28 May 2012: It was really a privilege to be invited to a Masterclass tasting of the 2007 vintage with the distinguished members of the Accademia del Barolo, which counts 14 producers amongst its members: Azelia, Michele Chiarlo, Conterno-Fantino, Damilano, Poderi Luigi Einaudi, Gianni Gagliardo, Franco M. Martinetti, Monfalletto-Cordero di Montezemolo, Pio Cesare, Prunotto, Luciano Sandrone, Paolo Scavino, Vietti and Roberto Voerzio. This is the first time the Accademia's members visited Hong Kong. All except 2 (Luciano Sandrone and Roberto Voerzio) of the members sent in a representative (family member or the winemaker himself) or wine samples and in most cases, both! The mission statement of the Accademia is to spread the word about Barolo and improve the overall public's knowledge of this King of wines (and wine of Kings). Great kudos to Debra (and Sarah) who convinced the producer members to come visit HK during Vinexpo, to spread the word about Barolo to HK wine-lovers, and even better to bring their best bottles!
All the wines showed amazingly well, each extremely expressive of the style of the producer, the character of the Nebbiolo grape and that of the terroir. Some were made in a more 'rustic', slightly more austere style, while others showed more extraction (albeit retaining much elegance) wrapped in a more modern, readily approachable style. It would be very hard to rank the wines because they were all so delicious. Debra encouraged us to taste and re-taste the wines in the glasses, once they had had time to flourish and develop with aeration. All showed gorgeous ripe fruit and depending on the style, either floral or spicy, with chocolate/liquorice notes. All were extremely well balanced and beautifully structured. My favourites were: Vietti Barolo Brunate which was feminine and voluptuous, Monfalletto-Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Enrico VI which was aristocratic, lush and concentrated, and the Michele Chiarlo Barolo Cerequio which was very stylish, with great character and seductive aromas.....but I also admired very much the Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric del Fiasc (great aromatics, powerful and concentrated), the Pio Cesare Barolo (harmonious and elegantly balanced) and the Gianni Gagliardo Barolo Cannubi which was ever so ethereal, with silky tannin and very fresh fruit!
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| The 2007 vintage line-up - absolutely gorgeous wines!!! |
Debra and Patrick also very generously organised a private dinner for a few wine-loving friends with this distringuished group of wine producers on the previous evening, so that we would have the opportunity to speak to them in more casual setting. Not only were we treated to some great bottles with some age, we were also regaled with a sumptuous buffet of fine cuisine prepared by Patrick (I loved the stuffed peppers - an unusual stuffing with pig's livers)! The immaculately orchestrated procedure was rather annoyingly interrupted by an onslaught of flying termites which went on for almost an hour and a half before they retired to bed at 9 pm. I slightly lost track of what I tasted or not.....however, from memory, we tasted a very fine 2001 Vietti Barolo Brunate and a gorgeous 2006 Michele Chiarlo Barolo Cerequio with great intensity and depth. The 1998 Paolo Scavino Barolo Riserva Rocche dell'Annunziata was definitely a favourite of mine, still flaunting so much vigour, concentration and firm structure. Debra and Patrick were incredibly generous, as were our friends from Barolo, who were all incredibly friendly and so willing to share their passion and love of Barolo with us!
We were all warmly invited to visit Piemonte which, like Burgundy of France, offers great food and great wine!!! Let's drink more Barolo because it truly deserves to be celebrated!!
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