tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19631515.post4246791627839440632..comments2023-10-04T07:48:54.384-04:00Comments on oenoLogic: An escalation of Astilitiesthor iversonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16189098900228936573noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19631515.post-42869870348633396252010-03-17T03:20:27.515-04:002010-03-17T03:20:27.515-04:00I think they spend a lot more time coveting and be...I think they spend a lot more time coveting and being resentful/jealous than I would ever have guessed or is healthy for them (I could tell you <i>such</i> stories, but they're all gossipy and off-topic here), so it's entirely possible. I don't think Tuscany is the target of most of the angst, though. It's the Langhe. It's nebbiolo. And you can see and feel the difference once you cross the Asti/Alba border.<br /><br />I <i>do</i> think that an unfortunate percentage see the path forward to be filled with Bordeaux-like wines and, sometimes, Bordeaux grapes. But even those who don't are afflicted by the "importance" bug. To make the example a little more extreme, it's like someone saying, "you know, I need to make an <i>important</i> Bugey Cerdon." Um, good luck with that. It's not that I can't conceive of the possibility. It's just that I think such efforts are better applied elsewhere.<br /><br />Maybe the solution is more Latin cuvée names. It worked for Tuscany, didn't it?thor iversonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16189098900228936573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19631515.post-80424357839215403412010-03-16T17:51:48.334-04:002010-03-16T17:51:48.334-04:00This is probably a stretch, but do you suppose Pie...This is probably a stretch, but do you suppose Piemontese winemakers might be upset because they're not getting the same reaction to their significant investment in oak as their brothers and sisters in Tuscany once did? I can imagine them saying to each other, "Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Tignorello...they were all oaked, and everybody loved them! We do it, and we get the back of the hand! What's wrong with these people?"The Wine Mulehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13056199373110048787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19631515.post-82260162384457909822010-03-16T15:28:44.355-04:002010-03-16T15:28:44.355-04:00Hoke: I think they're handling it as well as c...Hoke: I think they're handling it as well as could be expected, and the fact that they're getting more (actual, and local) press than they otherwise might as a result probably factors into that. I think the actual tale will be told by the invitation list for the next event.<br /><br />Nerval: it would have been fun to meet you after all these years. Regarding oak, while I probably think the aromas are more of a problem than you do, don't forget that it has a major role to play in the abrasiveness of the tannins afflicting so many of these wines.<br /><br />The "importance" thing needs fleshing out, which I'm working on, but note that producers like G. Conterno, Brovia, Giacosa, and the like weren't showing at this event, and I can't see any benefit to them to have chosen otherwise; they don't sell on the strength of their barberas, they sell on the overall reputation of their portfolios, a reputation founded on other grapes. I certainly tasted a number of powerful, modernistic wines that, while I may not have liked them, were well-made in their idiom. As always with such wines, the quality of the fruit going into the barrels (barriques or botte) has a lot to do with what comes out.thor iversonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16189098900228936573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19631515.post-45224301781670477752010-03-13T10:05:36.405-05:002010-03-13T10:05:36.405-05:00A great post. I regret not participating in the ev...A great post. I regret not participating in the event: the action has apparently been more than excitnig (also judging by other bloggers' views).<br />I 100% agree on your points about style and misplaced ambition, and about overextraction and drying tannins being the biggest problem of Barbera today. Oak, IMHO, is less of a problem, seeing how well it can be digested in those wines that are made deftly.<br />And I do agree about distinctiveness, though I think you're a little harsh on the 'important' front. A terroir- and tradition-respectful Barbera, aged for a year or two in large oak, with its bright acidity and pure fruit, can be a truly important wine. (Giacomo Conterno is one example, and there are a few more in Asti too). The problem as you rightly pointed out is avalanche of increasingly absurd winemaking practices that has brought Barbera to a total deformation.Wojciech Bońkowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165358008309119846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19631515.post-4793327728940307532010-03-11T14:58:20.477-05:002010-03-11T14:58:20.477-05:00Ooo. I think the hand that fed you (all) is smart...Ooo. I think the hand that fed you (all) is smarting a bit. Little do they know of the extended effects of your time-delayed prosody they will experience. But they will; they will...Hoke Hardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16237562923949274059noreply@blogger.com