What's Pressoir Drinking

by Edouard Bourgeois
October 7, 2021

Nebbiolo under the radar

During La Paulée, we set up a wine dinner entitled “Les Petits des Grands” where we poured the most modest, lowest ranked appellations, from the very best producers. The idea was to highlight the importance of the producer and their ability to produce superior wines, even from vineyards that don’t get the same recognition as Grands Crus and Premiers Crus. Some of these fruits may be planted “on the wrong side of the road”, on a slope that doesn’t receive as much sunlight as its neighbor, or from a spot that is geographically just outside but next to the star studded strip of the Côte d’Or.

Last week, I opened this bottle from one of my favorite Italian producers, Produttori, a true legend of Piedmont with an incredibly heritage and history.

The wine was absolutely wonderful. I love the Langhe wines. In Piedmont, the northern Italian region that borders French Alps, Barolo and Barbaresco reign suprême but the underdog appellation Langhe may provide an irresistible pleasure of crunchy ripe cherries that I adore. Tannins are gentler in Langhe also. That means a younger vintage offers more charm than a sturdier Barolo in its teenage years. Produttori has been making wine since. Mostly Barbaresco and a specialist in single vineyards. I have been impressed by the superb finesse of both old and young wines from that esteemed producer. Another thing I want to share as a sommelier secret, although I guess I’m not the first one to spill the beans, is the relative affordability of these wines. Now, of course when Produttori makes a Langhe, it’s with the same level of care, passion and nurturing they would give their famous Barbaresco cuvées, and it shows. 

What's Pressoir Drinking?

Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco 1978, in magnum

by Edouard Bourgeois

October 13, 2020

We pair wine with food, with friends. I even like to push the envelope further by trying to find the right music to play when I sip on a particular cuvée. But what about matching wine and mood?

This morning, I woke up to a rainy, apparently uninviting Tuesday, cold and gloomy. Looking around my apartment, an empty magnum I opened last week and saved as a trophy caught my eye. When I pulled the cork from this 42 year old Nebbiolo, the wine initially seemed ugly, almost limping, and certainly the opposite of a “fruit bomb”. As often with old Nebbiolo, the initial funk character you may smell should not discourage you. The magic rule? Decant, and wait, a long time. The wine does change over the course of a few hours as oxygen seems to be Barolo and Barbaresco’s best friend. I’m also convinced the drinker should also adapt to this metamorphosis. It is a true intellectual exercise where the taster has to be willing to make an effort to understand the wine, just like the first time you heard the curious music of Thelonious Monk, not immediately being able to capture the beauty and humor in his choppy piano strides.

1978 blessed the Piedmont with grapes able to produce ideal, age-worthy wines. It was also the last vintage of the first cellar master at Produttori del Barbaresco Giorgio Boffa. This wine evolved so much, it felt like tasting multiple wines as each layer unveiled as time went by.

So, did I manage to pair the wine and mood? Yes. As the wine unfolded, the mood of the people who shared this magnum with me also evolved to eventually harmonize with the profile of the wine.