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WINE NEWS /
Internet debate over recent Langhe vintages continues
Over the course of the last three months, Italian,
French, and American journalists have engaged in a heated albeit friendly
debate over the virtues of the 2000 and 2001 vintages in Piemonte
(both harvests were considered excellent). The internet exchange began
last year when a prestigious American wine publication gave the 2000
vintage a perfect score. After tasting the 2001 Langhe wines (earlier
this summer), Italian writers have insisted vehemently that the 2001
represents a "truer" vintage inasmuch as it is more indicative
of the Langhe wine-making style and will take longer to age (see
Sergio's recent notes on the 2000 and 2001 vintages here).
With bullhorn in hand, controversial wine writer
and architect of the exchange Franco Ziliani has loudly opposed the
opinions of his American and French counterparts. In the case of the
Americans, he writes, they have favored the 2000 vintage (an excellent
harvest, by everyone's account) because its taste profile evolves
more quickly. As a result, he claims, the Americans have eclipsed
the 2001 vintage (an injustice, he writes). French wine writers, who
have also embraced the 2000 vintage, need to have a more international
perspective, he contends. They have judged the Italian vintages using
the 2000 Bordeaux as a yardstick, a methodology akin to comparing
apples and oranges, he writes.
American, French, and Italian wine writers have all
agreed that the 1996, '97, '98, '99, '00, and '01 vintages for Langhe
wines have been nothing less than phenomenal—with remarkable
potential for aging. And although the journalistic debate has been
animated at times, the dialogue has taken shape in the spirit of professionalism
and mutual respect.
Related Wines and Links: Abbona,
Altare, Famiglia
Anselma, Bovio, Cascina
Ebreo, Ceretto, Clerico,
Aldo Conterno, Giacomo
Conterno, Conterno
Fantino, Paolo
Conterno, Alessandro
& Gian Natale Fantino, Gaja,
Giacosa, La
Spinetta, Marchesi
di Barolo, Bartolo
Mascarello, Massolino,
Parusso, Pio
Cesare, Prunotto,
Giuseppe Rinaldi,
Rocche dei
Manzoni di Valentino, Sandrone,
Scavino, Vietti,
Voerzio.
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