Two Very Highly Recommended Wines from the North of Italy

Two Very Highly Recommended Wines from the North of Italy

GD Vajra Nebbiolo Langhe (DOC) 2018, 14.5%, €29.99

Searsons Wine Merchants, Baggot Street Wines, The Corkscrew, Clontarf Wines, Sweeneys D3, Ely Wine Store Maynooth, 

Mid ruby is the colour of this Langhe Nebbiolo. Vibrant aromas, fragrantly fruity and floral, invite you to explore further. The flavours are pristine, elegant dark and handsome fruit, cut with sweet spices and minerality, silky tannins, and there’s no shortage of acidity to make it a welcome guest at the table. The label promises elegance, pleasure and refinement; the contents deliver, in the most harmonious way. Very Highly Recommended.

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They say: Whenever possible, we pick this fruit in the early hours of each day. Maceration is long and very gentle, so to retain lift and energy to this wine. Variety is 100% Nebbiolo from young estate vineyards, ranging from 7 to 25 years of age.  Our Langhe DOC Nebbiolo ages for 8 to 14 months on average. It is a wide range, in order to respect the uniqueness of each vintage and patiently await for the optimal bottling time. Most of the ageing is carried in stainless-steel vats, with a minor fraction of the wine being in neutral oak only when needed.

GD Vajra have been farming organically since 1971 but they didn’t get off to the best of starts. Giuseppe, during an April online masterclass, said he was dragged away from his soccer games (he was playing too much of it - well he was just 15) to plant his first vineyard. 

He and his current team are still youthful and he is proud of their work. “We hope we get wiser as we go on. We started organically and our first vintage in 1972 was not a good one, not worth ageing!” The whole extended family are at work here in this “multicultural team” near the village of Barolo. Perhaps, that first vintage was a disappointment but there have been many good ones since including this 2018.

As you know, Nebbiolo is the grape from which the famous Barolo is made and GD Vajra have some gems, quite a few available via Liberty Wines (who supply the stockists listed above). During the masterclass on the outstanding 2016 vintage, Giuseppe spoke eloquently. 

Then a tough question: “Which is your best cru from 2016?” Very hard for Giuseppe to answer as they had invested so much hard work into each. He didn’t really want to pick one but, under gentle pressure, went for the Barolo Bricco delle Viole for “its flair and elegance”. So there’s a nice tip for you. And I’d safely say the 2016 vintage of our Nebbiolo Langhe would also be one to snap up if you come across it.

The Langhe is a hilly subregion in the province of Piemonte.

Pieropan Soave (DOC) Classico 2019, 12%, €16.99

Jus de Vine, Grapevine, James Redmond and Sons Ltd, Kelly`s Off Licence, 

McHughs Off Licence - Kilbarrack Rd, Martins Off Licence, 64 Wine, C Morton & Son Ltd, Clontarf Wines, Ely Wine Store, Maynooth, The Corkscrew

In the 1960s, Soave wine came from the Classico region. But the economic boom of the 70s, saw Soave (like Chianti) expand beyond the original area. And it proved a disaster. 

During a recent Liberty Wines organised online masterclass, Andrea Pieropan explained: “The DO expanded into the flat area where the yields were higher, the season shorter and there was less personality in the wines.” He explained that no area in Italy has such a difference between the Classico and the surrounds.

So, quantity reigned and quality was hard to find. Soave became something of a dirty word. Many avoided the wine but, according to Vino Italiano, that meant “missing out on the elegant floral whites of Leonildo Pieropan whose Soaves show off the plump mouth-filling character of ripe Garganega.”

Today’s Soave is usually fresh and expressive and that is certainly the case with this Classico, the freshest youngest wine in the Pieropan family range. It is 85% Garganega with Trebbiano contributing the balance.

The nose is delicate and elegant, with pleasant floral notes. Plump and mouth-filling certainly, terrific depth of fruit and a lively acidity, persistent finish. Excellent and Very Highly Recommended.

Suggested pairings include soups, starters, especially vegetable based such as asparagus, peas, courgette, egg-based dishes or seafood and fresh water fish dishes. It is an excellent aperitif, especially when served with simple canapés. Serve at 12°C.

Soave is perhaps the most famous Italian white wine DOC. You'll find it in the Veneto wine region of northeastern Italy.

A Trio Of Interesting Whites To Enjoy. Sancerre. Sauve. Pay D'Oc.

A Trio Of Interesting Whites To Enjoy

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Jacques-Frelin Sancerre (AOP) 2018, 12.5%, €26.60 Mary Pawle Wines

Sancerre is a small wine district in the Loire Valley, famous for its crisp, aromatic white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc. This one has a light gold colour with a tint of green. The pleasant aromas of this organic wine are both floral and mineral with gooseberry. A bracing acidity makes the taste buds sit up and take notice and what they notice is the apple and pear and citrus flavours, nothing over the top, all’s in balance. 

As it happens, there is a famous goats cheese (Chavignol) in the Loire Valley, a perfect match for the wine, which will also go well with fish and seafood. I’m certain the likes of Ardsallagh and St Tola would also pair well with it. Very Highly Recommended. Serving temperature is 10-12 degrees.

For over thirty years now, Jacques Frelin has been at the forefront of the organic wine movement in France. While organic is often associated with small, this is not the case with Frelin who has vineyards all over the country, in the Languedoc (where he is headquartered), in Gascony, in the Rhone and the Loire.

Fasoli Gino “Borgoletto” Soave (DOC) 2018, 12.5%, €15.55 Mary Pawle Wines

Mary Pawle imports quite a few well-priced wines and this 100% organic Garganega is one of them. It has a light straw colour, a pleasant bouquet both floral and fruity. Fresh and fruity on the palate, quite full-bodied, no shortage of acidity, with a long and dry finish. Highly Recommended.

The producers are also obviously very happy as they say, on the label, that it is “an ode to the terroir”. It is indeed a lovely easy-drinking wine and Fasoli Gino produce more Borgoletto than any other wine in their range. 

Their back label has most of the info you need, nicely and economically laid out: Vino Biologico. Hand picked 100% Garganega. Drink up to three years. And their social media addresses are also listed.

A dry, crisp, fruity white wine, Soave's naturally refreshing appeal led it to phenomenal popularity in the second half of the 20th century (pretty sure it was our wedding wine back in the day!). Wine-Searcher.com say it “is arguably the most famous white wine DOC in Italy”. But I think, most current Irish wine-drinkers would nominate Pinot Grigio as the most famous Italian white.

#fasoligino #borgoletto #soave #primavera #inbottiglia #vinobiologico #vinobiodinamico #natura #degustazionevini #vinobianco #eleganza #freschezza #vinoitaliano #madeinitaly #winetasting #springiscoming #spring #blossoms #organicwine #biodynamicwine #springinabottle #naturelovers #winelovers #elegant #freshness #whitewine #italianwine #pairing #italianclassics

Domaine de Brau Chardonnay Pays d’Oc (IGT) 2018, 14%, €16.50 Mary Pawle

Colour is a lovely mid-gold. Fairly intense aromas of white fruit and a hint of honey. A pleasant burst of tropical fruit finds it way across the palate, rich and round, with an almost creamy mouthfeel it finishes well with increasing citrus notes. Lightly oaked and organic, this fresh and surprising Chardonnay is Very Highly Recommended. Well priced too and that’s a bonus!

This is made from 100% Chardonnay and fermented and matured in oak. A great food wine! Serve fresh at 10 - 12°C, with white meat, poultry and fish, grilled or in sauce.

Gabriel and Wenny Taris, of Chateau de Brau, are too close to the hard Languedoc ground to get carried way with romantic cliches - it is not sunshine all the way: "Not all vintages are exceptional. There are the weather conditions. And the weeds that we will never overcome. And the little beasts and larger animals who demand their share."

That they share with the little and large of the local animal world gives you the clue that the work here is more in cooperation with nature than against it. 

Nino Pieropan fondly remembered in son Andrea’s Masterclass

Nino Pieropan fondly remembered in son Andrea’s Masterclass

 

Pieropan family, in Soave since 1880

In the 1960s, Soave wine came from the Classico region. But the economic boom of the 70s, saw Soave (like Chianti) expand beyond the original area. And it proved a disaster. 

During Tuesday’s Liberty Wines organised online masterclass, Andrea Pieropan explained: “The DO expanded into the flat area where the yields were higher, the season shorter and there was less personality in the wines.” He explained that no area in Italy has such a difference between the classico and the surrounds.

So, quantity reined. Soave was everywhere, being sold abroad (primarily in North America) in 2-litre bottles. Soave became something of a dirty word. Many avoided the wine but, according to Vino Italiano, that meant “missing out on the elegant floral whites of Leonildo Pieropan whose Soaves show off the plump mouth-filling character of ripe Garganega.”  “..taste Pieropan’s single-vineyard wines (..Calvarino … and La Rocca) and suddenly Soave is no longer a dirty word”.

Grown on dark volcanic soil

Such was the impact of Leonildo (popularly known as Nino) who took over from his father in 1970 and was the first producer to make a single-vineyard Soave, 'Calvarino', in 1971.  This vineyard, owned by the Pieropan family since 1901, is on the classic volcanic basalt of Soave Classico. The other single vineyard 'La Rocca' was released for the first time in 1978, this vineyard is situated on the castle (“Rocca” in Italian) of Soave, on the only limestone outcrop in the zone.

Garganega (2019 vintage)

“My father was thinking single vineyard when no one else was,” said Andrea. And he was up against popular opinion as many thought you had to use the international grapes (Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc) to make a top class white. Liberty MD David Gleave confirmed that Nino had great courage and foresight in doing so and admires “the bravery of doing something like that in the 1970s, he trusted his own powers of deduction. He was a modest man but when you visit (as I have many times), you know you’re in a great vineyard.”

“He did not care about trendy,” said Andrea. ‘We have to show what we have and what we have you cannot find in many wines. We have a test: put bottle on table, bottle finished, good sign!”

April bud - Covid19 notwithstanding

“Urged by the great Luigi Veronelli to take the high road of quality, Nino started to prove, with that wine, that the best wines of Soave could age beautifully and could, in the right hands, be considered among Italy’s finest white wines,’ said Gleave. 

The Pieropan family has been producing wines in Soave since the 1890s. Indeed, they were the first producer to bottle a wine with the name Soave on the label in the early 1930s. Calvarino (little calvary) has been owned by the Pieropan family since 1901, is on the classic volcanic basalt of Soave Classico. The other single vineyard 'La Rocca' was released for the first time in 1978, this vineyard is situated on the castle (“Rocca” in Italian) of Soave, on the only limestone outcrop in the zone.

Andrea recalled his father saying that Calvarino was the greatest expression of what Soave should be and important too is the use of cement tanks for aging. “The wine does much better in concrete… we use it always for Calvarino, even in the new winery.”

La Rocca, grown on limestone

They started with cement also at La Rocca but here the soil is “completely different” and they switched to large barrels/tonneau and the wine spends 12 months on oak before bottling and blending. Also, it is not released for another 12 months. All in all, it shows that Garganega “could make a great white wine to compare with International whites wines.”

In the interesting Q&A at the end, Andrea was asked about the use of amphorae. He acknowledged that amphorae were “beautifully shaped and trendy” but didn’t see “much difference”. “You can have cement in same shape. In terms of material, I don’t see a big difference, both are inert.”

Attention to detail, year after year, seems to be a family trait. The Modern History of Italian Wine lists Nino as one of the most important winemakers of the 70s. “With him, viticulture and the Soave grape changed their look. He was the first to adopt green pruning methods… the first to plant espaliered vineyards (1969)…. and, subsequently, to reduce the buds from 50 to 10 in the pergolas of Garganega.  .. the first to use the horizontal Vaslin press..the first to restore the value of Recioto as a wine.. In 1970, with the blind tastings, his wines came to be considered extraordinary.” And the decade just got better with Calvarino and La Rocca

Brothers in wine: Dario (left) and Andrea

When Nino died two years ago, Andrea and brother Dario stepped up to the plate. Each is a winemaker. At present, Andrea oversees the vineyard while Dario takes care of the vivification.

The two sons could have rested on the their father’s laurels for decades. But, like Nino, neither is for standing still and there’s a string of projects on the go, a new one involving Valpolicella, and they recently completed a wonderful winery (underground in a mountain) in Soave itself; organic now, they are becoming more environmentally friendly; they are planting a vineyard on the winery roof to investigate the effects of copper and sulphur in the soil; and, for another label, have planted a vineyard at 500 metres. “We continue in the same line as father,” Andrea said. I reckon Nino would have been quietly pleased!

The new winery during construction

Previous masterclasses in this current series:

In the Swartland with Charles and Charl. The Spice Route and Fairview.

Chilean Wine Maestro Aurelio Montes

The Day The Vines Died in Alto Piemonte with Luca de Marchi
Matt Thompson's Blank Canvas in Marlborough

Portuguese Grape Varieties with Antonio Braga

A masterclass from Tuscany by wine-maker Paolo De Marchi

Rebooting Armenia's Ancient Winemaking with Zoric Gharabian

Barolo 2016 with Franco Massolino and Giuseppe Vajra

Biodynamic Californian Winemaker Ted Lemon of Littorai

Charles Heidsieck is "freshened up" by Cyril Brun

Cellar Master Émilien Boutillat Details Climate Change Challenges.

Masterclass on the Veneto Renaissance. Good Clean Wines

Masterclass on the Veneto Renaissance

Good Clean Wines.

Left to right at Ely: Francesco, Pascal and Dario

Dario Poddana (Les Caves de Pyrene), Francesco Maule (La Biancara, Gambellara) and Pascal Rossignol (Le Caveau) combined to give us a fascinating insight into organic and natural wines, in particular the wines of the Veneto, at Ely Wine Bar last Tuesday. Francesco is a winemaker at the family vineyard in Gambellara and the other vineyard whose wines came under the spotlight was Azienda Filippo Filippi (Soave).

Some in the audience (trade and press) wanted to know how this type of wine was going down with the customers. Dario, Italian wine buyer with Les Caves, stressed there were no added sulphites and the focus is “on wines of intensity rather than of richness”. On their being cloudy, he said it was no problem to the customers. 

Pascal added that this type of wine seems to have found a natural ally in the chefs that forage and said these restaurants “react well to it”.

Dario

It emerged too that, while mistakes may have been made in the past, maybe concentrating on the vineyard rather than the winery, the objective now is on making good wines that are “clean”.

Dario praised the Maule family and said they were at the forefront of the natural wine movement and not just in Italy. “It is interesting to see how classic ways are being rediscovered, a mix of extreme tradition and extreme modernism." 

Prosecco may be very known as being from the Veneto but Dario emphasised that “it is just one type of expression of the area”. The one we started with, the Casa Belfi, Prosecco Colfondo DOC, has a tiny refreshing fizz, a rich texture from the yeasts and a hint of salt (the vineyard is juts 30km from the sea), all combining to say a very pleasant Ciao.

Francesco was quite proud of his very young La Biancara di Angiolino Maule, ‘Garg’n’Go, Veneto Frizzante IGT, “the only one with biodynamic certification”, and rightly so! 

We were tasting in flights of two and next up was the Filippi Soave Castelcerino 2014, a wine I am happily familiar with, “an incredible wine from a very difficult vintage” according to Pascal. Dario:”It is their normal Soave from a well respected hill for wine. They like long contact with the fine lees, rarely less than 18 months, this to confer richness and structure. Very simple wine-making in general.” Looks like it works.

Francesco too praised it “as a very good result from 2014", before moving on to tell us about his Maule Masieiri Bianco 2015, a blend of 10% Trebbiano and 90% Garganego. Lees too come into play here, the period of six months adds “a  nice richness”. “No filters, no clarifying.” A lovely wine, displaying a generosity of fruit and character.

Ingredients on the label.
"Maybe others will follow."

Francesco went on to introduce us to two of his whites. Both the Sassaia and the Pico Bianco were excellent. Again both had some skin contact and had a rich colour but Francesco came straight out and said that he doesn't love the term “orange”wine. “There are red and white wines and a little rosé, maybe!” 

And, in general, he stressed the importance of having a “very good quality grape”, otherwise there is the risk of extracting “bad things”. “In the glass I want to feel the grape and the soil.”

One of my favourite wines of the past few months has been the Terra di Pietra, Valpolicella “Piccola Peste” and the 2015, introduced by Dario, was next. “Valpolicella is quite diverse and this comes from the land of rocks, a relatively new estate that produces good vintage after good vintage. They make simple easy-drinking reds, the spirit of Valpolicella. The classic varieties, made simply.”

Someone in the audience noted the outstanding purity and Dario was quick to point out that “you lose that purity if you go down the concentration trail” and added that Terra di Pietra “are moving in a beautiful direction”. 

Pascal

Francesco

Francesco’s turn now to show us their “basic red” the Masieiri 2016 (IGT), a blend of Merlot (50%), Grenache (40) and Cabernet sauvignon (10). “It is quite young, the tannins a little aggressive and is not filtered.” I rather enjoyed its fresh fruitiness and hints of spice, the tannins not a problem at all.

Back to Terra di Pietra for the Amarone della Valpolicella “Rosson” 2010, a beautifully coloured wine with excellent acidity. Dario told us it had been made in a quite traditional way, just enough richness and concentration, the final result helped by the addition of some Teroldego (known for its light fresh fruitiness). The fact that it came from a very good vintage also helped! Quite a finalé to an enjoyable and informative afternoon in Ely Place.

The line-ups

Engaging Native Italian Trio

Engaging Italian Trio

All Natives!

Baglio Rosso Nero d’Avola, Terre Siciliane (IGP) 2014, 14%, €19.50 Le Caveau

This organic wine has undergone natural fermentation - without additional yeast - and is Highly Recommended. Colour is a very dark red, heading into black. Dark fruits and spice on the nose follow through to the palate, some savoury notes here too, plus excellent acidity. Fresh too, this fruity low intervention medium bodied wine is a delicious easy drinker.

Filippi “Castelcerino” Colli Scaligeri, Soave (DOC) 2014, 12.5%, €18.65 Le Caveau

This is quite an attractive wine, beginning with its medium gold colour. Aromas of fresh white fruit, hints of anise. White fruit flavours too, no shortage of minerality, elegant and fresh, quite smooth with a lingering finish, this light bodied biodynamic wine is Highly Recommended.

The main grape for Soave is Garganego, sometimes others are added. But not here. This is 100% Garganego, the fruit of 70 year old vines. It is also held on its lees for an extended period and they recommend pairing it with fish, salads, and light pasta dishes. An entry level wine but far from basic. Well worth a try.

Masi Campofiorin 2005 Rosso del Veronese (IGT), 13%, €17.50 (now at 14.95) for the 2008 version, Bradley’s Off Licence

An ageing potential of 10 to 15 years is flagged on the bottle, so I'm in pretty good time, I said to myself as I opened this gift from a friend. Colour is a ruby red and the aromas speak of warm ripe cherries. There follows a good concentration of cherries and berries, good acidity, very fine tannins and a decent finish. Highly Recommended.

This rich, smooth wine has spent 18 months in large oak barrels, is very approachable and versatile with food. It is made by re-passing (ripasso, sometimes also called double fermentation, is a method used to add more structure, body and flavour). The grapes used are Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, all native grapes.