Recent Piemonte Vintages-2001 and 2003

[Bill Klapp]

In fact, based upon exactly two swallows of wine, one from each vintage! (Even Bob Parker has to work harder than this, albeit not much.) We had dinner last night with our friends Marisa and Piero. We drank his 2001 Barbera with dinner, but he broke out a taste of the 2003 for us. My assessment? 2001 was a relatively large crop with HUGE fruit and surprising complexity on the nose and palate. Piero vinifies his wine exclusively for consumption with meals, and he strives to keep the alcohol down (10-12%). In the 2001, he did so by leaving a trace of residual sugar, which rounds out the wine nicely without being too sweet. The 2003 Barbera is a horse of a different color. It is obviously not yet finished, but it was vinified completely dry. Jeese Louise! The alcohol is on the long side of 15%! On the first taste, it resembles nothing so much as Zinfandel. It is in a bit of a closed state now (as much as that is possible with Barbera), but despite the high alcohol, the balance with the fruit and acid is excellent. My verdict? Two very different, but equally outstanding years for Barbera.

[Craig Camp]

Looks like they are going to have to add wine from Sardegna to lower the alcohol levels in Piemonte in 2003.

Bill even with this limited sample I think you have hit it on the head.

I think it will take until April to really get an idea of where these wines will go. I am working on assembling a comprehensive vintage assessment from the producers as we speak.