Cantina del Pino = Barbaresco (2 February 2017)

The first wine to be called Barbaresco was made by Domizio Cavazza, who was director of the school of oenology in Alba from 1888-1913. The grapes for that wine came from the vineyard of his estate, which was known as the Cascina del Pino (named for the distinctive Mediterranean Pine tree he planted in honor of the birth of his first son; the name changing later on to Cantina). The vineyard was called Ovello - known today as one of the finest crus of Barbaresco. When Cavazza first moved to the region to teach at the school of oenology, Barbaresco was only the name of a small village near Alba. Barolo was the famous wine village, so it came as a shock to the locals when Cavazza chose property near Barbaresco on which to settle.

The first winegrowers to visit us (on Wednesday, Feb 1) were Renato Vacca and his partner Franca Miretti. Renato's great-grandfather purchased Cantina del Pino (and its vineyard) from the estate of Domizio Cavazza upon his premature death. The Vacca family has owned and farmed the estate ever since. As it was back in Cavazza's time, all of Cantina del Pino's vineyards are within the Barbaresco appellation. 

Renato and Franca brought new releases to taste - Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba and three cuves of Barbaresco:

The Dolcetto was the first 2015 vintage Dolcetto I've tasted. Deeply colored, crisp, crunchy, deeply fruity and floral, it will show up here shortly. They make a small amount of Barbera (@2,000 bottles) - 7 barriques full in 2014. One of those small (55 gallon) barrels was new in 2014 - it shows right now, but this wine has intense, concentrated fruit.

Barbaresco. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that these would be so good - Cantina del Pino and its Ovella was the original source, after all. We tasted 2012s. The normale is all orange peel and red fruits, with a touch of oak, all in balance. They make two different crus - Albesani and Ovello - and they couldn't be more different, keeping in mind that all Barbaresco (and Barolo) is 100% Nebbiolo. Albesani 2012 is gamey and animal - the telltale hint of orange (a notable aspect of Nebbiolo's aroma) is more candied here; overall, ore rich and luxurious than the normale. Ovello 2012 - despite Renato's insistence that this particular bottle was not showing well - was all about flowers and black fruit, almost blackberry! If this was an off bottle, we can't wait to taste a "good" one.

After we tasted, I mentioned to Renato that the last (and only) time I'd visited Barbaresco was in 1983. I told him I'd visited the Produtorri di Barbaresco, a first-class cooperative of Barbaresco growers; and that I thought I still had a bottle of their cru Ovello 1978 I'd purchased on that trip. Renato smiled, and told me his uncle and cousin still worked at Produttori di Barbaresco - and that the Ovello '78 was made from his family's fruit - Cantina del Pino sold their grapes until creating their own label in 1997. Their house sits at the northern end of the Ovello vineyard. Renato encouraged us to visit him on our next trip to Barbaresco. Sounds like a plan.