the delightful Reinhard Lowenstein (in the video below) has taken on a couple of extra thousand litre Winningen vineyards. Why? It seems that production of dry/trocken Riesling is now full steam ahead. The crucial difference, Helmut Donnhoff pointed out, being the price the customer is now prepared to pay for this style of wine as opposed to ten or fifteen years ago. Now Helmut’s prepared to pick the quality of fruit destined for trocken production and so meet the demand, encouraged by a ray of global warming no doubt. But Roman’s Scharzhofberger neighbour Herr Muller has evidently never studied the basic rules of adjacent diversification, recently investing in Australian vineyards…

As to the 2009 Rhine vintage: they, like their close pals on the Danube, benefited from the millerandage-induced effects of a cool flowering (yields down significantly) a mild summer (no heat spikes) and a long dry harvest period, so no panic picking. The result: perfect pitch, clear vineyard definition along with wonderful ripeness and spring-water like acidity. Indeed, so successful was the harvest that it was the first time that Helmut Donnhoff has ever accumulated all the Pradikats in his cellar (miaow); he’s drawing comparisons with the likes of ‘71! Reinhard Lowenstein, still grinning despite a painful back, offers a fuller more structured expression of Riesling, in the vein of top Burgundy, thanks to vertical 400 million year old calcareous slate soils and long ferments; notably the smoky aristocracy of the Uhlen Blau vineyard and quivering energy of Rothlay. I was transported back in time by my visit to the classic Merkelbach brothers of Urzig, whose family’s wines were awarded first prize in 1889; that was when they had 1 hectare; now they have grown to an eye-watering 1.9ha having just bought a new vineyard despite ‘getting on a bit’. Their wine and approach echoing Francois Cotat’s: scintillating purity from top sites vinified in a timeless fashion using old 1000 litre barrels! Johannes Selbach (Oster)’s fine Zeltingen crus of Sonnenuhr, Himmelreich and Schlossberg interpreting the perfect ’09 growing season, with just enough rain and wrapped up in a long beautiful autumn. Up (or was it down?) stream, Katharina Prum, the delightful daughter of Manfred (of JJ Prum) was a picture of refinement, preparation (she studied law till ’03), precision and refreshing candour; just like her wines, be they the stony ‘08s or  stunning ‘09s.

My last stop was briefly in Alsace where Olivier Humbrecht’s corralling growers to support plans for a Premier Cru system; if they don’t, says Olivier, then there’s a risk of repeating the Grand Cru mess of thirty odd years ago, one effectively designed by the Cooperative. Lucas Rieffel near Barr will be 100% organic with the 2009 harvest and has been having significant success with his low sulphur, juicy Pinot Noirs in the local Strasbourg market (makes sense). Chilean Pinot Noir and earthquakes preoccupy Andre Ostertag; though I could not help but be moved by his 2008s, a stunning range. Olivier Humbrecht counsels caution with ’09, a vintage somewhere between 2000 and 2003 in character, fraught with issues of overcropping, heat stress, and higher alcohols…he too was promoting his crunchier 2008s.

For more videos from my trip, take a look at my playlist on Berrys’ YouTube Channel

Ps. Next time you’re in the Nahe, book a table at the Hermannshohle Restaurant, Oberhauser for the finest (Zander) cucina tasted for a long time …since departing Piemonte anyhow!

 
Timorasso, you ask? Is one of the most exciting italian authoctonous/indigenous varieties to surface in recent years. An ancient variety it was brought to the brink of extinction during the ‘60/’70s by the march of multinationals and their preference for facile Chardonnay, Merlot and Barbera. Local boy Walter Massa led the fight to revive this distinguished varietal during the ’80s/’90s. The style of Timorasso white wines resemble a mix of Chablis and Savennieres on account of high acidity, rich extract and propensity to develop noble rot, all grounded by fine calcareous soil that typifies this small area; a great food wine in the Verdicchio di Matelica mould (compared to the more frivolous Cortese of Gavi twenty minutes further south).
 
La Colombera is one of its star producers, with Elisa returning from her viticultural studies in 2000 ahead of a new cantina being built in 2003; the estate is 22 hectare in size, of which approximately half is devoted to vineyards and the rest to corn and peaches! Her passionate can-do, will-do approach is driving the quality of the wines ever higher; most important of which is of course Timorasso, vinified only in stainless on its lees without malolactic conversion. The 2007 ‘Derthona’ is a deliciously sunny wine, yet underpinned by a noble structure; while the 2006 ‘Il Montino’ represents the best fruit from a single vineyard has more deep-seated minerality and ageing potential…something that would partner fish or white fowl perfectly.
 
And of the 2009s? Their Derthona, from tank, showed a shrill lemon peel and salt nose; the saltiness again apparent on the citronelle and ripe lemon palate, cleansed by beautiful acidity. While ‘Il Montino’ was overall more integrated and refined, without the obvious fruit expression of Derthona, more of a seamless, gentler, creamier complexion; very much a wine of the soil and of the bright future…
 
So see you next week for a roundup of Austrian, German and Alsacien news, including videos of Messrs Moosbrugger, Lowenstein and Niewodniczanski!