A Little bit of Luxury from Northern Italy - Valtellina DOCG

Nebbiolo is one of my favourite grapes; hardly surprising when you think that it produces two of Italy’s most famous and prestigious wines - Barolo and Barbaresco. If you move further north in Piedmont you find the wines of Carema and Gattinara, however, if you move eastwards and into the Lombardy region, just along the border with Switzerland to the shores of Lake Como, you find the wine Valtellina.

Produced from Nebbiolo, or as it’s locally known Chiavennasca, the Wine Makers are also allowed to blend in another local variety, Rossola Nera, with up to 20% for the DOC or 10% for the DOCG wines. However, restrictions on harvest yields, minimum levels of alcohol, and as the wines must also be aged for two years prior to being released, unless they are Riserva which necessitates three years, means it is far from a quick process in getting the Wine to meet these specific requirements. Within the region there are several villages who are considered higher quality; Grumello, Sassella, Inferno, Valgella and Maroggia- these are, of course, indicated on the label. They also produce an Amarone style DOCG wine called Sforzato.

One of my favourite producers of these wines is Rivetti& Lauro. They produce several wines, including the really quite unique wine ‘Calis’, a white made from Pignola (another name for Nebbiolo) and Sauvignon. They also have wines from the villages of Sasella and Inferno, and produce the amazing Sforzato.

The 2012 Inferno DOCG Valtellina is produced in small quantities; only 3,300 bottles, and is 100% Nebbiolo. Grape selection is done by hand and they are destemmed before being crushed and subsequently fermented in Stainless Steel tanks. After the fermentation process, the wine is aged for two years in French oak barrels.

In the glass, the wine has a bright ruby red/purple colour to it, with pronounced aromas of Cherry, Vanilla and Clove. These come through on the palate beautifully and combines with the tannins and acidity perfectly. It drinks beautifully now and will continue to age and develop for the next ten years.

The 2011 Sforzato DOCG Valtellina goes through a very similar process as the other Valtellina DOCG wines, however there is one big difference; the grapes are dried on big wooden racks for three/ four months before crushing, in a similar way to Amarone.

The drying of the grapes first adds a real concentration to the wine, with aromas of red berry fruit, Tobacco and Truffle. On the palate, the fruit translates to significantly more wild berries with hints of Violets and Tobacco. Combine this with the fine but grippy tannins, and you have a remarkable wine that’s big, powerful and rich.

These wines really are incredible. Although certainly a little harder to find, if you manage it I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. 

A Look At Whats On Tasting This Weekend

For this weekend I've decided to put on tasting a wonderful big, rich and spicy red from northern Italy, and lovely crisp and fruity white from Burgundy.

For the red we've got the 2011 Travaglini Gattinara from Piedmont open this weekend, apart from having a really cool and interesting bottle this is an amazing wine. Produced from 100% Nebbiolo, the same grape that produces the wonderful wines from Barbaresco and Barolo, The commune of Gattinara was granted it's DOC status in 1967 and DOCG 1990, it's situated in the northern part Piedmont about 50 miles north east of Turin, with the Alps as it's back drop to the north.

The design of the bottle, apart from standing out on the shelf and looking really different from anything else, has been designed to help catch the sediment that this wine sheds as it ages. The wine is fermented in Stainless Steel tanks and then transferred to various size of oak barrels for 36 months, and then a further 2 years in bottle, which gives the wine time to take on extra dimensions from the oak and for it then to have a chance to integrate together beautifully.

The wine itself is wonderfully complex, with aromas and flavours of red berries, blackberries and plums, combined with the sweet spice spices of liquorice and vanilla followed by hints of leather. These all combine beautifully in the glass creating a wonderfully complex, rich full bodied wine for you to enjoy, but just take my word for it, pop in the shop this weekend for a taste.

On the white front we have a very classy 2015 Petit Chablis from Chateau de Chemilly. The main Kimmeridgean clay, where as in the Petit Chablis vineyards the soil is more Portlandian soil types.
difference between Chablis and the extended area Petit Chablis is the soil type, the soil in Chablis is predominantly

The estate is now managed by brothers Loic and Yannick Vilain who are breathing new life into this 50 year old domaine in the south eastern corner of Chablis. They take considerable care with the vines to help the fruit to generate that mineral character you'd expect from this region.

Thi wine has all the classic characteristics that you'd expect, lovely fruit ranging from green apples to hints of white peaches, a crisp minerality and beautifully balanced acidity just combine to create a beautiful glass of wine. Definitely worth popping in this weekend for a taste.

A Visitor from Italy - Jeffrey Chilcott from Marchesi di Gresy

At the beginning of last month I had the pleasure of meeting Jeffrey Chilcott, the cellarmaster for Marchesi di Gresy, who are based in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. The winery is based in Martinenga, Barbaresco which for me is an area that produce some of Italy's greatest and aromatic wines, predominantly from the red grape Nebbiolo, but have added Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay in to there repertoire.

Marchesi di Gresy is made up of four estates, the estate in Martinenga became the property of the Marchesi di Gresy family in 1797, adding to their property in Monte Aribaldo that they had acquired in 1635. They also have properties in Monferrato, La Serra south of Asti and close to it Monte Colombo. Alberto di Gresy in 1973 decided to stop selling his grapes to other merchants which were used to set the benchmark price in the markets of Alba and start to produce his own wines. Included in the property in Martinenga, is the only Barbaresco Cru Monopole which only Marchesi de Gresy can mention on their labels.

Jeffrey had bought a selection of his wines for us to taste covering the Langhe, Monferrato his Barbaresco Cru and single vineyard, there were two wines that really stood out for me, but here are the others. The 2013 Langhe Sauvignon Blanc had some lovely green fruit flavours with a slightly richer texture from the lees stirring, and the perfect touch of acidity. 2012 Villa Martis Langhe Rosso, this is a blend of 60% Nebbiolo and 40% Barbera with french oak and large neutral oak barrels used. It was delicate and aromatic on the nose with some lovely fruit and a well balanced structure from the tannins and acidity.

The last two I tasted were two wines from the Martinenga Monopole, the 2008 Barbaresco Martinenga, this wine was everything you'd expect it to be and possibly even more. With a very pale red colour and a garnet rim showing signs of it's age, it had some lovely dark fruit, smoke, leather and spice aromas, with them all coming through on the palate giving it a meaty character. It still had plenty of soft and silky tannins with just enough acidity to clean them from your palate, making it a very stunning glass of wine. We then tasted the 2005 Barbaresco Camp Gros Martinenga, this single vineyard site is the pride of the estate and has been produced since 1978, only in exceptional vintages though. Considering this was three years older than the previous wine, in the glass it looked and smelt richer and with more depth, it had all the characters of the first Barbaresco but you could be mistaken for it to be a lot younger. This again was a stunning glass of wine and you could see what an exceptional wine this vineyard site can produce, this will last for another 10 years without any problem. Both of these wines were exactly as they should be, but they aren't cheap, ranging from £47 - £54 for the 2008 and £69 - £77 for the 2005.

The first of the two that really caught my eye was the;

2012 Langhe Chardonnay,
I'm not usually the biggest fan of oaked Chardonnay, but this one was stunning, produced from fruit grown on the Martinenga, Monte Aribaldo and La Serra estates it had this lovely bright golden colour to it. The wine starts it's fermentation in Stainless Steel tanks for the first couple of days before then being transferred into oak for further fermentation and maturation. This gave the wine a wonderfully rich and creamy texture with hints of baked green apples, nuts and lanolin, the nutty characters really started to shine over the fruit on the palate with a balanced acidity that stopped it from being over the top and making it a very enjoyable glass of wine.

The second was the;

2007 Monferrato Rosso,
This wine is produced from 100% Merlot which is grown on the La Serra and Monte Colombo estates and was not starting to show any signs of it's age yet. It spends around 30 months in French barriques before spending a further 22 months in bottle the wine is also allowed to go through malolactic fermentation. With all this you get a deep red colour with aromas of macerated dark berry fruits with some hints of spice and smoking coming through, lovely fine and silky tannins and just enough acidity to make them all combine perfectly and produce another stunning glass of wine.

It is hard to find a bad wine in what we tasted, the Barbaresco's were, as I had expected them to be, stunning, but when you compared them by price to the other wines, the Langhe Chardonnay (£25 - £29) and the Monferrato Rosso (£16 - £18) were the real stars that shone out for me. I'd like to say a massive thank you to Jeffrey for taking the time to come and show me his wines.

A Carema from Produttori del Carema

Over the last few months I've been learning about and tasting a lot wines from Italy, who have to produce the broadest range of wines than anywhere else, which is hardly surprising when you think about the fact that they have over a 1,000 indigenous grape varieties.

I've always found Italian wines a little difficult, the reds always tend to have a slightly sour edge to them, which without food can make them difficult to really appreciate, but there was one that really stuck in my mind. That was the 2011 Carema Classico from Produttori del Carema, this is a cooperative that was formed in the 1960's by a handful of producers, to today where they now have 81 producers working together to produce this fantastic from 100% Nebbiolo. 

Carema, the region in Northern Italy which gives it's name to this wine, is located 60 miles north of Turin in the Piemonte region, which is probably better for producing Barolo and Barbaresco also from the Nebbiolo grape.

They ferment the wine in 100% stainless steel vats, leaving the skins in contact with the wine for around 12 days, once complete they then age the wine for 2 years in Oak and then for a further year in bottle.When you pour this wine into your glass the first thing that strikes you is it's very pale ruby red colour, which is starting to develop hints of brick around it's edge. On the nose you get hit by a barrage of spice, nutmeg and cinnamon, then red berries that have been preserved in alcohol, These all come through in your mouth, with the red berries being very obviously sour cherry, with just a little more elegance and subtlety than i'd seen so far, but you also had some Raspberry coming through as well. Combine this with the spice and the plentiful silky tannins and all  the components come together and produce an absolutely stunning wine that rivals anything for twice it's price from Barolo and Barbaresco for me.

A Trip to the Spar

When you’re in a hurry and the only place you can find to pick up a bottle is the local Spar, you may like me, think that all I’m going to be to get is a bottle a cheap and nasty Pinot Grigio or one of the uninteresting big brands, but don’t panic, all is not lost.

I had the opportunity recently to meet the guys from the Spar and to taste some of there own and exclusive label wines, which I have to say were very impressive and actually great value as well. Here are a few of my favourite;

Spar Chablis; this has aromas of green fruit and citrus, with these coming through on the palate, it has a delightful acidity with a touch of steely/minerality to it as well. Not quite a crisp as many other traditional Chablis, but this helps to make it a bit more approachable and hopefully enjoyable to more people, and great value at £10.99.

Chene St Louis Sancerre; with lovely aromas and flavours of gooseberries and a nice minerality to it, again the acidity is much softer than many of it’s counterparts, this however does not detract from it being a delicious wine, and great value at £10.99.

Valle Vento Barolo; this had a garnet colour to it in the glass, with the aromas and flavours dark fruits, cherries and plums, with a touch of spice coming through from the background. The tannins were fine and silky, the acidity was just enough to complement this, resulting in a great glass of wine and again exceptional value at £14.99.

Les Trois Couronnes Chateauneuf du Pape; this is a blend of 13 of the permitted varieties, including Grenache and Syrah, which all help to create big rich wine with a great depth of flavour. It had aromas and flavours of dark fruit and spice, wonderfully fine/silky tannins and just the right amount of acidity to balance it all out and make it a great glass of wine, all for £15.99.

Ursa Maior Rioja Reserva; a Tempranillo blend, this had lovely mature aromas and flavours of dried fruit, cherries, tobacco and a touch of sweet spice, Vanilla. Lovely silky tannin and a great acidity, I have to say this was perfectly balanced and probably my favourite of the day, and all for £9.99.

I have to say I was rather impressed with there selection of wines, and if I ever needed to grab a bottle or two and I came across a Spar, I wouldn’t have any hesitation in popping in and selecting one from there own range.