Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa
So what gives? Why is it that Gattinara shares similarities with it's stong-willed siblings, Barbaresco, Carema, and even some Barolo's, while Ghemme strikes the palate more like a Burgundy?
From what I can understand, the main difference is their soil composition. In Gattinara they have volcanic soils that are mainly composed with porphyr and also some granite. The hills are steeper, they see more rainfall than their neighbor, and the day to night temperatures vary more. The high level of minerality in the soils helps preserve acidity, and overall the wines are capable of producing the powerful identity more commonly attributed to the Langhe.
In Ghemme the soils were brought by glacial movements, and as such they have much more rocky, mountain deposits that have come together with a chalky, sand-like binding component. Alberto Alunno stopped the car at one point and directed me to break a chunk of soil from the exposed hillside. It was light tan in color, and though initially firm would crumble into a pile of dust without a lot of effort. Now, as much as I'd like to make a general comparision to the soils of Burgundy here (or, as the French call it, "Bourgogne"), there just no way to do that as the regions most famous selling point is that the soils vary from one vineyard plot to the one right next to it, and even within the same vineyard sometimes. However, (generally speaking) what they have in common is their clay base (though more limestone in Burgundy) and sandy or gravely composition, which helps drain the soils and maintains a certain level of elegance in the wines. For a better visual of how close these areas lie, refer to the photo below.
Looking at Gattinara from the hills of Ghemme
But when all is said and done, I have only my own experiences with these wines over the past few years, coupled with the ones I had here to base my ideas on. And in tasting through both current vintage line-ups, it was clear that Antoniolo's Gattinara's offered up more acidity, spice, licorice, fresh leather, and cherries, while the Ghemme's struck that certain "barnyard" note that is so commonly associated with Burgundy. (Being so young there was also a lot of cigar-box smokiness and even a floral aspect, but really nebbiolo in a class of its own :)
What was comforting to see was that both wineries had remained in the family and were onto their second or third generation, with roots dating even further back. At Cantalupo I consider it second generation, but that's only in regards to the current company, Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo, which was founded in 1977 by Carlo Arlunno and his son, Alberto. The Arlunno family has been in the area since the 1500's, and land has passed down from each generation to the next. The land had some vineyards - the wines were produced under the label "Antonio Arlunno", but the families main business was the construction of new homes; and, according to Alberto, the wines were quite simple.
However, after Ghemme got the DOC in 1969 Carlo decided to turn the winery into the families main business, and so he replanted the vineyards and even bought more land. The company was changed to Antichi Vigneti di Cantalupo in 1977 (which translates to "The Old Vines of the Laughing Wolf") to establish itself as a higher quality, more serious cantina than the previous "Antonio Arlunno". In the mid 80's Alberto took over as winemaker, and has only increased the quality of these wines with each passing vintage. Here he is pictured on the cover of the album from Ghemme.
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| Cantalupo (Ghemme, Piemonte) |
I was fortunate enough to pick up a 1996 "Collis Breclemae" Ghemme at the cantina and shared it with some of the guys I worked with at Spinetta - Andrea Rivetti being one of them. Everyone agreed it was one of the best (if not the best) bottle of the evening. (And there were several bottles that night :) My biggest regret is that I only got one bottle instead of a 6-pack.
As for Antoniolo, they had an interesting back-story, as well. Their family also was historically from the area, and had vineyards. But, after phylloxera completely wiped out the vineyards around 1910, Lorella (Antoniolo)'s great-grandfather was among the other farmers of the area to abandon their now defunct vineyards and head to a city in search of work. He settled in Rome.
However, after WWII his son, Mario, (Lorella's grandfather) decided to return to the region of his families roots and be part of a massive replanting of the area with American root stock. Amazingly, Lorella said that before the phylloxera there had been near 4,000 hectares of planted vineyards as opposed to the 1,300 - 1,400 that exist in the zone today. Antoniolo's vines all range from 30-40 years in age, and they produce wines under 2 DOC's: Gattinara (a DOCG) and Coste della Sesia for their nebbiolo normale, rosato, and erbaluce. Also interesting about Gattinara is that the actual city was historically a fortified one - meaning all the vineyards are technically outside the city walls, while the cantina (and their home) is located in town. Lots of other fun facts in the album below.
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| Antoniolo (Gattinara, Piemonte) |
After Mario Antoniolo started the cantina in 1948 he passed it onto his daughter, Rosanna, and it is now in its third generation with her children, Alberto and Lorella (whom Suzanne and I were lucky enough to have lead our tour, and then eat lunch with.) At Antoniolo there is also the option of picking up some older vintages of wine - mainly because the family makes sure to set aside 600-700 bottles each year for themselves... Which doesn't even compare to the 5,000 bottles Rosanna set aside in 1961 when she gave birth to Alberto!
The good news is that at the cantina many older vintages are available for purchase. All the more reason to get there! (I picked up a 1979 Vigneto San Francesco, personally :)
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