Oddero Rocche Di Castiglione 2005, showing marvelous

After a freaky bizarre night in the restaurant and some shitty weather around (a damp and rainy fall in the Berkshires so far) I arrived home and Oddero Barolo called out to me.  Instead of planning a certain moment to open a special bottle of wine, I find it always best to open spontaneously... you know when you just feel like having some Barolo.

Oddero 2005 Barolo, Rocche di Castiglione.  Right away this Barolo had the most magnificent bouquet.  I have never had such a young Barolo still strong and tannic, be so expressive at the same time.  Beautiful dried flowers, cherry, spice, liquorish, and tar.  Enjoyable on the palate with good acidity but one of those wines you cant stop smelling.  I reheated some Beef Bourguignon, my father ''big frank'' had cooked earlier that night and it went insanely good together.

It is said that Barolo made here in the Rocche vineyard in Castiglione Falletto has a markedly aromatic nose that makes it outstanding even when drunk only a year or so after the harvest.  Some Barolos (like those from Serralunga d'Alba for instance) take a lot of bottle age to acheive these classic barolo characteristics and aromatics.  The soil of Rocche is also very unique.  Slightly sandy, limestone-rich and loose packed, with a very hard rock like surface just a meter deep.  This type of ground does not retain water well and Rocche suffers the most in the very hot and dry years.

Cristina Oddero shared the following photo through twitter of Nebbiolo grapes during this past weeks harvest.

Ultimi giorni di raccolta a Bricco Chiesa, storico vigneto attorno alla proprietà Oddero..il Barolo é di casa!

Mid-July... that Vitello Tonnato time!

As the heat and humidity hit a summer high in the Berkshires yesterday afternoon... the last thing I wanted to do was slave over a hot kitchen stove.  But the reward being a slightly chilled Vitello Tonnato dinner forced me into the exact situation.  I made Vitello Tonnato for the first time last year at almost the same point in July.  I strictly followed one recipe (which I normally never do) and found out that it called for way to much vinegar and I surely ruined the fucking tonnato sauce!  Over the years of cooking for myself and others, I have discovered that I am more of a mad scientist in the kitchen than anything else.  I usually cannot follow just one single recipe and after I produce a dish its hard to explain and provide any useful recipe for it.  I never measure anything and I like to get into a zone and feel out what the dish needs in the moment.  I  have tons of respect for people like Eleonora (of the blog aglio, olio e peperoncino) who can provide a highly detailed recipe at any given moment.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun this time winging it (using multiple recipes while omitting the vinegar) and it came out pleasant and better than I had hoped. Some key steps are a quality roast, good quality tuna in olive oil (not the water shit!), cooking down white wine with whole cloves to later add into the sauce and just as important adding the juice from the cooked roast into the tuna sauce to create a beautiful consistency and depth of flavor.

Vitello Tonnato or Vitel Tonnè in the piemontese dialect is a classic dish or antipasto of Piedmont, particularly of Alba and with a nice Dolcetto it becomes a heavenly pairing.  I opened a bottle of Oddero Dolcetto d'Alba 2009 which I have been drinking at a steady pace lately.

above, the ''girello'' veal roast with onion, carrot, rosemary, bay leaves and whole cloves about to go into the oven.

above, a recipe for Vitello Tonnato from the cookbook ''Regional Foods of Northern Italy'' written by Marlena de Blasi.

A swig of Dolcetto

Today, the first day of summer I reopened a bottle of Oddero Dolcetto d'Alba 2009 from last night which i had with a panino con prosciutto.  Fresh ciabatta bread, a couple slices of Prosciutto di Parma, extra virgin olive oil and a bit of lettuce maybe.  This simple combination wins me over every single time!

Dolcetto has been compared to Beaujolais by wine writers and although I prefer Dolcetto, I would agree that they both have that fresh versatility that can pair easily with a range of different foods.  This 2009 Dolcetto by Oddero goes through fermentation and maceration for about 12 days in stainless steel containers.  It's then aged in stainless steel, bottled the next spring and released by the summer.  What you get is an easy drinking, versatile, fresh wine showing a true character of the Dolcetto grape. Don't let the name ''Dolcetto'' lead you down the wrong path (dolce = sweet in italian).  The word comes from the Langhe in Piedmont and refers to the grape rather than the wine.  It has long been a grape eaten at the table in the Langhe during the autumn along with seasonal pears and boiled chestnuts. 

I have tasted many Oddero wines, and they produce some of my favorite Barolo's (mainly the Brunate) and a very interesting Langhe Nebbiolo but this was my first time tasting their Dolcetto.
The wine had a nice ruby-red colour, purple tints and that Dolcetto fruit-filled nose.  A zingy black cherry fruit that was perfectly balanced by earthy notes, a nice acidity and appealing tannin.  I thought it was showing best the next day when the wine opened up a bit and all the components came through.  At around $16 a bottle this is a fun everyday wine to work with.

Oddero Langhe Nebbiolo 2005 in Magnum, spot on...

Oddero Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2005 (Magnum)
(Maceration lasts 15 days, aged in Slovenian and French Oak for around 1 yr. 1-5 yrs.)
From the second of being uncorked, this wine's nose is open and for the palate....spot on.  Beautiful dusty red fruit on the nose, with cleaner fruit on the palate, nice cherry notes and acidity, bold tannins but not overwhelming.  Tasted with some Bresaola and Pecorino di grotta.  Went with both beautifully.

Not too often does a wine hit me in a way that I have to run and write about it.  But this beaut' gave me everything I wanted in a Langhe Nebbiolo... delicious wine right here, ever since the Oddero Barolo 2004 Brunate blew me away, I have been on a search for their wines....
I stopped into Trimani here in Rome the other day and picked up a few bottles of some shit I've been trying to get my hands on for a while.  After last weeks Friuli extravaganza, it was nice to open a wine, taste and enjoy it slowly in a calm meditative state...

Feels good to chill in my old appartments kitchen with old friends on oderisi da gubbio, in Rome!  Cheers... hope your all drinking some good nebbiolo.

Oddero by mail = early Xmas

Oddero Poderi e Cantine is unavailable in Massachusetts, and shipping alcohol is illegal.  That isnt enough to stop me..thankful for having an uncle living in Connecticut, thanks David!

Nebbiolesco at Città del Gusto

Roma Wine Festival 8-9 Maggio 2010

Città del Gusto, Roma

er giorno nebbiolesco... tasted heaps of wines last week, but the nebbiolos were the funnest.
I was a bit disappointed in the 2005 brunellos, especially next to the 04's. although i didnt taste any of my favorite producers. i still must try il poggione's amongst others. 


Here is the 2004 nebbiolo tasting:  ''Roero, Barbaresco, Barolo. tre nebbiolo a confronto''.  In actuality it was more of a barolo tasting, comparing the styles coming from different zones/vineyards.  I tasted many beautiful 05's and 06's as well from the same producers but this was by far the most exciting.  Below is a lineup of the wines, consisting of a barbaresco, a roero and 6 barolo crus.

Middle photo: from right barbaresco, roero, barolo.

Above:  two true beauties, the schiavenza barolo broglio, and the oddero barolo brunate, my two favorite bottlings of this tasting. 

Paolo Zaccaria presented this tasting, he mentioned how he doesnt make notes on the colour of the wines...  ''if a wine tastes good it doesnt matter what colour it is!''

Here are some notes on the 8 piemontese wines.

sottimano barbaresco currà 2004

this wine aged in barriques, although not traditional, very elegant and no dominating oak whatsoever. quite appealing

nice fruits, very floral. the nose was a little closed still.

monchiero carbone roero printi 2004

this being a quite powerful wine we tasted it after the more elegant barbaresco...
a lot of things going on here.  paolo described una manciata di conchiglie (a handful of sea shells) along with sandy notes.  i picked up some iron, new shoe rubber, and after a few minutes in the glass some floral notes starting to come out.  chalky tannins on the finish.

massolino barolo margheria 2004

traditional barolo passed through botti grandi. this is one of the more elegant and softer expressions of serralunga. nose a tad closed still. small red fruits.  in the mouth soft, floral, chewy but elegant tannins.

luigi baudana barolo cerretta 2004

for coming from cerretta this is showing quite fresh. the nose a little more open than the massolino for me. fruits, flowers, less elegant in mouth though. meatier tannins.

schiavenza barolo broglio 2004

one of few barolos coming purely from broglio. beautiful nose, instantly i get a meaty, steak type of character.  a nice minerality, very serralunghiale and nebbiolesco. traditional, elegant, beautiful structure.

oddero barolo brunate 2004

bellissimo vino. coming from the epic brunate vineyard of la morra.  only 1,500 bottles produced, this was the most unique wine of the night in my oppinion. a wine that seemed to be opened in the moment, it was really fucking shining. bouquet jumping out of the glass, full of licorice and mint, a touch of black peper, very particular.

in the mouth silky, nice fruits, seductive licorice, perfect acidity and long gorgeous tannin. a really beautifully structured wine with notes that linger for time...

giovanni rosso barolo la serra 2004

nose of watery fruits, hint of red meat and alcohol.

very light in comparison to the others (also the case with the 2006 i have tasted)

less complex, less structured, doing the least for me out of these wines.

ettore germano barolo cerretta 2004

tasted this next to the luigi baudana cerretta, was a bit cleaner, livelier fruits, chalky chewy tannins

The oddero, schiavenza and massolino were my top three picks.

I originally put the schiavenza at the top of the bunch, but later changed to the oddero for it had an everlasting effect on me.  the licorice and mint notes stayed with me all day. 

like when you see a beautiful girl walk by, you fall in love, but she stays on your mind for the rest of the day... really hope i can taste this wine again one day.

 above:  label award going to baglio del cristo di campobello bianco sicilia igt

 above: the beautiful and flashy wines of piera martellozzo from veneto, friuli, and trentino, with a glass of the rosè spumante dry cuvèe linea 075 carati.

 Above: Astoria Fervo 2008 Refrentolo Passito DOC, an amazing wine, 100% marzemino, velvety, sweet, delicious.

Later I was tasting with head-winemaker Luca Veglio from Oddero (below to the left of me) he opened a corked bottle of barolo (which wasnt completely unappealing to me), he explained how nebbiolo wines are tough to tell when they are corked.  they are often mistaken for earthy or terroir notes... in a recent horizontal tasting, he noticed a corked bottle which had been served without anybody realizing the defect.

click for a video link ''lucci il vino'' from roma wine festival