Filthy Good Vino

Serendipity, well Twitter actually, delivered a new friend to my iPad. We share the common passions of Filthy Good Vino and Barolo. A tweet soon followed that included a link that took me to a Documentary on the Langhe.  The Langhe is a region of spectacular beauty in Piedmont, Northern Italy.  It is home to some of the great Artisans of the culinary world. Think unctuous cheeses, white truffles, in addition to being home to the Founder of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini. These are not producers of product by recipe on mass. They are custodians of land, animal and vine pursuing excellence in their chosen field.

The link took me to footage of one such custodian, Maria Teresa of Bartolo Mascarello, who shared her philosophy on the production of Barolo.  Made only from Nebbiolo grapes, Barolo at its best, is without question, one of the worlds most unique and greatest wines. Befitting wine of such calibre it is also one of the most challenging wines to produce. Bartolo Mascarello hold some of the most prized lands of the Langhe. Maria Teresa’s dedication, her sense of obligation, of duty to preserve the essence of these lands is clear.

Archival footage of her late father demonstrated wisdom that can only be earned by the passage of time and was marked by a head covered with silvery grey hair.  His clarity of thought and wry humour in pursuit of an authentic expression of his vines was unclouded by new winemaking technologies that have often confused the wines of others choosing to employ them in Barolo. It is interesting that so many of the great winemakers of the world reflect that it is just as critical to understand what not to do, as what to do, as you guide a grape from the vineyard to the bottle.

Although I have yet to taste the wines of Bartolo Mascarello, five peeps who live and breathe for the wines of Barolo, peeps, who combined have visited the Langhe on an enviable number of occasions, had only unanimous praise for the craft of Maria Teresa and the the exceptional expression of her wines. I can’t wait to try them!

If you enjoyed this snapshot of a Barolo custodian, check out the Langhe Doc for other stories of Langhe Artisans.

Yumminess Factor = OH YES! Lamb Chops = 2 very succulent ones.

Knocked back this 2006 Neb with a home made hamburger with the lot (more Heston than Macca’s). It’s a stunner, the wine that is.  Vietti is one of the great wine producers of the world. Their Barolo’s are incredible.

I had the great fortune of experiencing the hospitality of the Currado family and visiting the Vietti winery in 2005. It’s an incredible structure incorporating an old Fort on the top of Castiglione Falletto.  They’ve filled in the escape tunnel that lead to the distant fields and was used in the event of a siege. Although the winery has been modernised all that has been ancient has been respected and the slit windows for archers still remain.

Check out the old v new in the pic’s below.  Big old school oak, the traditional vessel for maturing Barolo, with new small wood in the old and new building.  The incredible hills of Barolo are a spectacular site.

Vietti’s been a favourite of mine for a long time. Back in 2003 at the Australian Wine Institute’s Advanced Wine Assesment Course (AWAC), both the Perbacco, Vietti’s basic Nebbiolo and their Rocche, an awesome single vineyard Barolo were included in a line up of a dozen Neb’s.  Both were great wines.  In the blind tasting I scored the Perbacco 17.5 and the Rocche 18.5 of 20 along with Tim White and Peter Godden, other than a couple of Bronze medals, we were the only ones in a room of 30 winemakers and wine pro’s to rate the Rocche giving it a gold medal.  Boy did it deserve it and perhaps more, the wine had an incredible core of fruit, amazing layered, spicey, earthy, yummy complexity and a hardcore texture of amazing tannin with incredible length. A 3 Lambchop wine to be sure. I think we were at about wine 100 for the day but there was no way I was spitting the Rocche or the Perbacco for that matter.

These are wines of real character.  They’re wines that it took me a while to find and understand, they’re so different from most Aussie wines. The flavours and textures are unique, less primary fruit, more secondary characters … often described as Burgundy’s big brother on Steroids. If you get a chance grab a Perbacco and drink it over 3 or 4 days with something delicious.  For new comers to the variety, the wines can be hard to get your head around, the AWAC scores illustrates how hard. When it clicks and you get it, boy you’ll been onto something great.  If you don’t get it the first time go back for a second and drink it with someone who can help explain it … hell give me a bell, if Vietti is on the table I’ll be there. Remember these are food wines … maybe a decent burger? For about $50 the Perbacco is great value.  The Rocche at around $200+ if you can find and then give some one your first born for a bottle or two is well worth it.

I’ve got just one bottle of Vietti’s top wine the Riserva Villero from 1996 … when to open it is the tough question!  I’m not being a wanker, but the day I knock this one back it’s going to have to be with someone very special and some awesome tucker maybe a 1kg T-Bone!