Alto Piemonte is a region about two hours northeast of the Langhe (the land of Barolo and Barbaresco). Like the Langhe, most of the great wines are Nebbiolo-based. Except because it is cooler and there are different soils, the wines tend towards being more aromatic and are a bit less fruit-driven. They are classic Fass Selections wines - aromatic, balanced, mineral and harmonious (and also stunning values as compared with most wines in the Langhe). While Gattinara is its most famous region, there are many other ones that are equally good including Boca, Bramaterra, Carema, Colline Novaresi and Lessona.
Alas, Alto PIemonte is a region that time has almost forgotten. The area around Boca is now particularly remote. A man walks a dog in an abandoned vineyard at 11 AM because there are no jobs. After the war, people abandoned the region in droves for industrial jobs in booming Turin and Milan leaving behind them centuries of history and miles and miles filled with abandoned churches, buildings and farms.
Against the tide of history, few stayed behind. One of those few was local legend Sergio Barbaglia. With his tie, sweater vest and jacket, Sergio seems almost more college professor than winemaker. Indeed, his knowledge of the region, his vines and wines is certainly comprehensive enough that he could teach a course if he wanted. He has assembled a portfolio of wines of harmony, purity and beauty. They are really the epitome of what Fass Selections is trying to do: find wines of balance and distinction made on great terroir by incredibly talented, serious winemakers. They represent what I love about Nebbiolo - the balance, the acidity, the refinement and the finesse.
The first wine is the Sergio Barbaglia 2012 Boca for $36.99 (compare the 2009 at $60 through 3 tier distribution) each on a purchase of 4. This is the flagship wine of the estate. It just kills most Barolo up to $60 and it is such FASSY Nebbiolo. This wine is best mid-range Nebbiolo value we sell. This wine brings it. Remember this is a $60 bottle of wine I am selling for $37 a bottle. The nose on this wine is transporting. It carries all of the aromatics and complexities of the forest floor with hints (and eventually more than hints with a bit of air) of forest fruits. The palate is subtle, haunting, elegant, cerebral and just flat out gorgeous. So pretty. Light yet focused and super precise cherry fruit with really, really beautiful internal aromatics of cherries and flowers. I cannot believe how delicate this wine is yet also structured and powerful. I know many of these wines have a reputation as poor man's Barolo, but this drinks like a rich man's Barolo with just a different profile. It's really poetry on the palate. Terrific acid balance and the traditional Fass juiciness. Super juicy. Despite its relative lightness (think Chambolle-Musigny from a Bertheau or Mugnier for context) for Piedmont Nebbiolo, you can taste the concentration and structure in the wine. It is 80% Nebbiolo 20% Vespolina and was aged for 2 years in large oak barrels and then aged 2 years in bottle. They served two bottles: one had been open for 2 days and was still drinking as well as the fresh bottle. For a Nebbiolo-based wine, this is very light in palate impact. One of those wines that is there and not there and then there. It plays hide and go seek on your palate. This is drinking now with a decant but will improve over 3-5 years and drink for 10-15. One point that needs to be made. There is $40 Barolo out there via the 3-Tier system and one may be thinking, "Why buy $37 Boca vs $37 Barolo," but you should not think like that. A $37 flagship wine from a to region no one knows about is always better than a $37 wine from a popular region that everyone knows about. In this case this beats even $50-$60 Barolo, the wine is that good. I've had $22 Barolo I would not serve my cats.
The second wine is one of the great entry level priced wines we will offer. The Sergio Barbaglia Colline Novarese Il Silente 2014 for $22.99 a bottle on a purchase of 4. This wine is an absurd value like only the Alto Piemonte can do. The nose is beautiful with predominant notes of forest fruit, camphor and forest floor. Also some nice tar and flaming embers. Really, really fragrant. The palate is slightly rounder than the Boca but also juicy with great inner mouth aromatics. The fruit is all very pretty cherry. Super traditional Nebbiolo with silky and beautifully integrated tannins. The finish is long with a hint of licorice. This was aged for 1 year in large oak barrels and then 2 years in bottle. The wine is drinking wonderfully now and will for 5-7 years.
I am generally of the opinion that wines speak for themselves and the "story" of the winery and the winemaker is not relevant to a purchase decision. So if you agree with that sentiment, please skip to the pricing section below and indulge me for this next part. This section is more about a story that I want to tell whether it has anything to do with the wine or not.
Sergio has been the driving force behind keeping the estate alive and is making the wines but the story of his daughter Silvia, who is more outgoing and spends most of the time with visitors, is perhaps even more interesting. She is the only one of her friends who stayed behind in her home town. The rest have moved on beyond the region which has almost returned to nature. She drives through the area pointing out the abandoned buildings. But there is also a powerful hope and energy about her even in the face of incredible difficulties.
She drives by a vineyard that was abandoned 50 years ago that she has finally acquired after years of wrangling with the septuagenarian seller who resisted selling because she recalled picking grapes there as a child. She bought it a year ago but it still has trees on it because the laws that govern removing houses have been applied to removing tree roots and she is paying lawyers to argue with the bureaucrats before she can remove the trees, plant and wait years before she can make wine from them.
She drives past a 100 year old farmhouse, half in ruin, that she wants to refurbish. To preserve a bit of the history of the region she loves and also to create jobs. But in a Kafkaesque twist, while she could destroy it legally any time she wants, refurbishing it requires permit upon permit. So it sits in ruin, alone in a field.
While I love New York, I can't say that I have such an attachment to a place that I would stay here against that kind of backdrop. But I can certainly admire her energy and determination. This is a region that deserves to be saved. And thanks to people like Silvia, it is being saved. In 1990, there were only 7 hectares with wines, there are now 30. Will Boca ever be what it once was? I doubt it. The tides of progress and history are against it. But I think that it will recover and the wines, at least, will speak to a certain set of wine drinkers. They will speak in poetry. But they will speak nonetheless.
2012 Sergio Barbaglia Boca - $38.99 ($147.96 a 4-pack)
2014 Sergio Barbaglia Colline Novarese Il Silente
$24.99 ($91.96 4-pack)
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