In 2010,
only 62 hectares was planted to Nebbiolo in California, and of that just one
hectare is found in the famous Bien Nacido Vineyard in the northeastern corner
of Santa Maria Valley. The vines were planted in 1994 and gives two wines, the lovely
Nebbiolo Bricco Buon Natale and the even more impressive Nebbiolo Punta Esclamativa.
It is said that it takes a lot of knowledge
and wine appreciation to understand the wine world, and to even get close to
what a varietal wine or a blend from a specific wine region or even smaller
appellation tastes like. In most cases, unless we talk about world class wines
from the best winemakers in the world, that precise knowledge isn't there.
Over the last two decades, when I have
travelled the wine world, I have heard thousands of times that "this is
our Chablis styled Chardonnay", and "this is so
Montrachet-like", and "this is just like the greatest wines of
Médoc", och "a great Tempranillo" and, not too often though,
"our very finest Barolo-styled Nebbiolo". And in an overwhelming
majority of these cases, are there very small similarities, if any at all.
However, it doesn't take more than a small
chat with legendary Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat and his more recent
Clendenen Family Vineyards, to realize that he knows what he is talking about
and that he really knows the world of wine. And if you're not lucky enough to
meet him and talk to him, the answer is in the bottle. The guy knows the world
of fine wine!
2003 Nebbiolo Punta Esclamativa / 91 p
This is
a one hundred percent Nebbiolo from two small lots of nine year old Nebbiolo
vines, fermented in small tanks with a total of three weeks of skin contact,
then matured in 500 liter French oak barrels during the for Barolo wines
typical time of four years. Alcohol level is, according to the label, 13.5
percent, and I have no reason to think that this isn't true. There's no traces
of sweet alcohol or alcohol warmth in the taste.
I poured this wine blind at 15 degrees
Celsius in Burgundy shaped glasses to a handful of top sommeliers, and some of
them went directly to Nebbiolo. That's a good sign, and I totally understand
that. The others placed it in Santa Barbara County, mostly for its intense red
fruit flavors, riper fruit and lively acidity, and besides the tannins, they
thought it was a great Pinot Noir. Not too bad either, to me Nebbiolo and its
great wines from Barolo and Barbaresco is the burgundian wine style of Italy.
At first, the fruit scent was a bit
"warmer" in style, so one sommelier suggested it could be the warmer 2003
vintage in Piedmont, and that both the acidity and tannic structure was a bit
leaner than in the Italian wines, and that's a good comment. Still the variety
character is there, true and without no doubt very typical. Red fruit, sun ripe
raspberries, rose petals, a hint of fine tobacco, even that small note of that
rubber I find so attractive in Barolos and Barbarescos, and those characters
became much more prominent after some hours in the decanter, to be even more
true "Barolo like" after 24 hours in the decanter! There's just a
small sweetish note of the oak, but still on a very moderate level, and a
slightly riper fruit than in the Piedmontese counterparts.
Based on the fact that the wine is now nine
years old and that it took around a day for it in the decanter to really open
up, my guess is that it should age beautifully another decade or even more.
Still I think it will be at its best, with all its lovely and already complex
aromas, the coming six years from now. Serve it at around 16-17 degrees
Celsius, but decant it before!
Drink it 2012-2018
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