TN: A couple of 1996 Vietti

[David from Switzerland]

Ordered from a restaurant wine list with Oliver and Remo.

Vietti Barolo Brunate 1996
A wine I had not had in (exactly, it turns out) seven years, my verdict remains unchanged. More red and less black to the ruby here than the Rocches. Typical La Morra (especially for Brunate), attractively sweet especially on the nose, more exotic/floral baked plum and rose-hip, smooth, much more easy-going than the Rocche, much less complex and spicy, merely softly tannic, what some would call a feminine wine. The longer this aired, the shorter it seemed to get. Lacks power, intensity and especially length, not just in comparison to the Rocche we started discussing Roberto Voerzios Brunate from the same vintage, but the truth is, that wine is in an altogether different league. I know this sounds ironic, but not just in hindsight, it has always been the Vietti that was overpriced. Drink. Rating: 88

Vietti Barolo Rocche 1996
Another wine I had not had in seven years, again, my verdict remains unchanged. It is my favourite Vietti Rocche since the 1982, 1985 and 1989, and it is fairly close in overall quality (albeit not in character) to the Villero Riserva from the same vintage, and it is evolving very nicely in bottle. Full cherry juice hued ruby-black, watery orange rim. Typically tannic 1996, more 1978-like than any vintage since then, although not nearly as tight today as some (in particular the very best) 1996s. Spicy mulled wine and suggestion of marzipan (but note that apart from undergoing malolactic fermentation in barrique, this was aged in fuder). Firm black cherry fruit, good finesse. Good body, well-structured and balanced. Quite long. Drink well-aired or (preferably) hold. Rating: 91+/92

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti

 

[Cristian Dezso]

You are a tough grader but from your note it seems that you liked it quite a bit. I have only had the 1988 Vietti Rocche and one of the bottles was phenomenal.

Have you had the chance to finally try the 2004 Rocche? And why do you think that only few producers - which ones - manage to make memorable nebbiolo based wines? Could it be that there are just a few to start with? And then the percentage is similar to other regions? I don't know, just speculating...

 

[David from Switzerland]

originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
You are a tough grader but from your note it seems that you liked it quite a bit. I have only had the 1988 Vietti Rocche and one of the bottles was phenomenal.

Have you had the chance to finally try the 2004 Rocche? And why do you think that only few producers - which ones - manage to make memorable nebbiolo based wines? Could it be that there are just a few to start with? And then the percentage is similar to other regions? I don't know, just speculating...

I like the 1988, but the 1996 is clearly superior. I still haven'd tasted the 2004 Rocche (every time someone offered to pull a cork, they asked, whether I think it would be smart to open a bottle now - what should I do, lie to their face?), but judging from the quality of the Castiglione, Lazzarito and Brunate from the same vintage, I would expect it to be one of the best ever (my benchmark Vietti Rocche vintages are 1982, 1989 and 1996, followed by 1985 and 1990). I have said it before: I like Vietti's Rocche because of its relative reliability over the years (while there are even safer bets, none of them are cheap), and because it ages well, but it is and always has been an expensive wine vis vis other similarly good and less costly (e.g. the 2004 Produttori Barbaresco Rabaj tasted earlier this week - at half the price!), or more expensive but much better wines.

I'm slightly confused by your second question: "Could it be that there are just a few to start with?" Producers or wines? There are obviously many, many producers in the Piedmonte. Nebbiolo being one of my favourite grape varieties, I must admit I do tend to be a little disappointed not by the average quality of Baroli and Barbareschi produced, but the relative rarity of truly memorable wines, as you say.

Why this is so I can only speculate. One reason may be that there's only a limited niche for super-expensive wines where quality is being pushed to the limit (ironically, this is a complaint one always only hears from notorious underachievers, who'd love to charge more money for their wine, but hate to work harder, thus never think of the latter as a means to achieve that goal - modern enology notwithstanding, truly great wine largely remains an artisanal product), and there as everywhere else that niche suffers from free riders who invest more money in publicity, Armani suits, cute bottles, labels and names, and of course barriques than where money would made a difference reflected by the quality in the glass. Unfortunately, making great wine implies all four aspects: experience, talent, hard work and money (ironically, while it's customary to complain about a lack of the latter, it soon enough proves to make very little difference for the better in the wrong hands). As is often the case, the best vineyards are all either in the hands of old-established owners or cornered by major players. Then, show me a modern business accountant who would't freak out at the thought of a traditional Fuder-aged Riserva-styled wine la Monfortino, unless perhaps such a product were already established in the market, with a virtual sales guarantee at lofty prices? Another reason, I am afraid, may be the average modern customer - what a deplorable lack of patience and/or experience judging the aging potential of wine... Like my friend the chef always says, one starts wondering why one should use real vanilla pods to make vanilla ice cream when the customer's benchmark for what vanilla should smell and taste like is synthetic vanillin. This may sound like an exaggeration, but remember how many so-called fine wine lovers won't trust their own palate but instead blindly follow the Pied Piper.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

J'ai gch vingt ans de mes plus belles annes au billard. Si c'tait refaire, je recommencerais. Roger Conti