Malabaia di Canale (2 March 2017)

Malabaia di Canale

March 2, 2017

We had our fourth and fifth visits from winegrowers since we opened Remington Wine Company just two months ago. Winegrower #4 was Lucrezia Carrega Malabaila, of Malabaia di Canale, in Roero, Italy. Lucrezia's family first planted their roughly 22 hectares of vineyard in 1267 - yes, 750 years ago. This might be an old property, but it is perfectly maintained, both in the vineyard and in the winery. We tasted only two of their many wines, Roero Arneis '15 Pradvaj and Brachetto '15 Cardunaj, but both were distinctively good. First, Pradvaj and Cardunaj (pronounce the j like a y) are specific vineyard parcels.

Roero is situated located across the Tanaro River from the more famous Piemonte sub-region of Langhe, where the villages of Barolo and Barbaresco dominate the discussion of Piemonte's most illustrious red grape, Nebbiolo. While Roero's best red grape is also Nebbiolo, its Arneis has become Piemonte's most prized white wine grape. Malabaia's Arneis is always among the best, and this was no exception - sizzling fresh, with mineral, blossom, sea shell and white fruit smells and flavors.

Brachetto is usually sweet, sort of the red counterpart to Moscato d'Asti. Malabaia's Brachetto, however, is dry - incredibly fragrant with strawberries, flowers and herbs; so juicy and fresh and at 12.5% alcohol, easy to gulp.

The fifth visitor, who will not be named here, was a rare clunker for us. I mention it only to point out something that makes RWC a bit different. We want to sell wine made by farmers, folks who live and work on the land they cultivate to grow grapes. These folks are often the current custodians of estates their families have owned for many generations. Lucrezia Malabaia is an extreme example of this, representing the 65th generation of her family to make wine in Roero. Our fifth visitor, sadly, didn't measure up, neither in personal experience and knowledge, nor in tradition. It's ok - if we didn't hit clunkers, we wouldn't be able to recognize the good ones.