Italian Wine Adventure #5: Langhe Nebbiolo! (A red wine lover must-have, bold red wines, the noble grape of Italian wine, Barolo’s baby brother)

Show Notes

Episode 61: Italian Wine Adventure #5: Langhe Nebbiolo  00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

Ok, a quick orientation for those of you who may be new to the podcast - in each episode we learn about, taste and review three wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $20 - and should be easy for you to find. Our goal is to have some fun, learn about some new wines, and talk about wines in a way that regular people like us can understand. And we are proud to say we  are officially recommended by the editors of Decanter Magazine, who call us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining. 

Ok, Carmela, it’s been a couple of months, but like the second season of the White Lotus, we are going to take another Italian wine adventure, and this time, we are kind of going back to the beginning of my journey with wine altogether and talk about Nebbiolo - a red wine that is generally considered the most prestigious wine in Italy from the most noble grape in Italy. What do you think of that?!? And do you think they drank any Nebbiolo in the Sicily season of the White Lotus?

So, Carmela, it’s story time - are you ready for story time?

Ok, you know that my introduction to wine came through who? That’s right - your father. Now, for all of you out there in listening land, you might be surprised to find out that in my family, particularly my mom’s side of the family, there was just not a lot of alcohol drinking -  at all. It was a little different on my dad’s side, but still, I would not say that I was exposed to much drinking when I was growing up. 

My mom did not drink a bit, right - did you ever see her drink? And among her siblings really only my Uncle John and Aunt Agata drank wine occasionally - usually white, and usually only on special occasions. It’s not like my family was against drinking, they just didn’t drink. It was just not something they did. Although my Aunt liked a nice glass of white wine! And, them not being drinkers was funny because my mom’s dad actually made homemade wine and grappa, and we actually have his still that he used. Which you don’t like. 

So, when we got married, I really had almost no experience with wine, and no knowledge at all of how broad and varied the world of wine could be. I would say that I was more than a novice, I was an ignoramus.

But your dad is a wine lover, a wine collector, and kind of a wine nut - wouldn’t you say? And, by the time we got married, he was very much into Italian wines. Early on he did drink more French wines, and his dad, your grandfather, had a beer and wine distributorship, so he was also pretty familiar with California, Washington, and other European wines. 

However, after first doing some collecting of French wines, you dad got really into Italian wines, and, for those of you out there in listening land who may not know, it is not Chianti or Prosecco is considered the King of Italian wines, but rather Barolo, as well as its next of kin called Barbaresco. These are often the most expensive and highest revered, Italian wines. I would not say they are hard to find, but they are hard to afford! And there are almost never under $20. In fact, the good ones are going to be closer to $100 or more right out of the gate.

These wines are the wines that I started drinking because they are what your dad drank, along with Chianti, Amarone, Brunello, Montepulciano, Aglianico, Primitivo, and others. But, really, the wines that were the biggest deals for your dad, and the ones he liked to serve occasionally (although he serves them much more often now because he has so much and he needs to drink it!) are Barolo and Barbaresco.

The grape that Barolo and Barbaresco are made from is called - what, Carmela? Nebbiolo, and so while we would basically never be able to taste and review a Barolo or a Barberesco on our podcast because they are so expensive, you can find wines called Nebbiolo that are made from the same grape and from the same general region of Piedmont relatively easily, and they are often $20 or less.

So, today in our Italian wine adventure we are going to be learning about, tasting, and reviewing the Langhe Nebbiolo, and we are going to introduce all of you out there in listening land who may not be familiar with it to what is, next to Pinot Noir, my favorite wine. And depending on the day and my mood, may be my favorite wine, but I digress because we have to get rolling . . .

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug, right Carmela? If you are finding that you are enjoying what you are hearing more than you thought you could ever enjoy anything in your life, we think it would be fantastico if you would subscribe to our podcast! And we would also be così grato if you would leave us a nice a rating and review on our website or on your podcast service so that people who are searching around will see our ratings and say merda, I should check these guys out!

You can also follow us or reach out to us on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast or on CounterSocial - our Twitter alternative of choice -  or contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com.

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should tell about The Wine Pair Podcast, and this week we want you to tell anyone who thinks that the only wines from Italy are Chianti and Prosecco. 


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.flavoursholidays.co.uk/blog/italian-wine-classifications-doc-docg-igt-vdt/#:~:text=DOC%20%E2%80%93%20Denominazione%20di%20Origine%20Controllata,followed%20regarding%20quality%20and%20authenticity

Topic: WTF is Langhe Nebbiolo? 10:12

So, as I mentioned, Nebbiolo is a grape grown almost exclusively in Italy, and almost exclusively in the Piedmont, or Piemonte, region of Italy, although there is a teeny tiny bit being grown in the US as well as countries like South Africa, Australia, and in South America. 

If you are not familiar with Piedmont, if you picture Italy as a boot - Piedmont is at the top of the boot. It is on the West side of Italy, and its most famous city is Turin or Torino. To the West of Piedmont is France, to the East is Milan, and to the South is Genoa. Parts of the Northern portion of Piedmont also border on Switzerland. 

Within Piedmont, Nebbiolo is grown in many different areas, and believe it or not, there are 42 separate DOC or designated controlled regions in Piedmont, and 17 DOCGs, which is the highest designation - they add the G to indicate it is guaranteed, in Piedmont.  And, again, when Nebbiolo is made in the Barolo and Barbaresco areas of Piedmont, it is known by those names, and not by the name of the grape.

However, outside of the areas of Barolo and Barbaresco, there are several wines, like Nebbiolo Langhe, that are made from Nebbiolo and are from a specific area of Piedmont. And, actually, Barolo and Barbaresco are technically in the Langhe region, just saying. Outside of Langhe, some of the other areas that grow Nebbiolo are Roero, Ghemme, Gattinara, and Colline Novaresi. Don’t worry about memorizing all of this, just head to our show notes on our website thewinepairpodcast.com for this episode and you’ll find lots of links and other good information.  

Going back to Langhe Nebbiolo, the difference between Barolo and Barbaresco and a regular old Langhe Nebbiolo has to do with two main things - the terrior, or the specific vineyards, soil, terrain, etc. of Barolo and Barbaresco, and the ways the wines have to be made. Let’s just say that making a Barolo or Barbaresco is kind of a pain in the butt.

When we were talking about this, you said it’s like the difference between making a chocolate cake and a chocolate souffle. How are those things different, Carmela?

Well, to be a wine called Barolo, not only does it have to be from the Barolo DOCG area, but it also has to spend at least 38 months aging prior to being sold, and 18 of those months have to be in a barrel before they are moved to the bottle. And if a wine is going to be given the title of a Barolo riserva, the total aging time increases to 62 months. Which is a long time. And, the general rule is that these wines need at least 10 years of age before they should be drunk. Which is why I get super irritated when people on Instagram are showing Barolos they are drinking that are like 4 or 5 years old. It’s too young, people!

Now a Langhe Nebbiolo is kind of considered the little brother or cousin of a Barolo or Barbaresco, and it can have many of the same characteristics of those wines, but it has much more relaxed rules. There are no specific aging requirements, and they tend to spend less time in oak, and tend to be aged in large oak casks versus smaller barrels used in Barolo and Barbaresco. So, Nebbiolo wines can be drunk much earlier than Barolo and Barbaresco, although I would still suggest waiting 5 years or so. It is not uncommon that some of the producers of Barolo and Barbaresco will also make “plain” Nebbiolo wines. 

Otherwise, some of the things we expect in both wines are

• A smell of tar and roses, which is the classic Barolo descriptor
• High Tannin, high acidity, big bodied, and high in alcohol
• These are wines that need to be opened up about an hour before you drink them, and they could probably use some decanting!

These are big wines, but these wines tend not to be the big fruit forward flavor bombs that California Cabs are, so just be ready for that. This is a more elegant wine. A wine that has some class. Like old money. 

And, this is a food wine for sure!

So, let’s talk about the wines we chose for this episode so we can start drinking!

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/dining/wine-school-langhe-nebbiolo.html 
• https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-langhe+nebbiolo#:~:text=Langhe%20Nebbiolo%20is%20a%20red,version%20of%20Barolo%20and%20Barbaresco.
• https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-langhe+nebbiolo
• https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-barolo 
• https://daily.sevenfifty.com/regions/piedmont/

Langhe Nebbiolo Wines We Chose for this Episode 17:03

As usual, all the wines we have chosen for this episode are under $20, but I will say that these wines are closer to $20 than some of the wines we have had in more recent episodes. We got one of these wines at Total Wine and one at wine.com so they should be relatively easy to find, and while you may not be able to find these particular wines, you can generally find Nebbiolo at any wine shop, and at a big supermarket or one with a good wine section you will be able to find them. Just note that we are drinking Langhe Nebbiolo wines, but sometimes you may find other Nebbiolos like Nebbiolo d’Alba which, while it’s the same grape, is a different wine from a different area and different DOC. 

I will also say that, unlike most of our other wines, finding out information about these specific wines was really hard. Two of them did not have websites that I could find, and so we are reliant on third party sources for our information which I don’t love. 

The first wine we are trying is one that I got at a grocery store, and I think is a pretty widely available Langhe Nebbiolo called Ca’ Gialla. This winemaker named Marco Porello actually makes a Barolo as well as a Barbera d’Alba, and this is our lowest cost wine of the night. And this winemaker makes his wines naturally with no pesticides or herbicides, and is evidently working on an organic certification. So, there’s that.

It was hard to find out too much about this wine or wine maker other than from retail sites other than that. They don’t seem to have a website, and I could not find any reviews, and so we are going to treat this wine as a bit of a mystery.

Our second wine is called La Sacrestia Langhe Nebbiolo and it is a Winery Direct wine from Total Wine. Which sometimes makes me nervous. It just means that they have special deals with certain wineries, but I don’t always think they are the best wines. And, beyond that, there was also not a lot of information. This winery also makes a couple of Barolos which Total Wine sells for ~$60 each and one that sells for about ~$40, and they also have a Barbera d’Alba. But that’s about all I know, other than James Suckling gave this wine a 90. Big whoop.

The third wine is called Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Nebbiolo, and at least for this wine there was some information about the winery on wine.com. By the way “bricco” in Piedmont means the top of a hill, and langhe also means a low-lying hill. So how about that?!?

This winery is run now by the daughter of the original owner, and her name isPaola Lanzavecchia, which is just fun to say, and evidently she is using more sustainable farming, and is not using any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. She has also modernized the cellars and updated the equipment and barrels. According to their website. So, I guess we have to trust it. 

I love this description that is on wine.com: “Her wines are the “new bridge” in the sense that they are softer, more elegant with integrated tannins yet still uphold the “iron fist inside a velvet glove” tradition of what makes Piedmont wines the most prestigious of all of Italy.” That is a great description for this wine can be both soft and aggressive at the same time. Like you.

They suggest letting the wine age for a couple of years, and to open the bottles an hour before serving, which I think for wines like this is an underrated recommendation. A decent red wine should be opened up ahead of time so that it can breathe a bit. 

I also have a link to their website in our show notes, and lots of other cool information and links in our show notes which you can find by going to our website and clicking on this episode, and their website explains their wines in more detail which is really fun. Hooray! Information!

So, this section of the podcast was a little shorter than usual, but you know, that’s ok because that just means that we can get to tasting the wine sooner. Hell yeah! So, what do you say we bust on over and try these wines?!?

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.grapex.com/national-portfolio/cagialla/ca-gialla-nebbiolo-langhe/ 
• https://www.villadoria.it/portfolio_page/langhe-nebbiolo-doc-bricco-magno/ 

Nebbiolo wine pairing tasting and review 25:18

Wine: Ca’ Gialla Langhe Nebbiolo
Region: Italy, Piedmont
Producer: Ca’ Gialla
Year: 2020
Price: $13.49
Retailer: Thriftway
Alcohol: 14%
Grapes: Nebbiolo

What we tasted and smelled in this Langhe Nebbiolo: Hot, wood, tar, tobacco, dark cherries, fruity on the palette, still young, tart cherry, raspberry, plum, still a little sharp - has not mellowed out yet. Nice flavor, rich. 

Food to pair with this Langhe Nebbiolo: A really good food wine. Pasta and tomato sauce, bolognese, meat sauce, spaghetti and meatballs, a meat lover’s pizza, grilled red meats. A red meat wine. Sharp and strong cheeses. Cured meats. Panini. Calzone. Lasagna. 

As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and in-between we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela: 7/10

Wine: La Sacrestia Langhe Nebbiolo
Region: Italy, Piedmont
Producer: La Sacrestia
Year: 2017
Price: $17.99
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 14%
Grapes: Nebbiolo
Professional Rating: JS 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Langhe Nebbiolo: A little oxidation in smell and color, a little musty, charcoal, extinguished fire, a little cherry but not much fruit, red licorice, vegetal, earthy, tastes better than it smells, sock in a leather boot, burnt match. A lot of tannin. Probably still young. 

Food to pair with this Langhe Nebbiolo: Another really good food wine. Pasta and tomato sauce, bolognese, meat sauce, spaghetti and meatballs, a meat lover’s pizza, grilled red meats. A red meat wine. Sharp and strong cheeses. Cured meats. Panini. Calzone. Lasagna. Steak. Burger.
 

Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 6/10

Wine: Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Nebbiolo (Click here to buy this wine. Affiliate link)
Region: Italy, Piedmont
Producer: Villadoria
Year: 2018
Price: $19.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 13.3%
Grapes: Nebbiolo
Professional Rating: JS 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Langhe Nebbiolo: Wood, tobacco, tar, rich cherry smell, rose petals, licorice, cherry taste. Elegant. Depth. Subtle. Rich and smooth. Delicious. A really nice wine. 

Food to pair with this Langhe Nebbiolo: Italian foods. Same list as above. Also rich creamy sauces. 


Rating: 

• Joe: 9/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Nebbiolo
• Joe: Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Nebbiolo

Taste profiles expected from Nebbiolo wine 45:04

• General
  • Cherry, Rose, Leather, Anise, Clay Pot
• From Langhe (Southern Piedmont)
  • Black Cherry, spice cake, tar, rose, licorice, carob
• Ca’ Gialla
  • Champion wine cellars: Strawberry and cherry aromas, minerality, notes of rose petals and earth.
  • Tacoma Wine Merchants: Green tea leaves
• La Sacrestia
  • JS: Fresh strawberries, orange rind and citrus. Medium body, fine and silky tannins and a fruity finish
• Villadoria Bricco Magno Langhe Nebbiolo
  • Winery: violet, rose, vanilla and cocoa aromas. On the palate, it is warm, full bodied, velvety, rounded and long lasting with an all-encompassing, harmonious finish. Pronounced and well rounded, the oak flavors and tannins are beautifully balanced
  • JS: Interesting nose with almost jammy strawberries, together with orange rind and a hint of seashell. More like sour cherries on the medium-bodied palate. Firm and flavorful with a savory finish. Tasty, if a little rough at the edges

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 47:28

As always, thank you so very much for listening to us, The Wine Pair, and you know, while you’re thinking about it, we think you should subscribe and give us a nice rating! 

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Thanks for listening to the Wine Pair podcast, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.