Tasting Session Francesco Brigatti top wines with Ian dAgata
Posted on: 17-06-2020 om 11:41:15
| Karina Imschoot
Francesco Brigatti is a special, small winegrower in the north of Piedmont. He makes small quantities of elegant, expressive wines based on the classic Nebbiolo variety, and he also makes delicious top-quality wine from the native varieties that are normally blended with Nebbiolo in this area, such as Vespolina and Uva Rara, and a top-quality Erbaluce white wine. His cellar is in Suno, not far from the southern end of Lake Maggiore.
The wines based on nebbiolo from this region (Alto Piemonte) are strikingly different from those of Barolo and Barbaresco, especially in terms of their structure (usually less tannic and less alcoholic). The climate here is slightly cooler, with breezes from Monte Rosa to the north giving excellent day/night temperature variation; and the soils are very different, acidic moraine clay instead of alkaline calcareous clay in the Langa.
Francesco Brigatti: 'My grandfather started the family farm in 1920. He had a few cows, and grew grapes, some grain and fruit, but eventually fell in love with grape growing, sold the cows and became a full-time grape grower. So I'm the third generation on our farm. I graduated from the University of Turin in agronomy, and spent a few years at the university working on the clonal selection of vines; then a new boss moved me from the field to a desk job behind a computer, so I left the university and dedicated myself to our family estate.
Today I'm just over six acres, I use the ** Integrated Plague Managament farming method. "Some of my vineyards are planted with massive selection and others with clones. The soils are very acidic (pH around 5-5.5, very rich in potassium and magnesium, giving the wines a savory character. There's a fair amount of clay in the vineyards.
"Top Erbaluce", that's how Ian d'Agata but also the fellow producers describe
Erbaluce is a very distinctive white grape variety native to northern Piedmont. This example is made from grapes grown in two vineyards, one planted in the 1980s and one planted in the 1990s. The bunches may be kept at a low temperature at night to remove the flavours from the skins, after which they are pressed and fermented without the addition of yeasts. Fermentation and maturation takes place in stainless steel tanks, malolactic fermentation is avoided, the wine is aged on the fine lees until Christmas and bottled in the spring after harvest.
Mottobello' is light straw-coloured, with greenish sparkles; aroma and flavour of peaches, herbs, flowers; slightly chewy texture with very good fresh acidity; complex, distinctive white wine. Ian d'Agata concludes that Erbaluce from this area can be as good as the more famous examples from Caluso.
UVA RARA "SELVALUNGA"
Uva Rara is a black grape found in northern Piedmont and the Oltrepò Pavese; 'rara' here means 'sparse,' because the grapes are sparsely spread over the bunches. The soil is morose, acidic and rich in minerals; the grapes are picked at the end of September, after being destalked, and all processes take place as with any red wine, the wine is fermented on the skins for about five days. After primary and secondary fermentation, the wine is aged in stainless steel tanks for six months before being bottled.
Ian d'Agata describes the variety very well: '...bright dark red in colour...The aroma is...very complex, with hints of red roses, violet, red, almost black cherries, and raspberries and sweet herbs. Very fresh acidity, medium weight tannins, a good addition to smoked meat, most pasta dishes, roast chicken...
VESPOLINA "MARIA"
Ian d'Agata* describes the red grape Vespolina as 'one of the best native grape varieties of Italy', with much praise from this expert. Until quite recently, it was mostly blended into wines made mainly from Nebbiolo, but the quality and distinctiveness of the best varietal hips encourage more producers to try it, despite the fact that it is difficult to grow. Brigatti's Vespolina was planted in the 1980s in acid soil of morinic origin. The grapes are picked in September and fermented in stainless steel tanks, where they are in contact with the skins for about a week. The wine is then aged in stainless steel for about six months before being bottled.
The wine combines bright red fruit notes with clear herbal and herbal notes (the grape is rich in rotundone, an aromatic constituent of some herbs such as marjoram and also black pepper). This bottling shows fine tannins and fresh acids in addition to the juicy fruit notes and is an excellent daily red wine.
BRIGATTI NEBBIOLO COLLINE NOVARESI 'MÖTFREI'.
The Mötfrei vineyard was planted in Nebbiolo at the beginning of the 1980s, in iron-rich sandy reddish soil, about 300 metres above sea level. Harvesting normally takes place in mid-October; the grapes are destemmed, crushed and left to ferment in a stainless steel fermenter without the addition of yeast. (Francesco does use a 'pied de cuve', where fermentation begins a few days before harvesting). The wine is pumped over once a day and macerated with the skins for about two weeks; malolactic fermentation and maturation takes place in blunt (not new) for 18 months. The wine is fermented to dry, and bottled without filtering. Approximately 3,000 bottles are produced per year.
The Colline Novaresi appellation is the equivalent of Langhe Nebbiolo in the Barolo/Barbaresco area, but this wine is finer than that would suggest.
This Nebbiolo is simply beautiful: translucent garnet color, aroma and taste of red fruit (red berries, raspberries), with hints of angelica, leaf mould and baker's herbs; beautiful texture, silky; very long and complex.
Many of Northern Piedmont's best Nebbiolos are both drinkable and worth ripening in your cellar, like this one; don't hesitate to drink it now with red meat, but I would definitely ripen it in your cellar too, Ian d'Agata suggests.
BRIGATTI GHEMME 'OLTRE IL BOSCO' DOCG
Completely made of Nebbiolo, from two vineyards in the Pelizzane and Livelli areas of Ghemme, on the edge of the wood that divides the two areas of the appellation. The soils here are morose, very acidic (5.5 pH) and planted with a moderate density (4,000 vines per hectare). Harvesting takes place in mid-October; after thawing and crushing the bunches, the must is fermented using indigenous yeasts in cement tanks, with the shell being immersed in the must with a grid ('cappo sommerso'), as usual, for 60 days. The wine is then aged for two years in large (1,500 litre) oak barrels. No filtration and no finishes.
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