The Ceretto “Grape” and vineyards

Last week was super special because I visited the southern Rhone valley, which is to say grenache country. This is going to be a super special week because I’m making my first of what’s sure to be multiple treks over the Alps to Italy’s Piemonte, where nebbiolo reigns supreme. Grenache and nebbiolo are my go-to red grapes, folks, and that’s why, in a moment of momentary madness years ago, I decided to build a house that sits halfway between the two regions.

My visits come at a bittersweet juncture, though, because 2021 proved to be a miserable year in both locales. Devastating April frosts took a terrible toll on France’s grape-growers, while pockets of northwest Italy, which had also been badly impacted by unseasonably icy conditions well into the spring, also got hammered by late-summer hailstorms, a one-two punch that dramatically limited yields there as well.

Nonetheless, the few 2021 Rhone wines that I have been able to taste turned out swimmingly, particularly the Soubois Rosé and new white blend made under the same name by my friends at Domaine de Mourchon (domainedemourchon.com).  Its estate fruit fortuitously grows at a high-enough elevation to have survived the worst damage done to vineyards closer to the Rhone’s banks. And the current-release reds from 2019, at least those that I was able to sampled, checked all the boxes, too, showing ripe fruit and great concentration.

Nobody is going so far as to describe 2019 as an historically superb vintage, but there figures to be lots of excellent wines, particularly from the best producers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. And 2020 is said to be across-the-board better, softening the blows of 2021 a bit.

How bad was last year in France? Overall, yields were the smallest in 40 years and represented an unprecedented 27-percent decline from the previous vintage. In Burgundy, the drop-off surpassed 50 percent. The Jura lost four-fifths of its fruit. The countrywide financial hit to vintners is said to have been more than $3 billion. In short . . . Zut alors!

But I’m expecting lots of happy talk from my friends in an around Alba regarding the aforementioned newly released Barolos and Barbarescos from 2018 and 2019 respectively, which I’ll be tasting for the first time. Regarding the latter, Cult Wines senior fine wine buyer Andre Marino calls 2019 “a fantastic vintage, with consistent weather and very few worrying climate events. Good yields and great quality meant the domains could work with perfect fruit across the whole appellation. Wines in the glass are deep and energetic with pure ripe fruit but without any of the excess (shown) by some of the recent warm vintages.”

As for the 2018 Barolos, described as classic, elegant and Burgundian in style, Matteo Sardagna Einaudi of Poderi Luigi Einaudi pretty much summed things up by saying, “the grapes were in excellent health in the vineyard thanks to the stable and sunny months of September and October. This allowed us to wait tranquilly for the harvest.”

Roberta

I’m especially looking forward to lunching Thursday at my favorite restaurant in Alba,  La Piola in the Piazza Duomo, with my oldest friend in the Langhe, Roberta Ceretto. A Barolo I’ve already got my sights set on trying is the Ceretto family’s Prapò, described by one critic as having “a fruity nose that tastes of cherry and strawberry, with hints of violet, licorice and nutmeg. In the mouth, the sip is wide and deep, the tannins well marked and the persistent finish still on the fruit and with a balsamic finishing note.”

If I ask nicely, perhaps she’ll bring a bottle for us to sample together. (Big toothy grin imoji here).

This is a good place to note that both the Mourchon family – Walter and Ronnie McKinlay and their daughter Kate – and the Cerettos are both harboring refugees from the Ukrainian catastrophe in their respective wineries’ guest quarters. No surprise this. That’s the kind of people they are.       

Sippin’ with Sporty

White

* 2020 Vermentino di Monteverro Toscana – From the Maremma region of Tuscany, it tastes of white peaches, grapefruit and green apples and you’ll love the expressive minerality. The handpicked grapes were whole-cluster pressed without malolactic fermentation and the wine then spent six months on the lees in stainless steel tanks. $19.97 at winechateau.com

Rosé

* 2020 Gerard Bertrand Gris Blanc – From the Tautavel neighborhood near Perpignan in France’s Pays d’Oc, it has become one of my favorite rosés for its freshness and expressive minerality (never mind its enticing price tag). The very pale pink hue is deceptive. It packs a big flavor punch. $14.99 at wine.com. Widely available in retail in Houston, too.     

Red

* 2018 Watermill Estate Merlot Walla Walla Valley – Walla Walla merlot rivals that from anywhere – really! – and this one is proof of same, offering vibrant plummy and black currant notes. The wine stayed on the skins for more than two weeks, undergoing additional maceration through punch-downs and pump-overs before going into barrels, new and medium toast French and American oak, for 12 to 16 months. It’s also a serious bargain for $30 at watermillwinery.orderport.net

H-town Happenings

* Brenners on the Bayou Wine Fest – Saturday, May 7. $125-$150. www.brennersfest.com

* A Spanish Fling with the Bierzo wines of Raúl Perez Pereira – Camerata, Tuesday, May 17. www.camerata.com

* Stroll Through Bordeaux Event – Ouisie’s Table, Thursday, May 19. $60 plus tax and gratuity. 713 528-2264.

* La Rioja Alta wine dinner – Truluck’s, Wednesday, May 25. $400. https://trulucks.com/la-rioja-alta-wine-dinner

* Wines from Rioja Experience – The Post Oak Hotel, Thursday, May 26. $199. localwineevents.com

* The Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting & Chef Showcase – The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, wrapping up Wine & Food Week – Saturday, June 11. $125. wineandfoodweek.com 

Follow me

* Podcast: Sporty Wine Guy

* Instagram: sportywineguy

* Twitter: @sportywineguy

* Facebook: Dale Robertson

Other folks to follow

* Sandra Crittenden (winelifehouston.com) – Sandra shares her story on the multi-faceted pinot gris grape written for Galveston Monthly magazine.  

* Russ Kane (vintagetexas.com) – Russ reports on the wines of Farmhouse Vineyards in Johnson City.  

* Jeff Kralik (thedrunkencyclist.com) – Jeff reviews an eclectic mix of wines that have excited him of late.

* Jeremy Parzen (dobianchi.com)  – My podcast partner in crime shares his space with Davide Camoni, the laboratory director at Enoconsulting in Villa Pedergnano (Franciacorta) where some of the world’s most famous wines are tested. Camoni explains saccharomyces cerevisiae, which he calls “humankind’s best friend.” Why? You can find out here.  

* Katrina Rene (thecorkscrewconcierge.com) – Kat gets us up to speed on what’s going on in May vis-à-vis Texas’ vibrant wine scene.