Temper and Timber in Asti?

L

Levi Dalton

Levi Dalton
Anybody at the barbera conference want to chime in here with the happenings?

Sounds like quite a current kerfluffle, if I read Saignee and Oenologic correctly.
 
It is. Just read the blogs for the full story, since we are under serious time pressure here. But it boils down to wood and yelling about wood.
 
Here is the full coverage from both the orderly and Disorderly, including everything Cory included in his post.

Mostly, the wines have been a horror show. Some exceptions, of course, and yesterday's Monferrato focus was definitively better than anything before or since. Too much/syrupy/fake-tasting fruit and overly aggressive tannin are, for me, as much of a problem than the wine-obliterating wood, but of course the tannin issue does partially follow from the wood. A lot of wines are surprisingly low-acid for barbera, which is just a travesty.

Cory's right that they're not giving us any time to blog in more than summary form, which is odd since it's why we're here...but then, it is a junket, so they can schedule it as they like, I suppose.

But if the wines have been the lowlights, the arguments have been the highlights. Some real aggression and hostility from the winemakers. And alternatively, a lot of very confused ideology.

Also, I don't recommend any producer self-identified as "natural" or lovers of said wines attempt to defend the word or any technique that might be used (or not used) if they're here. "Stupid," "idiotic," and "insane" have been applied maybe a dozen times to various concepts.

And there's some bewildering dialogue aside from that. The no-sulfite guy micro-oxidizes the results, for example, while claiming that he can't micro-oxidize his other barbera (to which 20% dried grape wine has been added "for the reduction of tannins") because "no one has any idea what micro-oxidation does to polyphenols." And yet he uses it on the no-sulfur wine.

I just don't know.
 
Attributed to M. Chiarlo: A good wine is a wine that sells.

That would seem to end discussion on tradition, correctness, natural-ness, or anything else.

It's what's in the cash register that counts.

Need more dismay? Read some of the blind TNs here.
 
Thanks for providing some interesting insight and reading.

A while back I spent a few days in Piedmonte, and had the impression that Barbera and Dolcetto were what the locals drank on a daily basis with their meals. Barolo and Barbaresco were for big occasions or for exporting. Do you still get this impression? Maybe Barbera is being made in this style to sell internationally, because domestic wine sales are slowing?

Have you run into Luca there? I would love to read a few words from him on this whole debacle.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
Thanks for providing some interesting insight and reading.

A while back I spent a few days in Piedmonte, and had the impression that Barbera and Dolcetto were what the locals drank on a daily basis with their meals. Barolo and Barbaresco were for big occasions or for exporting. Do you still get this impression? Maybe Barbera is being made in this style to sell internationally, because domestic wine sales are slowing?
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i think that's an accurate take. i've visited twice and had wine makers tell me this exactly. especially in the monferrato where barbera seems to be king, it's drunk like water.

is this an annual conference?
 
Hard to keep track of all the Marcs and Marks with just one capital letter after, with or without spaces. Be nice if those who were not in the witness protection program just put their full last names.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Hard to keep track of all the Marcs and Marks with just one capital letter after, with or without spaces. Be nice if those who were not in the witness protection program just put their full last names.
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This from a man accustomed to concealing himself, like a leaf in a forest, among all the other Oswaldos out there.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Hard to keep track of all the Marcs and Marks with just one capital letter after, with or without spaces. Be nice if those who were not in the witness protection program just put their full last names.
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This from a man accustomed to concealing himself, like a leaf in a forest, among all the other Oswaldos out there.
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Or the million machados?
 
I completely agree that many Barberas from different appellations are over-oaked, and that there might even be less of a tendency to reverse the trend than in, say, Barolo, but there are boatloads of good examples being made, too, particularly in the Asti and Monferrato appellations. (Barbera d'Alba lowered their minimum acidity to a very low level several years ago, which I take to be an encouragement to de-acidify.) They may be showing their big guns to the journalists and hoping for approval; after all, the Gambero Rosso more-or-less invented the style, along with Rivetti. A '98 'La Gallina' Barbera from Rivetti was the most intentionally nasty wine I've ever tasted.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Hard to keep track of all the Marcs and Marks with just one capital letter after, with or without spaces. Be nice if those who were not in the witness protection program just put their full last names.
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I also find it confusing, I fear.

But I'm half senile.
 
originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
OK, OK, were there any nice ones? I'd be curious to hear about those as well.
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Yes. Conterno's Cascina Francia can't be all toast, to make a Thorpun.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Hard to keep track of all the Marcs and Marks with just one capital letter after, with or without spaces. Be nice if those who were not in the witness protection program just put their full last names.
Click to expand...
I also find it confusing, I fear.

But I'm half senile.
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If it makes you feel any better (or maybe worse), Dressner had the same complaint when I met him in Seattle.

Marc Davis
 
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