In 2016 Sommelier Scott Zebarth and Wine Writer Michael Godel teamed up to produce “Interloper” Cabernet Franc, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake. In 2017 they added a Field Blend called “As Is,” VQA Niagara Lakeshore. In 2018 the 100 percent cabernet franc “Aldé” Rosé, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake became the third label in the Noplace Wines small lot series.
They are now pleased to offer you a mixed, three-by-four case to help remain calm and carry on while riding out the collective, stay-at-home Ontario order. These are unadorned, unencumbered, unadulterated, relatively low alcohol, honestly transparent and flat-out crushable wines. Noplace is proud to partner with WineAlign for this mixed case of 12 bottles (3×4) and while the quantities are small, this is the time to grab some and to enjoy them in the isolated comfort of your home. This case contains 12 bottles (a 3×4 case). The final case price will be $271/case plus delivery. The $271 price includes all taxes and our $20 procurement, admin, storage & repackaging fee. Delivery cost is about $17 in Ontario. Delivery is expected in late May 2020.
I wrote this ahead of Mother’s Day, May 7th, 2014. Bringing it back with a short amendment, on account of present day reality, a brief codicil, if you will.
A shout out to mom. The influence and unrequited love of a mother is age irrelevant. She is everything to her child, their rock, their wherewithal. Mothers are Kalon incarnate. They are what the Greek philosophers refer to as beauty that is more than skin deep. The idealistic representation of perfect grace in the physical and moral sense. Mom’s deserve more than they get but they rarely complain. If my mother were to be described in a wine tasting note, this would be it:
“From a vintage in which the mold must have been broken, 1938. Impossibly youthful and yet full of life, zest, verve and generosity. Classically styled, unselfish and seamless. Has aged with halcyon, linear precision, patience and the grace of an angel. Residing in an exceptionally calm and beautiful window. Will offer many more years of pleasure to be with.”
Doesn’t the mother in your life deserve a taste of something special, if not every day, at the very least today?
Many will not have the opportunity to physically be with their mothers today. They can however speak to the wounded zeitgeist with eloquence and love. Happy Mother’s Day Mom and to all mothers, everywhere.
The Barque Smokehouse Restaurant Relief Case is a mixed 12-pack of wines curated by Chef/Owner David Neinstein and Wine Director Michael Godel. The wines are representative of local and international producers that have been a part of the Barque family of wines during the restaurant’s nine years in existence. The choices for the mixed case are thanks to four outstanding Ontario wine agents who have consistently been some of the restaurant’s most loyal and supportive partners.
The collective challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many hard choices and put great demands on both the physical and mental health and well-being of so many in the hospitality industry. The Barque team is not immune to such adversity and that is why there is great need plus the will to pitch in and help. Part of the proceeds from the sales of these cases will go towards helping The Restaurant Relief Fund as well as much needed financial support for Smokehouse staff currently isolating at home.
Three wines each from Noble Estates Wines and Spirits, Nicholas Pearce Wines, Brand New Day Wines and Spirits and Le Sommelier Wine Agency make up the case. You will receive one sparkling wine, one Rosé, three whites and seven reds, along with a complimentary signature Barque rub.
The final case price will be $275/case plus delivery. Delivery fees are estimated at $17 in Ontario (shipping locations, fees & COVID-19 update). Delivery is expected in late May 2020. The $275 price includes all taxes and our $20 procurement, admin, storage & handling fee.
Réva’s is a remarkable Monforte d’Alba property nestled within an ideally situated Langhe amphitheatre, “at the limit of Barolo,” abutting the ridge that separates the potentate appellation’s southern border from Dogliani. Vines of dolcetto, barbera and nebbiolo rest, roost and rule the south-facing hill and a nine-hole links style golf course lays out east to west through the valley. Wooded havens hide deer and wild boar, birds of many ilk fill the naked skies, playgrounds long for children’s playful squeals while Restaurant FRE and its first Michelin Star in 2020 await the return of guests. A Piedmontese farm holiday stay such as this is quietude incarnate, unique, secluded and serene. Wines were made here at one time but growth and ambition make requiem for expansion. A new facility takes shape. Moving north again, at the foot of and below the village of La Morra we come to the cellar in Gallinotto where the wines are now in production. From agriturismo to cantina, Réva the hand as if by magic.
Nebbiolo and Dolcetto at Réva
Réva is a fascinating study of collaboration between five erudite men: Miroslav, Gianluca, Gabriele, Francesco and Daniele. Miro Lekes, owner, native of the Czech Republic and who’s first commercial vintage was 2012. Gianluca Colombo, oenologist, joined in 2010 after working 10 years for the Cordero consultancy in and out of 10-20 estates. Daniele Gaia worked at Elvio Cogno for seven years, leaving in 2016 to join the Réva experience. “If you want to be a protagonist in this world you need to find some space,” insists Gaia and so when he met with Miro and saw the vision for a 10+ year plan he knew his space had been found. Gabriele Adriano is winemaker, Tecnico Presso, formerly with Vajra in Vergne, just up the hill from Barolo. Gabriele joined just ahead of the 2017 harvest. “He’s very precise,” notes Daniele, “Gianluca is the creative one.” Francesco Spadaro joined in September 2018, coming from Viberti and at Réva deals with private customers and orders. “He is the commercial guy.”
We’re on the road to Réva
Farming practices are organic and not just for the vineyards, but also including the golf course and the wine relais grounds. “You don’t drink the certification,” quips Daniele, “you drink the wine.” Growth is quick and to the point because “there are five men working on the same wine. That’s the secret.” Total production at Réva is 65,000 bottles, the current maximum goal. Up to and at times above 10,000 each of dolcetto, nebbiolo, barbera, whites and the classico Barolo are the workhorses for 85-90 per cent of production. The cru Baroli from Ravera, Cannubi and Lazzarito make up the remainder.
Daniele Gaia, on the phone, making deals
“For sure Réva is a unique place in the Barolo area” tells Daniele. I spent a glorious January day with hime at the two properties near Monforte d’Alba. You need to begin tasting the ’16s, ’17s and ’18s because the ’19s in barrel will blow the roof off of the Langhe. Our third stop was for lunch in Alba at ventuno.1 under the culinary auspices of Chefs Alfonso Russo and Francesco Ferrara.
Godello, Chef Francesco Ferrara and Daniele Gaia at ventuno.1 , Alba
Know this. Réva’s are modern, 21st century wines with tremendous new Piemonte drinker’s appeal. They are also seductive to informed and discerning sommeliers because of an innate connection to the past. The notions that arise and astonish us are not because they are new, but because they are the sort that have been so long neglected and overlooked. The nebbiolo in particular are rooted in time tested pragmatism, decades, if not centuries old. They will stand the test, of longevity and time. These are the six wines we tasted.
Taken from San Sebastiano area, vines 15-20 years old in Monforte d’Alba. “We have a special view of the nebbiolo,” tells Daniele Gaia. “In our point of view it has to show the character of the grape, flowers, drinkability and approachable, not a baby Barolo.” And so Réva attacks with a gentle touch, a short and cold maceration to secure nebbiolo kept in a “light” vein, with evident acidity. Carries the youthful “splendore” of beautiful red fruit. A precociousness unhindered, on hinges, in ultra comfortable balance. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted January 2020
Another highly seasoned nebbiolo of rather dark red fruit and barrel piques that create spikes and valleys in the wine. Hangs on with enough energy to see the acidity match the fruit stride for stride. There’s a sense of structure to see this ’16 last for a decade strong and long. Drinking window will open shortly so the temptation will be to imbibe often and early, thereby fertilizing the narcotic poppy of drinking pleasure. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted January 2020
So bright, so thoughtful and so generous. Ravera is the sneaky structured Réva Barolo, of a winemaker’s work that totes the freight of genius. Ravera is wanting nothing from you but gives you everything. A melting pot of Piedmontese nebbiolo, at ease and persistently resurgent. Drink 2021-2033. Tasted January 2020
Réva’s Cannubi is based or is the extension of an idea, initialized in 2012, to have three different expressions in Barolo. The search is for elegance of La Morra or Barolo and the structure of Serralunga or Monforte. The third is a combination and that is found in Ravera. The Cannubi plot was owned by Fratelli Barale, a Cannubi di Cannubi right next to the cemetery of Barolo. It’s still a rented property and will be owned at the end of a 10 year contract. Pure Barolo, close your eyes and this is recognizable as the dictionary entry. Hue as in deep depths of pure red with a streak of light. Palate of acidity and fine tannins with length. Rich without being too strong. Not closed, does not attack your mouth and yet there is grip to keep it moving forward. Really fine tannins and fruitful pleasure. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted January 2020
The single-vineyard cru Lazzarito is added in 2016 and it is Daniele Gaia’s first harvest at Réva. Drive the best car and drive it right away. “This is the best wine Réva has never made,“ says Gaia with great irony mixed into humility. Tasted from low temperatures (22-24 degrees) in tank there was fear of Lazzarito’s tannins. Here above Serralunga a long strip on the top of the eastern side of the hill gives a marl-calcaire meets sandy soil and so the best of both structural worlds; freshness (also from high pH) and grip. Yes it’s silly young and impressionable but already handsome, unadorned and fruit so crunchy, yet also sapid, a pinch salty and the impression of acidity is a freshness with thanks to that elevated pH. A sample but already in bottle and will be released in two years. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted January 2020
Regine Rousseau (@shallwewine) walking into Piemonte like…
Brachetto d’Acqui, a passion for aromatics
The only current Brachetto listing in Ontario’s LCBO is Viticoltori Acquesi Brachetto d’Acqui. A classic and ideal example to be sure but one listing? One choice? One wine from 1200 hectares of brachetto farmed for the sole purpose to make people happy, to encourage enjoyment of life, to fulfill wishes and dreams of seeking and redeeming simple pleasures? What an utter travesty. Time to fix this now.
Pink 75? Cocktails with Brachetto d’Acqui
Brachetto d’Acqui’s ancestry lies in Roman times with Vinum Aquense, as it was known dating back to the time of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. “Aromatics have always been connected to nobility,” explains Consorzio Tutela Brachetto d’Acqui President Paolo Ricagno. It was thought to have astonishing aphrodisiac powers. Legend has it that first Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony sent many wineskins of the Vinum Acquense to Egypt and to the court of the famously beautiful Cleopatra in advance of their arrival. The queen is said to have employed the sweet brachetto to rekindle the passion of her legendary lovers. Imbibing with impunity, something in a 21st century renaissance today’s producers and consorzio would love to see. The first official definition was in 1922 when it was considered a “luxury wine” and history notes that is has been produced since 1850. Fast forward 100 years later Arturo Bersano decided to present it “in a particular way.” With more bubbles and smelling like roses.
Consorzio Tutela Brachetto d’Acqui
I have had the privilege to listen to Paolo Ricagno speak twice, first in Acqui Terme in 2018 and most recently in December 2019. Ricagno (not the actor and director of the same name) has been at the helm since inception in 1992 and is joined by two vice presidents: Alberto Lazzarino, director of Banfi and Bruno Fortunato, president of the Tre Secoli cooperative in Mombaruzzo and Ricaldone. DOCG status was granted in 1996. The more than 1000 hectares from 850 growers in Alessandria and Asti is farmed for the express purpose of raising the only red aromatic DOCG in Italy. It can be still, sparkling or made in a dessert-Passito style, but in the simplest description (bubbles and roses) it is in the sweet iterations that most often appear.
The Piedmont tertiary basin is filled with fossils from what once was an ancient sea. The sea covered and pulled back twice, shallow, like a tide pool, warm, tropical and full of large sea animals. All of this you can imagine has left a wealth of minerals in the soils, including and especially calcium carbonate. The sandier soils in Acqui are apposite to the marl and limestone of Nizza Monferrato and the vineyards are strewn with marine fossils. There are dramatic climate effects by diurnal temperature swings, cold snowy winters and hot summers. All of this in the name of preserving aromatics.
Dense bunches, firm fleshed. That is brachetto. Aromatics are hidden in the skins, high in terpenes and sugars. Main aroma is geraniol, as in red roses. The chemical-aromatic continuum of brachetto runs through the three-pronged table occupied by terpene-geraniol-rose and the preservation of aromatics is established by cold fermentations. The push-pull, ying-yang posit tug is between varietal and fermentative aromas, from the liberty of free-run juice, careful avoidance of oxidation and the tried and true (Dr. Federico) Martinotti Charmat method employed in controlled pressure tanks. If you want to make a DOCG Rosé, you have to keep the maceration very short, to keep the anthocyanin factor down and obtain a wine similar in pale colour to the wines of Provençe. This to make a wine with less aromatic compounds and terpenes. When you ferment moscato dry, which is high in linalool, it can tend to leave a problem with bitterness, whereas brachetto is poor in that thiol and higher in geraniol so bitterness is not a problem. In fact when present can actually be pleasant.
Pretty in Pink, Isn’t she?
Pretty in Pink, Isn’t she?
At Enoteca Regionale Acqui “Terme e Vino” the Masterclass Brachetto Experience was led by Biologist and Sommelier Martina Doglio Cotto of Grape Stories. First a capriccioso, fantasioso or better yet, an estroso Consorzio presentation on place, grape and of course aromatics, followed by a Brachetto d’Acqui tasting with food pairings and inspired cocktail bar. If there is a more whimsical, capricious and fanciful wine than Brachetto d’Acqui it has not yet been found. These are eight examples tasted in Acqui Terme and Asti back in that first week of December.
More of a firm grip in this brachetto though perfectly fruity and well above average aromatic display. Certainly more zest, pique and pops than other gentler examples. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted December 2019
As fruity and fruit forward as it gets and that’s saying a lot for Brachetto d’Acqui. A bowl of ripe strawberries and the juice squeezed out of a bouquet of roses. Simple, sweet and definitive for the appellation. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted December 2019
Dusty roses and sweetly herbal. Demure and earth-musty while tannic and notably dry on the palate. Simple and understated. Food brachetto this one. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted December 2019
Literally “Alice’s Houses,” and the most whimsical, musical and poetic of them all. A brachetto from “a story with the voice of a choir of 100 members” who collectively produce 600 tonnes of the fickle grape for the light ruby red, 5.5% by volume sparkling wine. A floral one of course smelling regally of roses and fruity by raspberry and strawberry. Fresh and self-professed as “harmoniously sweet, slightly tannic.” Truth that. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted December 2019
Pineto is the Strevi cru in the area around Acqui and oh how it brings and slings all the red fruit in waves, from cherry, strawberry and raspberry, even a peppery kick and blood juicy plum. Just a hint of tisane by tannin from a few day maceration at eight degrees with plenty of pumpovers. Then suspended for settling, cleaning and a finish at five point five degrees alcohol within the tenets of appellative law. Quite pure and exactly the sort of refreshing wine with all parts in balance, just like in the fairy tale. A glass or two won’t have you strung between self preservation and transgressive social rule breaking. Drink 2019-2021. Tasted December 2019
Passito di Brachetto is a one of the world’s most distinctive dessert wines, in Marenco’s Strevi world made from 100 per cent Brachetto grapes. The grapes are dried post harvest, gently pressed and selected skins are left to ferment with the must at controlled temperatures for up to eight months. The Passito is then aged in barrel for at least one year. The process brings a cherry concentrate and the oak an uncanny note of white chocolate with thanks to very old barriques. Linger over a sip and feel the seep of darker chocolate, liquorice, toffee, amaro and then a return to those cherries. Peppery in the Marenco brachetto way. Ultimo Passito. Meraviglioso. Drink 2019-2028. Tasted December 2019
Rusty hue in a lovely little rustic and authentic rosato seemingly curious in that it almost acts dry because of such a dried fruit, flower and herb accumulation. Each part is complimentary to the next for a ripe and charming example of Brachetto d’Acqui potpourri. Drink 2019-2021. Tasted December 2019
Impressively aromatic, classic rose petal and strawberries in and out of every inhalation. Proper presence, a good match to salty cured meats, especially a local kiss of filetta bacciata. Sweetness is really mitigated by high tonality, elevated acidity and overall balance. More pleasure in this case and isn’t that the point. Drink 2019-2021. Tasted December 2019
Godello 