Friday, April 9, 2010

2007 Piemonte

2007 is shaping up to be another solid vintage in Piemonte, and three wines I've recently had from three great producers have shown the potential of this vintage when the big guns are released over the next two years.

Up first was the 2007 Luciano Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba. This wine has been a favorite of mine, both in this vintage and earlier ones. This latest bottle was consistent with my prior notes, a delicious example of this varietal.

Next was a new release from one of my favorite producers, the 2007 Vietti Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne. This Barbera doesn't have quite the elegance of the Sandrone Dolcetto, but is still a fantastic wine. It delivers plenty of fruit and a bit of complexity that may be unexpected in a wine of this price. Vietti seems to really be moving into the upper echelon of Piemonte producers, and as one of my favorites for a while, I am really enjoying their wines.

Finally, I had a wine that's not officially a 2007 vintage, the Albino Rocca Rosso di Rocca Vino di Tavola. As a Vino di Tavola, it can't include a vintage, but this is lot L 20.07. The designation is applied because the wine includes 10% Cabernet Franc in the blend with Nebbiolo and Barbera. However, it is a delicious wine, and also very reasonably priced. It is again a little different than the previous wines, with a little extra body from the Cab Franc, but it doesn't lose the typicity of the region, readily identifiable as a predominately Nebbiolo wine.

Overall, these are three great reasonably priced wines from three great producers in a region I continue to enjoy more and more. The wines are all great with food, and drink well in their youth, a great benefit while waiting for the top wines from the region to age into their prime.

1 comment:

ejdaking said...

I was happily surprised with a a little Barbera by Fontanafredda (Cold Fountain). It's the Briccotondo Barbera. Check it out, definitely.