Down with barriques!

I had lunch yesterday with wine-guy-about-town Charles Scicolone, during which I took him to task for something he'd said at a wine-tasting lunch last week:  I don't like aglianicos because they're always so oaky.  They use too many barriques down there.

Charles & tutelary deity

I begged to differ and told him that soon, oh so soon, he'd be able to taste a couple that aren't like that at all.  And of course I called his attention to Eric Asimov's pleasing article on aglianico last month.  (The link is to the blog post, which contains a link to the newspaper article.)  Aglianico is not by nature a big clunky woody wine. Often a big wine, yes, but also, in the right hands, supple and sinewy.  In short, it's a noble grape that is finding various stylistic expressions -- it's an exciting time to explore the aglianicos of Campania and Basilicata.

But I did grant that too many of the big commercial wineries in Campania use way too much wood, whether in your legitimate barrel or your clandestine chips-sized portion.  This as you might guess, led to a broader discussion on the infestation-by-barrique that has so distorted Italian reds (and, let's face it, some whites, which are better left alone).  With his long experience Charles recounted a few instances in which he tasted the radical and sudden change in the character of wine from illustrious and deep-pocketed vineyards with the shift to toasty wee oaken barrels.  In retrospect it seemed to have happened all at once and everywhere. 

While this is quite clearly changing -- Charles cited evidence of change at Vinitaly this year, a trend we praised, as in "thank God they've come to their senses" -- it's pretty clear that there are plenty of cuvées américaines coming to our shores. Whether it's blending Merlot in the Chianti or the Valpolicella, too many of the export wines are made on the assumption that the real thing won't sell in America. 

After all, how many times have we heard from Italian wine producers, writers, waiters, etc., "Americans all like..."  Fill in the blank with words like "big," "fat," "sweet," "oaky," etc.  As Scicolone said, They all think we're stupid.

And please don't anyone hand me the old line about doing it to please Parker, etc.  For even while some producers believe they're catering to Parker, Suckling and the rest, a great many others are saying, This is the wine I make.  I hope it sells in America but I can't change its fundamental character.  We're working to make it better.  But we won't turn it into something it isn't.

Comments

[tracie b.]

i desperately hope this is a real trend with italian producers. it's going to take some coraggio and lots of 'fanculo-ness, as well as education and deprogramming for la gente.

a buyer said to me the other day, "it's not oaky enough." (p.s. it was a california chardonnay) he knows what his customers like.

we are not out of the woods yet!

[Montalcino Report]

Great post. I am not a huge fan of over oaked wines either. Definitely I think that the great wines (especially the red ones) are mainly made out in the vineyards. Regarding our wines, especially the Brunello, large barrel is a must. In fact we use 3000 and 5000 litres French oak barrels. In the past we used to have those massive 15000 litres Slavonian oak barrels, but we realized that there was virtually no contact between the wine and the oak. Barrique can be useful (if used wisely) for wines that age for a short amount of time (8-12 months max), as they can somehow accelerate the aging and make the wine more complex and with a longer life. But for wines with long agings, of course not.. I think that oak flavor should be like a brush stroke in a painting, to make it more complex but without overwhelming it.

[Strappo]

I love the "brush stroke" figure -- a light touch is the right one.

[Paolo]

Ciao Mimmo
Come va??
I am agree with u, down with the barriques!
I send you a very interesting link about Obama
enjoy it!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25jhBVaiQw0

Paolo