Getting to know you, Brovia?

[Cristian Dezso]

After being deeply impressed by the 2007 Barbera Sori del Drago, I lucked out and got a 96 and 99 of the same from CSW. Just opened the 96 and what a nice wine. Dusty, chalky, fat cherry, but also minty, barolo-like flavors. Just lovely. And interestingly, after about 3 hours, it very much reminds me of the 95 Verset Cornas that I had with Rahsaan a year or so ago. Maybe not as focused, but still... Thor, any idea of why this might be? I know you like/know both...

Cristian

 

[Thor]

Why they remind you of each other? Why it turns Cornas-like for your tastes? No, not a clue. It would be unlikely that I'd let one go three hours, especially if I liked it, so I'm probably not going to replicate your experience.

As for the wine, though, it's a textbook example of how the vapid search for "importance" from barbera in much of the rest of the region is so misguided. Get great fruit, don't fuck it up, don't layer it with makeup, don't craft it or guide it, and the wine will achieve its own "importance." And if it's not capable of importance, that doesn't mean it's bad. Not every site is capable of true greatness with nebbiolo, and I don't think many question that, but somehow there's a mass delusion in the region that barbera is exempt from the normal rules.

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Cristian Dezso: And interestingly, after about 3 hours, it very much reminds me of the 95 Verset Cornas...any idea of why this might be?

Because they're both good wines!

 

[Josh Beck]

originally posted by Thor:
the vapid search for "importance" from barbera in much of the rest of the region is so misguided. Get great fruit, don't fuck it up, don't layer it with makeup, don't craft it or guide it, and the wine will achieve its own "importance." And if it's not capable of importance, that doesn't mean it's bad.

QFT.

Barbera could be Beaujolais part II (well not quite that excellent, that is reserved for the Jura and Savoie, but damned close). Instead it's a total minefield and something where I only buy a couple of wines that I've tried before.

 

[Levi Dalton]

originally posted by Thor:

Not every site is capable of true greatness with nebbiolo, and I don't think many question that, but somehow there's a mass delusion in the region that barbera is exempt from the normal rules.

This probably has something to do with the tendency to plant Barbera where the Nebbiolo won't ripen, and maximize the planting potential of a slope.

 

[Thor]

Once, maybe. I think it's more generalized than that now.

This is aside from the fact that the map and its sites are undergoing a process of gradual but inexorable change.