#nebbiyolo

THURSDAY NIGHT TASTING 6-8PM:  

STARS ON THE BAR!

NEBBIOLO, BARBARESCO, BAROLO, BOCA

When the temperature drops like this I always find myself looking for wines that bring the power and the depth that only a noble red grape can. One I think almost everyone can agree on is Nebbiolo. While it’s occasionally grown in other places, it’s mostly a creature of the Piedmont, in Northern Italy, with the majority coming from the Langhe region and with more specific areas including most famously Barolo, but also Barbaresco and Boca. Each place offers specific combinations of climate, soil and exposure that combine with centuries of winemaking traditions to coax some of the most profound expressions of any red wine on the planet. Tonight, you can come to Dandelion and taste all four with an expert – John List of Artisan Wines. We’ll have plenty of snacks from Eastern District, and the deep grooves on our turntable will make you forget the wind. And these very, very special wines will make you forget, well, everything! The Lion in Winter Loves You!

Fratelli Alessandria, Langhe Nebbiolo Prinsiot 2016

Founded in 1807, this historic Barolo winery has belonged to the Alessandria family since 1870.  Fratelli Alessandria produce wines from their own grapes only, and have kept things family-run. I think of Alessandro – the winemaker – as having a light touch, and Allessandria consistently offers wines that show the delicate side of the Langhe. The roses side of the proverbial “tar and roses”. $26

Cantina del Pino, Barbaresco Albesani 2013

Cantina del Pino has emerged recently as one of the most important producers of Barbaresco. But their vineyard and family history go way back. The very first wine labeled as Barbaresco, made by the "father" of Barbaresco, the renowned enologist Domizio Cavazza in 1894, was made from one of their vineyards. The patriarch of the family planted a pine tree there when his first son was born and over time it became known as Cantina del Pino. That tree, depicted on the label, still stands today, a hundred yards from Vigneto Santo Stefano in Albesani, which has been long considered a Grand Cru of the Nieve part of the Barbaresco zone. And the wine we’ll taste tonight is made from grapes grown there. No chemical fertilizers, and vineyards are managed with an extreme respect to the enviroment. Vines average 40 years old. Wines are neither fined nor filtered. Against the conventional wisdom, I’ve recently found some Barbarescos to be more aggressively tannic than many Barolos. See what you think. $65

Silvano Bolmida, Le Coste di Monforte Barolo Bussia 2013

Silvano Bomida is a winery that pay more attention to phenolic ripeness than most, which is to say they spend a lot of time making sure that not only the inside of the grape is ready to pick, but that the skin is “ripe” as well. Now everyone does this to some degree but in places like Bordeaux, Napa, and Piemonte, the stakes are a little higher. Because the skin plays a large part in what kind of wine this is going to be. They want to be able to extract a lot from the skins – polyphenols, tannins, and other compounds – and they need those compounds to be ripe in order to achieve the variety of flavors, the richness, the depth and even the delicacy that the powerful wines of Barolo are justly famous for. I found this one an amazing example of that. Complex, beautiful, powerful and rich, with rose, cherry, eucalyptus, mineral, and riot of black fruit. Barolo Bonus: it’s ready to drink now! $50

Le Piane, Boca 2015