Inconspicuous Consumer
December 2001
Italian wines may conjure memories of a mom-and-pop spaghetti house.
But in terms of great taste and value, a few new vintages from Italy
are outclassing Bordeaux. By James Stewart
Consider the superlatives that have been bestowed on the vintage by
famed wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr.: "Opulent, flamboyant,
unbelievably stunning; gorgeous to drink young, but no one should
discount their excellent aging potential." In sum, "a spectacular
vintage." You may be forgiven for assuming the vintage in question
is 2000 Bordeaux, which has generated enormous hype as well as enormous
prices in the futures market. Not many people have tasted the 2000
vintage from France, which is still resting in barrels, including
most of the people who have laid out over $300 a bottle for the First
Growths. Those who have tasted it have indeed praised it highly. But
Parker bestowed the above superlatives on an entirely different vintage
and country: the 1997 vintage in Italy, and specifically, the regions
of Piedmont
and Tuscany.
At SmartMoney we have always been on the lookout for a combination
of top quality and good value in fine wines, especially when there's
investment potential. Though red Bordeaux wines have traditionally
offered the best investment track record, we have been hard-pressed
to find any values in the 2000 vintage, which isn't even in stores
yet. Meanwhile, we discovered in a recent tasting that all the fuss
over Bordeaux had obscured the fact that some of the most spectacular
wines in recent memory are arriving in stores now, at reasonable prices
and with tremendous aging potential. If you've never invested in or
experimented with fine Italian wines, now is the time.
We confess to having been as confused by Italian wines as most other
consumers. They come from a bewildering array of regions, most with
unfamiliar names; they are made from a host of grape varieties largely
unknown in America; and they still suffer from the image of straw-wrapped
flasks hanging from the rafters in cheap Italian restaurants. But
in the past decade or so, Italian wines have undergone a remarkable
transformation. We decided to investigate for ourselves.
As in Burgundy, where the vast array of small producers is confusing
and quality can vary dramatically, we found it essential to enlist
a trusted wine merchant in choosing Italian wines. The recent explosion
in excellent wines means that more and more wine stores are expanding
their selections and expertise, and New York City now has Italian
Wine Merchants, an entire store devoted to Italian wines located
close to Union Square.
We called and explained our mission, saying we wanted wines in a range
of prices and that we wanted to restrict our tasting to red wines
from Piedmont and Tuscany. These are hardly the only wine regions
of Italy, but they are the best known, have the best financial track
records and have a long history of producing exceptional wines, especially
reds. Piedmont is in the northwest corner of the country, a region
once ruled by France. A name to reckon with is producer Angelo Gaja,
whose wines have long fetched prices that rival First Growth Bordeaux.
Most Piedmont wines are made from the Nebbiolo,
Barbera
and Dolcetto grapes (similar, but more elegant than, red Zinfandel
grapes). The two best-known wines are Barbaresco
and Barolo,
both made from Nebbiolo grapes, with tremendous aging potential.
Most Americans think of Tuscany and its gorgeous, sun-drenched countryside
when they think of Italian wines. Chianti is certainly the area's
best-known wine, although it varies widely in quality. Brunello di
Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are also popular, and
can be quite good, though quality varies. The principal grape in most
Tuscan wines is the Sangiovese, though Tuscan producers have been
experimenting with cabernet sauvignon and various blends, producing
wines often called "super" Tuscans.
That's about all we knew as we met our hosts at the store: Joe
Bastianich, Sergio
Esposito and Perry Porricelli. Bastianich is not only an Italian
vintner himself - using an eponymous label - but with chef Mario
Batali co-owns Babbo in Greenwich Village, recently named one
of America's 50 best restaurants by Gourmet magazine. We walked through
the store's elegant if rather spare display of wine - most bottles
are housed in the cellar - to a table laden with wine glasses and
a spread of Italian charcuterie, cheeses and breads. Italian wine
practically begs to be drunk with food, and we were happy to oblige.
As is our custom, we first tasted all 12 wines "blind,"
trying not only to identify our favorites but also to place them as
either Tuscan or Piedmontese, and as expensive or moderate. Most were
from the 1997 vintage; some of the Piedmonts were from the 1996, which
Esposito stressed should not be overlooked because of the sensational
'97s. "The '96 vintage from Piedmont is one of the greatest vintages
for aging in the last 25 years," he told us. He was also enthusiastic
about the 1997 vintage, with the caveat that he wasn't as sure of
its aging potential. In a recent issue of Wine Advocate, Parker had
no such hesitation, calling the '97 vintage in Piedmont so good that
it's "freakish" and stating emphatically that the '97 is
"the greatest Tuscan vintage I have ever tasted."
What we can say emphatically is that our panel has never tasted 12
different wines that we rated so consistently outstanding. This isn't
to say that they were indistinguishable; the wide variety, with each
wine a close reflection of its own soil, microclimate and vinification
process, was one of our most exciting discoveries. We also did pretty
well at telling the Piedmonts from the Tuscans; one of our panelists,
wine columnist John Brecher of The Wall Street Journal, got a perfect
score. Generally speaking, the Tuscans were earthier, with complex
herbal overtones, while the Piedmonts were more refined, elegant yet
powerful. We tended to give the Piedmonts an edge, but much would
depend on the occasion and the food being served.
When we were forced to choose our favorites, four wines stood out,
earning an average rating of four stars, our top score. Yet they were
so different in character that it seemed pointless to try to rate
one over another. One of them was so unusual with an amazing herbaceous
bouquet, that we felt it deserved to be placed in a category all its
own. You would either love it, as we did, or hate it. We felt there
couldn't be any middle ground.
That wine turned out to be from Piedmont, a 1996 Barolo by Mascarello
Bartolo, who makes wines in the traditional manner, meant to age.
Indeed, says Bastianich, this Barolo can easily age up to 50 years,
meaning you can will it to your grandchildren. Not surprisingly, it
was one of the most expensive we tasted ($97).
Another of our favorites was also high-end, a 1997 Sonvico - a blend
of Barbera and Cabernet grapes - by Barbatella, a Piedmont producer.
If you're looking for a Bordeaux substitute in Italy, this would be
it. We found it "elegant," "civilized," "well-rounded,
"polished." It cost $98.
But if those were predictably expensive, our other favorites were
surprisingly reasonable. We loved the most humble wine of the evening,
a 1997 Barbera Armujan from Corsini. Comments included "big,"
"tannic," "masculine," with "plenty of aging
potential." It shows what a good producer can do in a great vintage,
yet it cost just under $33. Our fourth favorite was one of the 1997
super Tuscans, a Rosso from Cerbaiona, which, at $51, had much of
the elegance and power of the $98 Barbatella. And we feel compelled
to mention the '97 Segreto, an 85 percent Barbera wine from Cascina
Ebreo in Piedmont. It was controversial (some found it overbearing),
but had a huge eucalyptus bouquet that felt as if it could cure the
common cold. It was $60.
Some of these wines are produced in small quantities; you may want
to experiment with similar grape varieties but different producers.
Many cost less than those we tasted, though if you're looking for
aging potential, plan to spend at least $30 a bottle. That's not cheap,
but compare these wines with the prices of Bordeaux, Burgundy or even
California. The combination of the weak lira versus the dollar and
the large quantity of outstanding wines means prices are likely to
remain reasonable - about one-quarter to one-third the price of a
comparable French wine, according to Esposito.
At the end of the tasting, we repaired to Babbo for dinner and a sampling
of wines from Bastianich's own vineyards. We needed no further convincing,
but the experience reminded us again how closely married are Italian
wines and Italian cuisine. We can't say whether it was the wine, the
food, the warm decor, the expert guidance or, most likely, some combination
of all of these, but by the end of the evening, we felt we had stumbled
on the essence of la dolce vita.
click here
to return to the press page
