The striking and seductive 2012s

17 March 2016

Is there a more addictive and fascinating wine landscape than Piedmont? Not as far as this buying team are concerned.

Giles Burke-Gaffney

Our trip last week was timed perfectly, the intricate mosaic of vineyards that covers the Langhe and its link to wine quality was visually brought to life by the snow that had fallen days before our arrival. Blankets of white covered the less well-exposed and higher sites, whilst on prime Nebbiolo land the soils were entirely exposed to the elements. Even within adjacent vineyard parcels a south-eastern tilt was white as a sheet, whilst the southwest exposure of the neighbouring plot had melted the snow away.

Producers, be it traditional or modern, are more rigorous and enthusiastic in their work than ever before and so if you throw this into the mix of top vineyard crus and an unprecedented string of fine vintages, a potent cocktail is the result. Production is smaller than in Burgundy and vineyard intricacies potentially more complex. Piedmont’s time has most definitely come.

We were in Piedmont to taste, mainly, the new 2012 vintages in Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero, tastings which far exceeded our expectations. The vintage was never going to be on a par with the great 2010, but we were certainly struck by how attractive and beautifully-structured the wines were. They have this most wonderful perfumed, sweet, fresh fruit character set in a slender but classic tannic frame. These wines are neither too austere nor heavy and they abound with fragrance and energy. Like all very good Nebbiolo they have the structure to age 10-15 years, but their ripeness of fruit and open character will make them enjoyable relatively young.

It all started inauspiciously. Winter was severe. By the end of January the mercury had dropped to minus 20, something that Azelia’s Luigi Scavino had never seen before, but mercifully there were not too many vine casualties. In Spring rains affected flowering, more or less depending on the site, but at worst 15% of the crop was lost at this early stage. By contrast mid -summer became hot, very hot. So much so that vines started to stress. Some localised hail struck in July but did not cause too much concern. After a sweltering summer rains fell at the end of August and beginning of September, marking a return to “a more typical autumn season which was characterised by strong day and night temperature differences which are the best conditions for ripening Nebbiolo and for giving it perfume,” in the words of Giorgio of Paolo Conterno. It is certainly a year that favoured the late-ripening Nebbiolo. In the end the wines, elegant and fresh, are characterised by the cooler September weather more than the midsummer heat, though they nonetheless boast an undeniably seductive sweetness of fruit. So hear, hear to the words of Vietti’s Mario Cordero “we love this vintage, its fresher than 2011, very fine and elegant, perhaps it’s up and down in parts but with all of the usual serious producers, it’s unquestionably a very good vintage.”