Barbaresco and current trends

[pedro]

Barbaresco wines (and I'd say Nebbiolo in general) have a very different profile from what many consumers are used to drink: starting with their colour and finishing with their tannic load. This could be especially painful and unfair in blindfold tasting.

How do you think these wines should be promoted to compete with other wines which in appearance are easier to drink?

[Andrea Sottimano]

Hi Pedro,

you're right when you say"starting with their colour and finishing with their tannic load.This could be especially painful and unfair in blindfold tasting."

I never meet anyone that, becoming a wine lover, begin with a Nebbiolo or a Pinot Noir.

Usually( myself included, when I started to be wine passionate)you begin with easier wines, more fruited, richer, softer that you can drink easily.But when you want to "pass" to a superior level of knowledge, you understand that you are looking for more complex wine, maybe less rich but more charming and, on all, that begin to rest in your mind.Depending on your passion, you go on and on, until you can arrive, also, to Barolo and Barbaresco.(but I could say also Burgundy, Rhone, German white wines....).

With this I am not saying that you HAVE to like A Barbaresco if you want to be a Real Wine Expert, not at all!I am only convinced that there are some wine that maybe you can't appreciate without a certain "background" of tasting.It's not an elite statement, it's only that I don't like to follow the wine busuness.

I am sure that if we vinificate our wines in a softer and international (I hate this word!)way, maybe we will have some more new customers, but we will became a fashion.And like every fashion we will "pass" next year....

We have to continue to promote our wines in the most terroiristic way, insisting on the great differences between one parcel and the other( there is a beautiful map on the web site of www.enotecaregionaledelbarbaresco.it)

Best,

Andrea

[pedro]

Hi Pedro,

you're right when you say"starting with their colour and finishing with their tannic load.This could be especially painful and unfair in blindfold tasting."

I never meet anyone that, becoming a wine lover, begin with a Nebbiolo or a Pinot Noir.

Usually( myself included, when I started to be wine passionate)you begin with easier wines, more fruited, richer, softer that you can drink easily.But when you want to "pass" to a superior level of knowledge, you understand that you are looking for more complex wine, maybe less rich but more charming and, on all, that begin to rest in your mind.Depending on your passion, you go on and on, until you can arrive, also, to Barolo and Barbaresco.(but I could say also Burgundy, Rhone, German white wines....).

With this I am not saying that you HAVE to like A Barbaresco if you want to be a Real Wine Expert, not at all!I am only convinced that there are some wine that maybe you can't appreciate without a certain "background" of tasting.It's not an elite statement, it's only that I don't like to follow the wine busuness.

I am sure that if we vinificate our wines in a softer and international (I hate this word!)way, maybe we will have some more new customers, but we will became a fashion.And like every fashion we will "pass" next year....

We have to continue to promote our wines in the most terroiristic way, insisting on the great differences between one parcel and the other( there is a beautiful map on the web site of www.enotecaregionaledelbarbaresco.it)

Best,

Andrea

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Thanks very much for your thoughtful answer, Andrea. Indeed I agree with you that terroir is the way to go with these wines. There's also a great difference of Barbaresco wines (and as you say, Barolo, Burgundy) that set them apart from their competitors: they're terrific meal partners. Their tannins invite you to continue eating instead of letting your mouth tired with overriped fruit. Maybe in a wine tasting can be overlooked in favor of wines with more evident characteristics but it's difficult to think of better companions for a meal.