Respected Italian vintner Angelo Gaja takes Curtis Marsh through the complex and secretive world of nebbiolo.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Respected Italian vintner Angelo Gaja takes Curtis Marsh through the complex and secretive world of nebbiolo.

"To enjoy nebbiolo you have to like tannins, and it must be taken with food," espouses an animated Angelo Gaja. With three vintages of the Gaja family flagship red Barbaresco DOCG 1996, 1997 and 1998 in front of us as a pre-dinner tasting, my mouth puckers as I try to absorb this crash course on Piedmont and the Gaja history and philosophy.

Gaja, in my opinion, is one of the greatest speakers in the wine world, commanding and entertaining with a mischievous sense of humor.

He's also the consummate diplomat, promoting the Piedmont region and its smaller producers alongside his wines. Largely credited with lending respect to Italian wine on the world stage, his focus on quality and the sacrifices that have to be made for its sake is unrelenting.

"It is not possible to make great wine in large quantities," he says, explaining how the cooperatives in his region were making characterless wine with little respect for the terroir.

We are gathered at the Kee Club in Central where Gianluigi Bonelli, executive chef of the club's Venetian Dining Room, has created a menu that amalgamates the traditional with his own innovative flair. Bonelli was previously at Ristorante Don Alfonso, one of only two 3-star Michelin restaurants in Italy and has recently taken sabbaticals to work at Spain's famed El Bulli restaurant and England's highly acclaimed The Fat Duck.

Nebbiolo derives its name from nebbia, Piedmontese dialect for fog, describing the prevailing misty autumn conditions around the time the grapes are ripening for harvest. Piedmont is situated in northwest Italy, surrounded by the Alps and bordered by France and Switzerland.

The combination of continental climate, vineyard altitudes of more than 300 meters above sea level and the capricious nature of nebbiolo results in wines that are tannic and unyielding in their youth, but metamorphose with sufficient bottle ageing (usually five years minimum) developing aromatic complexity and subtlety similar to that of great burgundy. The lauded wine critic Robert Parker describes the bouquet of the 1988 Gaja Barbaresco as "exotic, compelling and incredibly complex, its bouquet is reminiscent of what a fictional blend of Romanee-Conti and Mouton-Rothschild might taste like."

Or, as Gaja explains: "Cabernet sauvignon is an open book, it reveals everything to you immediately in a simple way. Nebbiolo is a closed book, it is secretive and complex and you have to dig further to understand it."

There is however, a common thread with top quality nebbiolo, genially known as "tar and roses," a hedonistic mixture of licorice and the scents of red roses.

With the main course of confit and braised veal cheek, we are treated to the outstanding Barbaresco 2001 and 1989 vintages, the 1989 out of magnum.

By this stage, our host is bombarding us with the aspects of viticulture and winemaking at Gaja, but senses information overload, so keeps the audience amused with his ideas on how best to destroy one's fortune.

"The three most efficient ways a man can lose all his money are firstly by gambling,  secondly  on women  and  thirdly  in  agriculture.  Our partner in

viticulture is the weather, over which we have no control. There have been some difficult years - 1991, 1992 and particularly 1994 - when we did not produce any single vineyard wines. That said, we had the trio of great vintages, 1988, 1989 an 1990, and nobody can remember so many exceptional vintages in a row, from 1995 through to 2001."

Below are my tastings notes on the red wines served at the dinner, the 2001 being the current vintage available at HK$1,675 per bottle, and worth every cent. Gaja also produce three single vineyard Barbaresco - Sori Tilden, Sori San Lorenzo and Costa Russi, all HK$2,915 per bottle. These wines are the ultimate expression of profound nebbiolo, with definitive personalities of their individual terroir.

The full Gaja range is available at Remy Fine Wines, Shop 252 Pacific Place (www.remy.com.hk, tel: 2845 5995). Also at Rare and Fine Wines, L6 Bank of East Asia Building, Central (kkwong@rarenfinewines.com.hk, tel: 2522 9797).

Older vintages can be sourced through (www.wine-searcher.com).

Perhaps the most affordable and enjoyable way to try a range of Gaja wines is to organize your own wine dinner. A group of 10 people is ideal with a bottle dividing into 75 milliliters of each wine per person, with an adequate quantity in total when multiplied by five or six wines.

1996 Barbaresco: Classic red rose perfume among a grappa-like concentration of deep blueberry, blackcurrant and violets; coffee grinds, charred meats, licorice, dark bitter chocolate, barky burnt-wood and pipe tobacco. The palate is intense with piercing tangy fruit, sour cherries, becoming earthy, with cedar and dried wood flavors; has amazing length with cold steely acidity and mouth-coating powdery tannins - still looking youthful.

1997 Barbaresco: Noticeably more generous and sweeter in perfume, in keeping with the hot and dry vintage, indeed almost burgundian on the nose. Leaps from the glass, blueberry again, but more stewed, concentrated kirsch- like. Lush palate with layers of sweet fruit; ducks guts, roasted pigeon, clay earthy flavors, and less of licorice elements, but still has loads of tannin - incredibly seductive wine.

1998 Barbaresco: Quite different again, earthy, a little herbal, roses, violets, dried woods, some saddle leather, quite dense and almost port like; earthy with lots of tar and licorice, quite chocolaty; finishes with black cherry, mouth-puckering tannins and tangy, racy acidity - bigger, more brawny wine.

2001 Barbaresco: Nose is not unlike the 1997, sweet perfume of red roses violets, kirsch spirit, with some intriguing musky hints and licorice, almost molasses-like. Zingy and tangy palate with racy acidity (like the 1996) with good mid-palate lushness and layers of sweetness, then twisting around to sour plums and dark cherry, wrapped in chocolate; finishes long with mouth-drying tannins. By all accounts, one of the best Barbarescos he has made.

1989 Barbaresco: Classic tar and roses, has developed complex secondary aromas of truffle, tobacco, and Chinese black tea, some interesting salty parmesan characters. Palate is very earthy, wet clay, still has plenty dark cherry fruit with strong acid backbone, tannins becoming integrated - the best drink of the night and will continue to age for some time yet.

“Curtis Marsh, a veteran wine importer and sommelier, is an Asia-based writer on wine, food and travel.”

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