Barolo

Wine is practically an infinite subject. Even the few who attain the rarified rank of Master of Wine would admit that no one can possibly know every grape, every region and every wine, especially as new wine producing areas frequently emerge to rival the long-established ones.

I know my California wines, and I’m not bad on Burgundy, Bordeaux and the northern Rhône. But I have to admit that I’m pretty weak when it comes to the wines of Italy. While France and California (and let’s thrown in Australia, South America, Oregon and Washington, too) winemakers typically focus on just a handful of grapes (notably chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, malbec and syrah), producers in Italy have hundreds of different varietals available. And they use them all.

A recent local tasting offered me the chance to improve my knowledge of nebbiolo, a grape grown in Piedmont to produce Barolo – and Barbaresco and a couple of other wines as well. Just over 2000 acres in the regions are planted with nebbiolo, and high quality wineries only get about one bottle per vine, which helps explain the high cost of the stuff. And Barolo, with its red fruit flavors and aromas of spice and tar, is a wine connoisseurs seek out, sending prices ever higher each year. It’s potentially an enormous wine, one that will age well for decades. The recent incorporation of new technology by some winemakers has made the wines more approachable in their youth, inspiring yet more people to purchase and drink them.

Vietti, a venerable producer honoring the tradition of the region while also embracing some modern technology, offers a range of Barolos, everything from a (relatively) reasonably priced bottle for those new to the wine to an older vintage for connoisseurs willing to shell out significant money for a trophy wine. Look to Vietti’s Barolo Castiglione 2004 ($45), a blend from several vineyards, as an introduction to this wine. There’s impressive complexity and finesse for the price. Aficionados might want to pick up Vietti’s Brunate, Lazzarito or Rocche single vineyard bottlings ($130), each of which has its own distinctive flavor profile – and each of which is absolutely delicious. And those with deep pockets should consider Vietti’s Barolo Riserva Villero 2001 ($400), an intense, deeply concentrated expression of the grape and the place it was grown.