Piedmont Uncorked: 2003 Barbera D'Alba Bric Loira
As some of you may have surmised, that in a previous life, before moving to Oregon, I hung my hat occasionally for work, at a modestly sized wine shop, a place is Bird Rock Fine Wine in La Jolla, Ca. It's a hearty stone's throw the sun, surf, and sand and it was there not so long ago, I had an opportunity to meet the winemaker and his wife from Cascina Chicco, his name Enrico Faccenda.
Their winery in northern Italy, Cascina Chicco, is located on an idyllic hillside in Piedmont, where you will find that they are one of the top producers in the region. It's described as an authentic "family-run" operation, with many different family members pitching in to help.
While he didn't speak much English, what spoke to me most was the passion in his wine-making, evident and eloquent in every sip, slurp and even the eventual big gulp. Of course, I'm just kidding of course as I was spitting that afternoon, but you get the idea [too bad big-gulps in this setting are not optional] but such is the life of a former wine professional.
I had the opportunity to taste through a wide-ranging swath of his portfolio, and I have to say that overall, I was very impressed with the wines being poured yesterday. Even the unusual late harvest wine, [called Arcass] which I sampled yesterday, produced from the Arneis grape [had me thinking of orange/apricot marmalade] was fantastically engaging wine, sporting apparent viscosity, length of flavors, with a nice pop of acid to carry the abundant dried-fruit. If you'd like to read more about this wine and take an in-depth look at this style of dessert wine, here's a link to learn more.
While he didn't speak much English, what spoke to me most was the passion in his wine-making, evident and eloquent in every sip, slurp and even the eventual big gulp. Of course, I'm just kidding of course as I was spitting that afternoon, but you get the idea [too bad big-gulps in this setting are not optional] but such is the life of a former wine professional.
I had the opportunity to taste through a wide-ranging swath of his portfolio, and I have to say that overall, I was very impressed with the wines being poured yesterday. Even the unusual late harvest wine, [called Arcass] which I sampled yesterday, produced from the Arneis grape [had me thinking of orange/apricot marmalade] was fantastically engaging wine, sporting apparent viscosity, length of flavors, with a nice pop of acid to carry the abundant dried-fruit. If you'd like to read more about this wine and take an in-depth look at this style of dessert wine, here's a link to learn more.
In the Piedmont region, many vino-sapiens are quite aware that while Barbera may play second fiddle to Nebbiolo, which is the grape behind Barbaresco and Barolo. But that doesn’t mean locals and even the garden-variety cork-dorks in the know, haven’t embraced it as a red-wine they can drink all-year-round with all sorts of food.
Nebbiolo and Barbera are grapes where you'll find higher acidity and often sport a definite note of bing-cherry. But they part ways when it comes time to get some grape-skin in the game. You'll find many [not all] Nebbiolo based wines can have an intense tannin structure, but little color, from its skins. While on the other hand, Barbera can be a deep, dark ruby color, with medium to low tannins.
Because Barbera is inherently low in tannins, the use of barriques has been introduced to impart some much-needed wood tannin into the wine. It’s a relatively new approach [in the context of Italian wine-making history] to enhance this wine’s structure, complexity and also a way to soften or take the burr off the saddle of Barbera’s tart acidity. So, of course, the operative phrase, when it comes to producing outstanding Barbera is the "judicious use of oak" simply stated too much oak, is nothing but a joke.
While it is generally agreed that the best producing area for Barbera wines is that of Asti region, the wine in today's review spotlight comes from the D'Alba region where you'll find many tasty Barolo and Barbaresco wines. But believe this wine is no slouch when it comes to flavor, length, and complexity.
The best vintages [2003 was definitely one of them] with age, tend to sport a garnet core, but this wine was still leaning toward the ruby side of the equation. The nose right away gave away the plot-line to the upcoming show; velvety, harmonious quality of considerable elegance in the dark-fruit to earth ratio.
Soon as I got this wine from the glass into my mouth, boom, what hit my palate was an enjoyable, easy to drink wine, which oozed elegance and power; I found this wine harmonious and tasty at the same time. The finish sails on and on, while it shouts-out, I'm a chef’s dream, because it displays such exceptional versatility when it comes to food pairing.
This wine would make an excellent addition to any restaurants wine-list. I scored this wine 92 points; it sells for about $35 most places, well worth the price of admission, Barbera at its best! Until next time folks sip long and prosper cheers!
Nebbiolo and Barbera are grapes where you'll find higher acidity and often sport a definite note of bing-cherry. But they part ways when it comes time to get some grape-skin in the game. You'll find many [not all] Nebbiolo based wines can have an intense tannin structure, but little color, from its skins. While on the other hand, Barbera can be a deep, dark ruby color, with medium to low tannins.
Because Barbera is inherently low in tannins, the use of barriques has been introduced to impart some much-needed wood tannin into the wine. It’s a relatively new approach [in the context of Italian wine-making history] to enhance this wine’s structure, complexity and also a way to soften or take the burr off the saddle of Barbera’s tart acidity. So, of course, the operative phrase, when it comes to producing outstanding Barbera is the "judicious use of oak" simply stated too much oak, is nothing but a joke.
While it is generally agreed that the best producing area for Barbera wines is that of Asti region, the wine in today's review spotlight comes from the D'Alba region where you'll find many tasty Barolo and Barbaresco wines. But believe this wine is no slouch when it comes to flavor, length, and complexity.
The best vintages [2003 was definitely one of them] with age, tend to sport a garnet core, but this wine was still leaning toward the ruby side of the equation. The nose right away gave away the plot-line to the upcoming show; velvety, harmonious quality of considerable elegance in the dark-fruit to earth ratio.
Soon as I got this wine from the glass into my mouth, boom, what hit my palate was an enjoyable, easy to drink wine, which oozed elegance and power; I found this wine harmonious and tasty at the same time. The finish sails on and on, while it shouts-out, I'm a chef’s dream, because it displays such exceptional versatility when it comes to food pairing.
This wine would make an excellent addition to any restaurants wine-list. I scored this wine 92 points; it sells for about $35 most places, well worth the price of admission, Barbera at its best! Until next time folks sip long and prosper cheers!
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