Letter on the Wines of Piemonte and Burgundy

What follows is a modestly redacted note to a friend. They expressed a preference for the wines of Piedmont and Burgundy and asked for a follow-up email on a few producers. The scope of my email quickly got out of hand (as you shall see). Utterly carried away by enthusiasm for the task, I have since shared the contents of this note with a few friends for their edification. As "a few friends" comprises the entire readership of The Jupiter and my literary output rivals George R.R. Martin's barrenness, I have decided to plagiarize myself in the hope that some of you who haven't already will enjoy the letter's contents and may be able to find something worth imbibing this holiday season. For those of you who have seen the original, you may notice occasional alterations (for the better I hope) to my slipshod technique. I have also included (in italics) what I hope are at least candid acknowledgements of my own failings as an author (italics abound).

Per our conversation over [...], here are some wine buying ideas based on the preferences you provided: white Burgundy and wines from Piedmont. The wines you were praising are idiosyncratic, glamorous, and expensive but here are a few ideas.

Whites:

To the extent to which there is any value to be found among white Burgundies, it is in Chablis - and they have all gotten pretty expensive. One producer that isn't over the top expensive yet (but probably will be soon) is Domaine Roland Lavantureaux. His Petit Chablis is particularly good value - super minerally (surely even I could be expected to produce a better adjective than "minerally", perhaps even a real word would have sufficed, alas) and fresh, no oak: delicious lightly chilled with a filet of sole or served a la piscine on a sultry summers' eve to ease the strain.

The great white Burgundies like Mersault and Monrachet are all obscenely expensive and probably rightfully so. The only guidance I'd give there is if you're going to overpay for the wine of the gods, at least try to buy something with a bit of age. Dropping $120 for a bottle of white wine (ha! good luck with the Meursault this paltry sum will command) which obviously tastes too young is not an experience I'd wish upon even my enemies (this is in fact a lie let them spend thousands!).

So there aren't really a lot of other wines that taste like white Burgundy but as my favorite whites are from Burgundy I thought I might make a few other suggestions which are at least closer to that than say Napa Chardonnay which you might also enjoy (one does ask oneself if they could have written their way into less of a muddle, surely "... I might make a few alternative suggestions with similar characteristics." would have been better?). Piemontese Chardonnay has less minerality than Chablis but is still subtle and delicious. Some of the better producers are La Spinetta, De Forville, and Elio Grasso. If you're open to trying something a little fuller in body, Felsina from Tuscany is solid.
I also quite like Viognier which has that voluptuous melony taste you sometimes get with Chablis. Whether it's from the Rhone Valley, Paso Robles, or Sonoma County, any vigneron commercially senseless enough to cultivate the grape probably cares enough about making good wine to pull it off.
I love Cassis which is a very small appellation on the Mediterranean. It has a lovely balance and a saline quality that you don't really find anywhere else.

The last I'd recommend with a bit of trepidation is white Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It is certainly rounder and less teeth-shatteringly stony than Chablis by a long shot but there is something that always keeps me coming back to it. The quality is pretty much consistently high as its only popular among the cognoscenti but ones I have enjoyed are from Vieux Telegraphe, la Roquete, and Chateau de Nalys.

Reds:

Barolos are as you know all expensive and the quality is not consistent. Be careful if you're paying less than $60 a bottle. I'm not saying it can't be good because there are reasonable ones to be sure but try to pick something from a good year if you're looking for value. My favorites are Vajra (not sexy but excellent), Fenocchio (expensive but my favorite), and Faletto (it's VERY expensive). Barbarescos have become even more expensive. I love La Spineta as you know and think they are reasonable if you are going to buy a fussy, delicious, expensive wine.

Gattinara has become one of my favorite little secrets. Gattinara was Barolo before Barolo was a thing. It was the premier wine region in Piemonte. Most of its Nebbiolo was destroyed by a blight and the region never really recovered (at least commercially) but is making a comeback. Soon wines from there will be well known and expensive. Two producers I really like (especially for the money) are Cantina Sociale di Gattinara and Travaglini (it has a very oddly shaped bottle).

Another place that makes lovely Nebbiolo from Alto Piemonte is a region called Valtellina. Ar Pe Pe makes wonderful wine; it can be a bit harsh but it's less than half the cost of comparable Barolo. I have really only enjoyed the Nebbiolo heavy blends or 100% Nebbiolos they make. They also produce other indigenous Piemontese varieties but I've never gotten on with them. Other good producers from Alto Piemonte include Le Piane. Other regions to look out for in that area that produce excellent Nebbiolos are Boca, Lessona, Ghemme, Colline Novaresi, and Carema.

My friend G- who's very deep into wine (he's a recovering equity sales trader who became a wine merchant) says the Italians serve Barolos and Barbarescos to the tourists and drink the wines from these other places (Gattinara, Valtellina, etc.) I don't know if that's strictly true but it's the kind of thing you might be able to carry off saying out loud while swirling a glass of Le Piane.

Unfortunately, that's about it for Nebbiolo. Its a notoriously hard grape to produce and I don't know of anywhere in the new world that does it well. A lot of people will talk about Langhe Nebbiolo (which is kind of like a Cote-du-Rhone equivalent for Piemonte) but I've never come across one I really liked (this must have been written in a fit madness and willful ignorance, I can only defend myself by pointing out that Edmund Penning-Rowsell wrote that he'd never had a bottle of St-Estephe that he'd liked). There is probably value to be found if you're willing to experiment. In a similar vein to my recommendations for other whites to try, while there's nothing quite like Nebbiolo from Piemonte, there are some other reds I quite like with similar vibes (Ass! Do vibrations have a taste?).

I've been really enjoying the wines of Northern Tuscany and Chianti Classico (and actually generally I've been almost exclusively buying Tuscan wine lately). They have a similar medium body, decently hard tannins, and the desiccated red fruit. They taste nothing like Brunello (Le Ragnaie is my favorite if you're into that kind of thing) and you don't need a fat plate of spagetts to enjoy them. Producers I love include Montesecondo, Lo Scultore, Frattoria di Lamole (Paolo Socci), and Podere Castellinuzza. In fact, I took the liberty of photographing many pages of the wine list at our favorite wine bar and wine exporter in Firenze. I will attach the photographs (I will not include photographs here for fear of retribution). Everything on the list is excellent and spans Chianti through Brunello. Most of the wines will be much heavier than wines from Piedmont but the lighter ones I've been raving about are from Lamole in Chianti. They carry and also export wines from Piedmont. Regardless, you should check them out next time you're in Florence.

You might also have decent luck with Rioja. My favorite has and still is Muga. It's very widely available they have essentially three grades of red (1) Rioja Reserva which is an amazing $30 bottle, (2) Rioja Reserva Especial which for $45 is in my opinion more than 50% better and (3) Torre Muga which is over $100 and AMAZING (worth it for a special occasion). It will be less tannic than Barolo but has somewhat similar tasting notes and a medium body.

Finally from Europe you might try Cote du Beaune. It's from the warmer part of Burgundy so it has a little more body and sweetness to it. They'll be much more fruit-forward than wines from Piemonte but will be dry and sophisticated so I think you could be down. Volnay is my favorite village in that area. Domaine D'Angerville is quite famous. None of it is cheap but it's considerably less outrageous than the Cote du Nuit (this was written several years ago when recommending that someone try wines from Volnay was not the same as saying "perhaps these Parisian bread rioters should try cake").

It's hard for me to think about a lot of new world wines to recommend if what you like is so dry but there are some Syrah's which I love - plenty of dark fruit. Relentless Syrah from Shafer is one of my absolute favorite wines. Alban Vineyards, L'Aventure, and K Vintners (definitely more accessible than the other two) are great as well. I'd try them out and see what you think.

Exporters: The easiest way I've found for finding good quality wines that I like are buying by the exporter: Kermit Lynch and Jose Pastore have incredible portfolios. Whatever you buy from them it will be an honest example of what it is. If it's a $15 bottle of Cote du Rhone, it will be a delicious, simple, fair example. If it's a $250 bottle of Burgundy it will be exquisite.

Santé! I hope you're surviving sweltering M-. Let me know if you manage to take any of these for a spin and what you think .... [frivolous personal banter and well-wishes removed] ...

P.S. The scope of this letter has clearly gotten entirely out of hand. I hope you won't feel betrayed if I repurpose its contents. If so, remember that the quality of mercy blesseth he that gives.