Product Review
The 2014 Barolo Bussia Cicala comes from a 3.2-hectare parcel, and only 5,400 bottles are made despite the fact that there is the potential for higher volumes. Both the Cicala and the Romirasco sites are relatively steep and therefore enjoy longer sunlight hours each day of summer for ripe and concentrated fruit. Of these new single-vineyard releases from Poderi Aldo Conterno, Cicala is my top choice in 2014. The wine shows a pure and enduring mouthfeel with salty or saline minerality that makes it such a pleasure to drink. The wine boasts a direct and vertical delivery of aromas, with cassis and dried raspberry that burst to the top with brightness. Cicala is a more direct and focused expression next to Colonnello, which tends to be more broad and horizontal instead.
Native to Piedmont in north west Italy it makes some of the countries, if not the world's finest and most distinctive wines, with the villages of Barolo and Barbaresco demonstrating the apex of what the grape variety is capable of. Due to it's finiky nature requiring just the right nutrients and the longest growing season, finding vineyard with the right soil and aspect is crucial a factor which partly explains why its accounts for just 3% of the regions production. Wines with Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC on the label are made from grapes grown around the town of Alba. While they don't take on the distinct aromas of tar and coffee attributed Barolo and Barbaresco, the vineyards sandier soils tend to produce wines with delicious soft fruit more appropriate for near term drinking. They also tend to come in at a more wallet appealing price! The grape is still experimented with in a number of different regions across the world, albeit on a small scale, with producers such as Palmina in the central coast of California producing some promising examples.
Along with Tuscany, Piedmont is responsible for most of Italy’s greatest wines. Here, Nebbiolo is the king of grapes with the DOCGs of Barolo and Barbaresco supplying a significant amount of the finest examples. Less expensive, but good value Nebbiolos are made within the larger Langhe DOC which Barolo and Barbaresco are both situated in. Barbera and Dolcetto are the region's other important red grapes. Moscato (Muscat) is the most popular white grape, most of which gets used in making Spumante and Frizzante (semi-sparkling) wines, notably those made in and around the town of Asti. Meanwhile, the region's most popular still white wines are made from Cortese and Arneis. Cortese are mostly made in the province of Alessandria and go by the name Gavi, while Arneis is mainly cultivated in Roero, just north west of Alba.
Red wine is wine made from dark-coloured grape varieties. The color of red differs based on the grapes variety or varieties used.Interestingly, black grapes yield a juice that is greenish-white. The actual red color comes from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) from the skin of the grape (exceptions are the relatively uncommon teinturier varieties, which produce a red colored juice). Most of the production centers around the extraction of color and flavor from the grape skin.
