More Valmaggiore Nebbiolo arrived at the winery last night, late. This morning, I overslept and by the time I get to the winery at 8.15 the crush has been going for over an hour. Nebbiolo has much lighter juice than Dolcetto, and the must is a grayish-pink color. The first part of today’s master class is a lecture on color extraction in Nebbiolo – there are two factors here – temperature and alcohol, both of which help the juice extract the color form the skins. For the next hour, while the must is pouring in, I get the discussing on the chemistry of color extraction. Amazing stuff, and I’ve been sworn to secrecy. One thing that I can reveal: Luciano heats the must to help extract color before the fermentation starts, a process also used by Beaucastel in the Rhône Valley. In any case, the juice looks and smells great, and I help on the sorting table for the next hour – completely besplattered with Nebbiolo juice by the end.
After lunch, I join three budding Croatian winemakers (who have just arrived for a few weeks) and Andrea for a comparative tasting of six of the seven Dolcetto cru – one is still fermenting, so we pass on that one ...
Luciano pours six glasses, smells each. He then points to Andrea, who sniffs and tastes his way through the wine. Remember – this is red wine that has not yet gone through malolactic fermentation – the second fermentation that changes the malic acids (like in green apples) to lactic acid (like in milk). (All red wine goes through malolactic fermentation – also called simply “malo” – before it is bottled and sold. Before malo, red wine kinda tastes weird – it is waaay too tart for easy consumption. While the alcoholic fermentation is yeast-based, malo is bacterial.) After Andrea has gone though the six, Luciano points at me: “Allora, Meeester Gioralisto, à lavoro!” (Roughly: get to work, you!). I run through the nose of all six first, then taste – tanks 2 and 5 show reduction on the nose (just needs some air and a racking to clean them up) but have full body, especially number 2; 1 is super fresh acidic; 3 has richness and power; 4 is plain delicious; and 6 has a great nose but completely disappears in the mouth. There is great potential here all around for a really great assemblage. Luciano seems satisfied with my assessments. Andrea and talk about the samples while Luciano discusses the various cru with the Croatian delegation. Then we go down to the cellars and barrel taste some of the previous vintages. The 2006 Valmaggiore is a burst of pure joy – all coated in strawberries and licorice.
Later, more grapes arrive and I stay until 7.15, humping crates of grapes into the destemmer. My shoes and hair are sticky from grape juice. Then home, to move … My landlord has me change to the next-door apartment (don’t ask), which I actually prefer, as it is smaller and more compact. It feels less empty. It does have a larger terrace, though … hopefully I will be able to enjoy it!
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