Tutto Piemonte
Free tasting | Friday, September 15, 2017 | 5-7PM
Two of our rockstar cheesemongers, Brie and Kiri, are currently in Piedmont for Slow Foods’ international cheese festival in Bra to celebrate raw cheese in all its glory. Tomorrow we’re channeling their Italian adventures and featuring raw Piedmont wine - all organic and biodynamic Piemontese wines from our friend Andrea with Giannoni Selections. Venite tutti!
Eraldo Revelli, 'Rosset', Langhe (2016), $20
Dolcetto is the grape associated with the village of Dogliani, which is where Eraldo Revelli and his daughter Claudia run their organic winery. With a location at 450 meters, the Revelli’s vineyards enjoy a particular microclimate that ensures good temperature variation and sea breezes due to their proximity to the Ligurian coast. ‘Rosset’ means 'lipstick' in Piemontense dialect - this lip-smacking rosé has bold cherry fruit and a slight herbaceous quality with long-lingering minerality.
Eraldo Revelli, 'Autin Lungh', Dogliani (2015), $26
Since the 1930's, the Revelli’s have continued to showcase the Dolcetto grape, the underdog to the popular Nebbiolo, in their organic winery. Dolcetto was recognized for its significance in Dogliani and given DOCG status in 2010. Claudia and Eraldo definitely deliver in this serious wine, which is from a single vineyard called ‘Autin Lungh’ and grown on 25-year-old vines. Vinification and aging happens in all stainless steel, and the resulting wine has deep blackberry and raspberry notes with a long, dry finish.
Eugenio Bocchino, Barbera D'Alba (2015), $27
Husband and wife team, Eugenio and Cinzia, got into winemaking with the theory that the wine should reflect the soil and not the winemakers. Their biodynamic winery is all about allowing the soil and terroir to shine, whether this is from refusing new oak to doing as few ‘rimontaggi’ (pump-overs) as possible during fermentation. This Barbera was grown on thirty-year-old vines and has notes of juniper, licorice, and untamed wild cherries.
Castello di Tassarolo 'Titouan', Tassarolo (2015), $28
When Massimiliana 'Max' Spinola and Henry Finzi-Constantin converted their southeast Piedmont vineyard to biodynamics, they even bought horses to work the fields and built their own water tower on the property. When Max realized she had become sensitive to sulfur, they decided to make their wines without the addition of sulfites; instead they ferment and elevate their wines in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats to prevent oxidation. Lift your glass in thanks to Titouan, the horse on the label who helped make this Barbera possible, while you savor this hand-harvested wine with notes of cranberry and clay.
Daniele Ricci 'Terre' Del Timorasso' (2014), $24
After phylloxera demolished Piedmont in the mid-19th century, most growers abandoned the local varietal, Timorasso, in favor of Cortese. But Daniele Ricci's grandfather saw the value in Timorasso and planted it when he started his winery in 1929. Today, there are only 100 hectares of Timorasso planted in all of Piedmont. Daniele is committed to organic farming practices; he has over 300 elements in his soil! This Timorasso juice spends three days on its skins, giving it an yellow-amber hue, and remains on its lees for over a year. The result is a wine with a core of minerality and bright notes of lemon meringue.
