Tag Archives: tasting notes

Piemontegirl Tasting

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Piemontegirl tasting 2 Table

As you probably already know, I’ve started to host some wine tastings! Mostly basic tastings, differentiating between 3 grapes: dolcetto, barbera and nebbiolo. I think it is a good way to learn the difference between the 3 main grapes in Piemonte.

The dolcetto from Andrea Oberto had the typical purple color of dolcetto. On the nose it had kind of a strange smell. I think there might have been something strange with this bottle, maybe some reduction, because I’ve had this wine many times before and it did not smell like that. In the mouth it was as it should be – fresh, fruity, light.

Alessandro Veglio’s barbera had a ruby red color, slightly opaque. The nose was a little closed at the beginning, but came to after a while in the glass. It was fresh, fruity and had a good amount of acidity.

Lastly, the Perbacco. Color was brownish red, typical of the nebbiolo grape. On the nose there was roses, violets and earth tones. As Vietti makes their nebbiolo quite similar to their barolo, there were tannins present, as there should be with nebbiolo.

Piemontegirl tasting 2

Barbera the Mario Fontana way!

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Cascina Fontana Babera d’Alba 2016

wow cascina fontana barberaWine: Barbera d’Alba

Producer: Cascina Fontana

Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy

Grape varieties: Barbera

Vintage: 2016

 

Eye: deep ruby red

Nose: roses, cherries, red fruits, spices

Mouth: fresh, dry, good acidity

Price Point: $23

Available at Vinmonopolet: no

Available at Systembolaget: no

Wine of the Week

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Cavallotto Dolcetto d’Alba 2016

We all know I am a huge fan of both dolcetto and Cavallotto. So the combination of them both – wow! Cavallotto ages their dolcetto for 6 month in slavonian oak bottim then in cement tanks for 6 months. In my opinion you can store this dolcetto for 5-10 years, but it’s hard to keep them for so long without drinking them!

wow cavallotto dolcetto 2016

Wine: Dolcetto Vigna Scot

Producer: Cavallotto

Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy

Grape varieties: dolcetto

Vintage: 2016

 

Eye: ruby red with purple hue

Nose: floral notes, red fruits, hints of almonds

Mouth: fresh, medium body, fruity

Price Point: $12

Available at Vinmonopolet: not currently

Available at Systembolaget: no

Fratelli Revello Dolcetto

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Fratelli Revello Dolcetto 2013

wow revello dolcetto 2013

Wine: Dolcetto d’alba

Producer: Fratelli Revello

Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy

Grape varieties: Dolcetto

Vintage: 2013

 

Eye: violet, red color

Nose: fruity, roses, red cherry

Mouth: fruity, fresh, red berries,

Price Point: $12

Available at Vinmonopolet: no

Available at Systembolaget: no

Cascina Fontana

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Cascina Fontana Mario

Perno has to be the best kept secret in Piemonte. You will not only find one of the best restaurants, Republicca di Perno, but you will also find Cascina Fontana. And I finally had the pleasure of visiting the winery. Mario Fontana and his son gave us a tour of the small, but beautiful wine cellar while we did some barrel tasting, followed by a regular tasting of the wines that are ready to leave the winery.

Cascina Fontana lineup

Mario is a passionate and kind person, who follows his heart. His wines are made the “traditional” way, except his barbera which is made the “Mario Fontana” way. In his lineup you will find Dolcetto, Barbera, Langhe Nebbiolo and a Barolo. His barolo is purely a blend, no crus, which is the way everyone made wine back in the day. And Mario has chosen to continue this way.

 

Cascina Fontana 1975

He showed us an old label (unfortunately it was empty…)

The wines at Cascina Fontana are very good. During my visit we tasted Langhe Nebbiolo 2017 (barrel), Barolo 2017 (tank), Dolcetto 2017, Barbera 2016, Langhe Nebbiolo 2016 and Barolo 2014.

Two things stood out to me. First, he releases his barolo one year later than everyone else. Or has he likes to say “everyone else releases their wine a year early.” Second, Mario said “The wine must reflect the season” when talking about the 2014 vintage. He also said to drink 2014, don’t save it. Very wise guy, this Mario Fontana. And you should def pay him a visit! I am going back soon, that’s for sure.

Have you tried Giovanni Corino Dolcetto?

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Giovanni Corino Dolcetto d’Alba 2016

wow corino dolcetto 2016

Wine: Dolcetto d’Alba

Producer: Giovanni Corino

Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy

Grape varieties: dolcetto

Vintage: 2016

 

Eye: dark red, violet hue

Nose: dark berries, fruity, hints of hay

Mouth: light to medium bodied, smooth, fresh and fruity

Price Point: $12

Available at Vinmonopolet: no

Available at Systembolaget: no

Wine Night at Cascina Nuova

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Wine Night a la Piemontegirl

Remember I asked you for advice on how to run a Wine Tasting? Well, here is how it went!

Wine Night 3

My very talented friend Elena Baseotto made me some tasting sheets, and I decided to go for 3 wines next to each other: dolcetto, barbera and nebbiolo. The knowledge level among the participants varied a lot, so this was a nice way to show them the different grapes and their characteristics.

I chose a dolcetto from Andrea Oberto, a barbera from Burlotto and a langhe nebbiolo from Trediberri. These 3 producers are different yet they share the same philosophy (and are people I care about). It was very interesting to see which wines the guests preferred and why. I like all three, but in very different ways. Dolcetto is very easy to drink, not a lot of structure, but very pleasant. Barbera tends to be bigger (in comparison to dolcetto) and tastes better with food (in my opinion). And langhe nebbiolo is tannin free and smooth, yet has more structure than the dolcetto. All in all good wines to try.

Wine Night 1

I think maybe next time I will do a comparison of the same type of wine but either from different producers or different cru. I think it is interesting to see the different producers interpretation of the wine. Any thougths?

Wine Night 4

Wine of the Week

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Wine Review: Andrea Oberto Langhe Nebbiolo 2012

Wine Review

Wine Review Andrea Oberto

 

Wine: Langhe Nebbiolo

Producer: Andrea Oberto

Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy

Grape varieties: Nebbiolo

Vintage: 2012

 

Eye: ruby red, garnet reflections

Nose: floral, violets, red fruits,

Mouth: warm, rich, balanced

 

Price Point: $18

Available at Vinmonopolet: No, but you can find his Barolo and Dolcetto

Available at Systembolaget: No

Check out Andrea Oberto here: http://www.andreaoberto.com/ 

Wine of the Week

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Mauro Veglio Barbera d’Alba

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Wine: Barbera d’Alba

Producer: Mauro Veglio

Region/Appellation: Piemonte, Italy

Grape varieties: Barbera

Vintage: 2014

 

Eye: Intense ruby red, some violet

Nose: red fruits, cherry and plums

Mouth: well balanced, good acidity, mineral, medium body

 

 

Price Point: $19

Available at Vinmonopolet: Yes

Vivino

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First of, I do have an account on Vivino. I admit I’m not the most frequent user, but I am trying to post more. The problem for me is that I usually take a picture of the wine and then later I post it on instagram or 20170123_125057000_iossomething, and I always forget about Vivino…

 

 

Anyone use it? Love it? Hate it?

 

 

Know of any good accounts to follow?

 

 

 

Any tips are welcomed!

 

For those who are not familiar, Vivino is an app created for those of you who either like reviewing wines or for those who like reading wine reviews. Many consumers will read reviews before purchasing, either in a wine magazine like Decanter or online. The app is an easy way to get quick access to wine reviews. If you want to review a wine you can also read what other people thought of that same wine. It’s a pretty good tool, and I want to get better at using it.

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