The Beauty of Barbaresco with Vite Colte

As we round out these last months of the year our Italian Food, Wine and Travel group is facing the 3 B’s head on: Brunello, Barbaresco and ending the year with Barolo.  This month as we feature Barbaresco I’m readdressing a winery I shared earlier this year, Vite Colte.  I had attended a virtual tasting around the time last year sponsored by Vite Colte and had yet to share their Barbaresco that I sampled so this was the perfect opportunity to do so.  

The Winery 

You can revisit my previous blog post on Vite Colte where I shared a couple of their Barbera d’Asti bottles.  Vite Colte, is a cooperative winery, located in the Piedmont wine region set in the Langhe.   Vite Colte falls under the umbrella of parent company Terre da Vino and was established about 10 years ago.  The aim was to build a network of small farmers with quality as the main focus.  Today the cooperation consists of about 194 growers with acreage covering over 740 acres.   

From Vite Colte's site

The beautifully architected winery, by Gianni Arnaudo with sustainability at the core, was built in 2000 and is set amongst some of the cru selection sites of Barolo.  The growers and vineyards are selected by a strict criteria shared on their site: 

     A minimum of 15 year old vineyards 

• Low yields 

• Healthy plant nutrition 

• Pruning based on buds 

• Manual vegetation management 

• Hand harvesting 

• Sustainable practices with organic and/or integrated viticulture 

The growers work closely with winemaker Bruno Cordero and vineyard manager Danielle Eberle to produce the highest quality fruit. 

The Wine 

Vite Colte makes riserva wines in only the best vintages which equates to about two to three times every 10 years and are released onto the market only after ten years.  Quite the investment! 

The 2010 Barbaresco Riserva “Spezie” DOCG is grown in soils made of fossil marls and clay.  The fermentation lasts about 20 days with malolactic fermentation in oak for 2 years and an additional 12 months in the bottle.  The color was garnet with aromas of red fruits and some spice.  What I love about Barbaresco is its femininity.  Barolo is always claimed to be the more masculine of the two, but that is what makes me appreciate Barbaresco.  Full-bodied with a solid structure.  Moderate tannin stand strong for the 2010 vintage, but nice concentration and elegance drinking well with still time left in the bottle.  ABV 14.5% SRP $65-70 

Join the rest of our Barbaresco food and wine lovers as they share their suggested wines and pairings.  Catch us live for a chat on Twitter this Saturday at 11am EST @ #ItalianFWT.  See you there!

• Wendy with A Day in the Life on the Farm shares Pure Comfort~~Roast Chicken, Wild Rice Pilaf, and a Glass of Barbaresco Wine
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares Risotto ai Tre Funghi, Rosticciana al Forno, + Fontanafredda Silver Label Barbaresco 2015
• Lynn of Savor the Harvest is Reaching for Barbaresco Basarin with Marco and Vittorio Adriano
• Susannah of Avvinare is Exploring The Beauty of Barbaresco
• Marcia of Joy of Wine is pairing Hearty Beef Stew and Barbaresco
• Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog has a 2017 Riva Leone Barbaresco Paired With Italian Fare and Friends
• Gwendolyn Alley of Wine Predator shares Affordable Riva Leone Barbaresco Meets Bolognese
• Nicole of Somm’s Table will share An Anniversary Celebration with La Spinetta Vursu Gallina Barbaresco and Braised Spatchcocked Duck
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles, will be sharing Barbaresco and Thanksgiving Flavors

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*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are always my own.

Birthday Celebrations call for Poderi Colla Barolo and Barbaresco

Birthdays are the perfect time to celebrate popping bottles and drinking the good stuff.  Earlier this year I had received a couple of bottles of Barbaresco and Barolo from Poderi Colla and no time like the present to sample them.  Although for a Barolo and Barbaresco these wines are in their youth, they will further benefit from aging.  Luckily I got an extra bottle of each so I’ll be able to watch their progression as they age. 

The Winery ~ Poderi Colla 

The Colla family has been making wine since the 1700’s.  Pietro Colla was an important figure in the Piedmont wine industry serving as a member of the Asti Consortium newly established back in 1932.  His oldest son, Beppe, was also a prominent figure whom took over the well-known Cavaliero Prunotto estate in 1956, which was later sold over to the Antinori family in the 90’s.  Beppe was part of establishing the regulations for the Alba DOC’s and cru vineyard sites.  He was also the first in the Langhe to use cru on the Barolo labels with the 1961 Prunotto Barolo Bussia.  Unfortunately, Beppe recently passed away in January of 2019.   

Poderi Colla was founded in 1994 by Pietro’s youngest son, Tino, and Beppe’s daughter, Federica.  They merged three of their properties in creation of the winery including Cascine Drago in San Rocco Seno d’Elvio di Alba, Tenuta Roncaglia in Barbaresco and Dardi Le Rose in Bussia di Monforte d’Alba.  In 2016 they also added a fourth estate, Bricco Bompe in Madonna di Come di Alba.   

Since almost the beginning of their inception Poderi Colla has taken part in Piedmont’s agricultural environmental program that focused on limiting pesticides, using fertilizers like worm compost and focusing on producing organic wines.   

The Wine 

2016 Poderi Colla Tenuta Roncaglie Barbaresco  

This wine spends 14 months in large botti.  This Barbaresco, along with the Barolo, are grown in south to southwest facing steep hills made of calcareous marl and sand.  As with all Barolo and Barbaresco these wines are made of 100% nebbiolo.  Garnet red in color.  Delicious red fruits of raspberries and cherries.  A solid backbone of acidity showing such elegance in the glass.  I was impressed by this wine’s approachability with a 2016 vintage, but I can imagine the beauty of this wine with age.  ABV 14% SRP $65 

2015 Poderi Colla Barolo Bussia Dardi Le Rose  

This wine hails from the Bussia vineyards in Monforte d’Alba.  Spending about 12-15 days of maceration.  Aged in Slavonian oak for 2 years with an additional year in the bottle.  Garnet colored with brick hues on the rim.  Layered aromas of red and black cherries, licorice, spice and dried roses.  Juicy acidity with tight tannins that become more silky towards the finish that is lengthy.  ABV 14% SRP $75 

Life is too short, drink good wine!

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*These wines were provided as samples, but opinions are always my own.

A Journey Through Barbaresco with a Visit to Paitin

I’ve taken too long of a break writing about the wines of Piedmont.  Not on purpose, but when you’re writing about Italian wines there are just so many to try and discover and I’ve been pulled this way and that.  The wine region of Piedmont definitely holds a special place in my heart and I’ve always been very impressed from many kinds of wines produced there.   

I’ve only visited this region one, sad to say, and it was back in October 2009 when I traveled northern Italy with my parents.  We had so many great visits at wineries and the food there is to die for.  Along my travels I stopped in at one winery, Paitin, within the Barbaresco wine region and had a personal tasting with Giovanni Pasquero-Elia, son of Secondo Pasquero-Elia whom founded the wine estate.  They both manage it today along with Giovanni’s brother, Silvano, and Giovanni’s son, Luca.  

Giovanni Pasquero Elia & myself in 2009

The Land 

Barbaresco is one of the great wine appellations of Italy located within the Piedmont region in north-western Italy.  It is famed for their quality nebbiolo based wines amongst others.  You’ll find the Barbaresco appellation in the southern part of Piedmont as you start to approach the Ligurian Alps.  It’s situated on the right bank of the Tanaro River just east of the prominent town of Alba. 

Piedmont is a wine region quite unique in that much of the land has site specific vineyards that each craft very terroir driven wines.  Piedmont boasts a high number of single vineyard wines that display these particular characteristics.   It’s said that some time ago the best parcels of land were determined by where the snow melted the fastest as that showed the level of exposure to the sun for the grapes to grow. 

The wine today I’m sharing is labeled Sori Paitin.  Both terms, sori and bricco, are important that it tells a lot about where the grapes have been grown.  Bricco relates to the best vineyard sites set high up on the hill.  Sori represents an area that receives an ample amount of sunshine. 

The Winery 

The Paitin winery was established in 1893, but the family had been growing grapes since 1796 going back 8 generations within the family.  Paitin is located within the district of the Langhe, or Langa, and in one of the major communes within Barbaresco called Neive.  The winery became certified organic in 2019 and although they practice some methods of biodynamics they are not certified at this time.   

The Wine 

2003 Paitin di Pasquero Elia Barbaresco Sori Paitin – This wine is grown in one of the “cru” vineyards of Nieve, Serraboella.  The Serraboella cru has been within the family for a long time since the family purchased it back in 1796. Paitin’s website defines this cru as producing “dark and vibrant, profound and long running, tense and elegant” wines.  Its vines are situated on west to southwest slopes.  The first vintage of this wine was released in 1893.  The nebbiolo grapes macerate for about 3-6 weeks and spend about 2 years in both Austrian and Slavonian oak.  Aromas of ripe fruit along with spice.  A dense structure displaying flavors of cherries, baking spice with hints of tobacco.  Firm tannins that became more elegant upon aeration. ABV 14% SRP $50 

The Pairing 

I always believe in saving wines like these for celebrations and any wine I bring back from Italy always brings back fond memories upon opening it.  I enjoyed it on Christmas Day with my family and we reminisced about our tasting with Giovanni.  It was thoroughly enjoyed with a pairing of roast prime rib.  It was still drinking particularly well at almost 20 years of age and is a perfect accompaniment to roast meat.  

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