Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It is time, once again, for the Ultimate in Linguistic Decadence: It’s the Carpe Vinum Newsletter of Wine-y Importance and the Tasting Announcement of Wine-y Decadent . . . um . . . Decadence! This week we’re going where we’ve never gone before, (at least in these weekly adventures in the world of wine). We’re headed to Italy’s Piedmont! “Why have we never done one of these before?” you may ask. To which I may respond, “Uhh . . . becauuuse . . .Hey what’s that over there? It that Elvis?” And make a daring escape from an unanswerable question. Whew! But, no. Not this time! There’s no hiding from the impending goodness that is Piedmont!

Piedmont is located in the Northwest part of Italy. If the peninsula of the Italy is the “Boot”, then piedmont is located somewhere around the “Garter” region, which feels a bit naughty, really. I was initially intimidated by Piedmont like many of the Italian wine regions. The wine laws in Italy are designed to be extra-inclusive, but after studying other European wine regions, it comes off just as extra-confusing. Many Italian wines are labeled after the region from which they come, and that determines what grapes are used to make that particular wine. That’s simple enough, as much of Europe operates under the same conditions.

The most important thing to know about the wine regions in Piedmont, however, is that the names usually reflect the village that the region is closest to, and also usually, the grape varietal that the wine contains. For example, the Barbera d’Alba is a wine made from the Barbera grape somewhere in the vicinity of the town of Alba. Make sense so far? Good! So these names also represent distinct boundaries of terrain, where a Barbera d’Alba is always grown somewhere within the boundary that the wine law says a wine labeled “Barbera d’Alba” may be released from. Now, here is where these things get confusing, since the wine laws may be a bit too inclusive, and the boundaries of all these areas are overlapping. The aforementioned Barbera d’Alba region also has, within its boundaries, at least 10 separate wine regions. That doesn’t mean these regions are ALSO Barbera d’Alba, as well as their own designation. It just means they come from the same area. Confused now? Good! It makes sense if you stare at a map and study the colorful boundary lines for a while.

So what you also find are many obscure wine regions within these other regions. As a self-proclaimed wine geek, and a lover of obscure and rare wine varieties, this can get to be a bit much to deal with. To keep things simple, we can just concentrate on the most prominent wines of the region. The names infer that they are near and around the cities of Alba and Asti. And we’ll concentrate on the prominent grapes of the region: Firstly there is Arneis, one of my new favorite white grapes, which makes a dry, fruity white wine. Next, there’s Barbera, the most widely grown red grape of the region of which there are many fine examples. Dolcetto is another red capable of both lighter Beaujolais-styles wines and fuller fruity and juicy reds. Finally there’s the powerhouse of the region: the weighty and full-bodied Nebbiolo, the grape responsible for the hearty, long-lived, highly sought-after and way-expensive Barbaresco and Barolo. I found a less-expensive example of both of those, and also another Nebbiolo from the Langhe region. Also popular in the region is the Moscato, but I did not have room for it in the tasting this time.

I consider this a Piedmont primer, since Italy appears as one giant vineyard in my own mind, and there are a greater number of wines produced there in a year than there is time enough to try them all. If you’re interested in more of the Barbaresco and Barolo wines, let me know. (The prices range higher than I can carry in the shop, but I’m happy to order anything.)

So Friday, October 13th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Piedmont!!!
Tre Donne 2003 Roero Arneis
Pio Cesare 2004 Dolcetto d’Alba
Prunotto 2004 Barbera d’Asti
Boroli 2004 Quattro Frateli, Barbera d’Alba
Pideri Ruggeri Corsini 2003 Langhe Nebbiolo

Barbaresco and Barolo!!!
Ca del Baio 2003 Barbaresco “Valgrande”
Monchiero 2001 Barolo “Rocche”

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Spain’s Castille!

M