At Eat Wine, Liz Caskey, an American who now lives in Chile, normally addresses local foods and wines. Her new post (read here) is about three wines that her husband and she recently enjoyed. They include a gorgeous Maipo red, as well as a lovely Albariño from Uruguay (a surprise to many of us, but not to Liz) and a beautiful Ribera del Duero from Spain. Nice descriptions of the wines as well as some excellent food recommendations.
At The Blend, Alonso Cevola addresses a timely issue - some great rosés for summer (read here). This one's all about Italian rosés, from Piedmont to Sicily and there are got some great choices, including the 2008 Centine from Banfi. Alfonso, I've got a bottle at home and based on your recommendation, I'll try it tonight!
At The Wine Camp Blog, Craig Camp discusses his thoughts on all the new wine blogs out there and finds that it's a good thing! This one's about a month old, but it's definitely worth looking into (read here.)
Finally at VinoWire.com, Jeremy Parzen has posted his translation of a letter from the Consorzio in Alba that promotes Barolo and Barbaresco. The letter was sent to my friend (and Jeremy's blogging partner) Franco Ziliani in Italy; it has to do with a defense of the 2006 vintage in the Langhe. As influential producer Bruno Giacosa is not bottling any Barolo or Barbaresco from the 2006 vintage, doubts have been raised about the vintage. You can read the letter here; this is a fascinating issue that may not go away for awhile. I can attest to dozens of very good to excellent examples of Barbaresco from 2006 that I tasted in May in Alba (I'll taste the 2006 Barolos next year).
Falletto Vineyard of Bruno Giacosa, Serralunga d'Alba
(Photo ©Tom Hyland)
We may never know the complete story as to why Bruno Giacosa made the decision not to bottle his 2006 Barolo or Barbaresco (he did bottle his 2006 Barbera and Nebbiolo d'Alba), but I see no reason for speculating on it- what's done is done. It is a shame that some "journalists" out there have put their own spin on this by claiming that this is a clear message that 2006 was not a succesful vintage in the Langhe. It was indeed - just try the wines! Kudos to Franco and Jeremy for reporting on this!
If you want to read more about the 2006 vintage in the Langhe, Franco Ziliani has just written an article for the Association of Italian Sommeliers site (read here).
This is an excellent article (in Italian) with comments from several producers of Barolo and Barbaresco. A few excerpts: Sergio Barale, a first-rate Barolo producer speaks of "the beautiful structure and color" of his 2006 Barolos and Barbaresco. Maurizio Giacosa of Fratelli Giacosa in Neive, talks about the aging potential of his 2006 Barbaresco, mentioning that they "are not inferior to his 2004 or 2005." Tino Colla of Poerdi Colla says that "2006 is in line with the two years that preceded it and with the two following years." In other words, 2006 is an excellent vintage!
A typicallly excellent article from Franco Ziliani and one that should clear up confusion about the quality of the 2006 Barolos and Barbarescos. Grazie, Franco!
Thanks for the shout out, Tom.
ReplyDeleteYep, the Italians don't even want to think about having the problems the folks in Bordeaux have, starting with the 2006 vintage, which is trickling in...
thank you to you for your very kind words, my friend!
ReplyDeleteFranco