Got to go back to Alba

In one of the past Wine Blogging Wednesdays, the theme was wine from the Piedmont region of Italy. I had chosen a Barbera D’Alba because I had a deep trust of the grape whenever I see it on a restaurant wine list. Unfortunately it turned out that I had just had some good experiences in restaurants, or perhaps one bad experience at home.

So I decided to try another wine from Alba, a Dolcetto 2006 from Vietti. I have complained about wineries not having useful websites and other wineries that have done particularly good jobs of expressing the information that bloggers such as myself want to find. This wineries did a good job making it available on their website (www.vietti.com), but the content looks half finished.

A for effort, C+ for presentation. However, under further review none of the recent vintages are listed on the website. They still get some points though for having the website on the back label of the bottle.

Like most wineries in Europe, Vietti claims to have been making wine for the past four generations and was one of the first wineries in Italy to export their wines to the U.S.

I really should have tried this wine for my Piedmont post. There was a nice dustiness to the nose, with some rich sweet dark fruits like blackberry and blueberry. Definitely some oak used as I picked out smells of cedar wood and vanilla. My first taste was a little rough, and a put too tannic, with sour cherry and blackberry the predominant flavors. Then, as the wine opened more, there was a lot more juiciness to it, some of that lively fruit that I love.

After I tasted this wine I sat on this post for a little while. I walk into wine stores more often than I used to and as I do I start noticing what is on the shelves instead of just looking at it all as a wall of wine. The more I look the more I pick out this label and others as prevalent in the retail stores near me (of which I frequent quite a few). It is truly amazing how they start sticking out from the walls after you have tasted them and written about them. Makes this whole blogging thing worthwhile.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #54 – A Passion for Piedmont

I must admit I was so behind on this Wine Blogging Wednesday that I had to go back several times to remind me what it was about.

David McDuff at McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail hosts this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday. He noted that when talking about Italy most people are familiar with the region of Tuscany and the wines of Chianti and Chianti Classico.

Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps, including the Monviso (Mont Vis), where the Po rises, and the Monte Rosa. It borders with France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Aosta Valley. The Geography of Piedmont is that of a territory predominantly mountainous, 43.3%, but with extensive areas of hills which represent 30.3% of the territory, and of plains (26.4%). Piedmont is the second largest of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, after Sicily.

I really love Piedmont. It is actually my go-to region in Italy when I order off a wine list. My favorite grape is Barbera, with is why for this WBW I chose Guidobono Barbera D’Alba 2006.

The Barbera vine is very vigorous and capable of producing high yields if not kept in check by pruning and other methods. Excessive yields can diminish the fruit quality in the grape and accentuate Barbera's natural acidity and sharpness. In Piedmont, the vine was prized for its yields and ability to ripen two weeks earlier than Nebbiolo even on vineyard sites with less than ideal exposure. This allowed the Piedmontese winemakers in regions like Alba to give their best sites over to the more difficult to cultivate Nebbiolo and still produce quality wine with Barbera that could be consumed earlier while the Nebbiolo ages.

The Guidobono Barbera D’Alba was decent but not amazing. When I poured the wine I noticed a very deep red/purple color. Very inky. When I stuck my nose in I found a bit of sweet blackberry, very ripe with a nice fleshy smell. There is also some minerality that does a good job of holding back from being sharp. When I tasted the wine the fruit is a little lost when it hits my mouth. There is an immediate drying sensation while the wine is still in my mouth. There is a ton of acidity, almost over the top. I can pick out a fruit here and there, but the wine’s almost sour acidity covers it up. Definitely drinkable, but I want to have some food ready to soak it up.

What an amazing meal can do

On Saturday night I treated myself and a date to a dinner at Veritas and it was an experience that everyone should have at least once in their lives (hopefully many more). I picked Veritas because I had been on a business trip to visit the Chilean wineries with one of the sommeliers, Patrick Cappiello.

My goodness, were we treated well. The menu was small enough to make a choice easy, but there were so many amazing sounding dishes. I chose a seared fois gras, my date chose the langoustine roti. My fois gras was fantastic and it really highlighted for me what the combination of a great chef and very talented sommelier staff can produce. With the fois gras I was poured a Volnay, a really great choice and not one I would have expected. Usually I would expect a sweeter white wine, but the Volnay was perfect! The smoked flavor in the wine hit the exact right note with the seared flavors. Then there was a linguini dish that came out, made with chestnuts and topped with white truffles. With that we were poured a Piedmont, a nebbiolo based wine. Again, melt in your seat perfection. The tastes complimented each other perfectly.

My entree was Duck a l'Orange, with which I was served a young Chateau Talbot (2005). My mother actually has about half a case of the '78 in her basement and another half case of the '89 for my brother. I think I was on food overload. I wasn't nearly as impressed with this pairing as I was with the others, but it was still great food and wine.

When we were done we could barely move. We paid the bill (ok, I paid the bill and yes it was quite expensive, but well worth it), thanked Patrick for such a good meal and making sure he thanked the Chef for us, and left. We were stuffed and decided that the only way to unstuff was to walk the two miles home. I was nearly asleep in a food coma the entire way.

This was one of those meals that I will probably remember for many years to come. The company was good, the food was amazing, and the service helpful but unintrusive. It is an experience you pay for and you feel good about it. I don't know if I could do it again anytime soon, but I'm glad I went. There is probably no where else in the US that takes dinning as seriously as New York. From the very high end like Veritas to the very low end junk food pizza place. Being from Philly, we take our junk food very seriously. My favorite spot is a shack on a corner that sells the best, greasiest cheese steaks in the world. "One, wit, wizz" and you're on your way with a heart attack in your hands.

I can see how fine dinning can be a difficult draw in harder economic times, but hopefully there are enough people in New York who understand that this experience is worth the cost. Just not every night...