A Vision of Barbaresco
Special Feature
The Wines of Produttori del Barbaresco


In This Newsletter:
Markus Molitor
Markus Molitor: Do I Detect delicious?
Do I detect delicious? This is the first question one must ask themselves upon examining any wine of any supposed caliber. Sometimes we can just make ourselves dizzy focusing on the technical verbiage associated with a drink that’s meant to give pleasure. Are those terpenes I’m picking up? I’ll swear on my life there’s some grapefruit pith in there. Anyone else have a headache?
Outside of the obsession with tasting note creativity, an epidemic afflicting the wine consuming community is the fixation on dry wine virtue signaling. Oh, how many times I’ve heard a restaurant guest or customer proclaim that they “only drink dry wines.” This type of statement is usually following by said individual picking up or ordering a zinfandel or cabernet-based wine with copious residual sugar.… Read the rest
There may be no more ambitious winemaker in the world than Markus Molitor. His determination and drive to make the best possible wines has made him a towering figure in the Mosel, with an impressive, modern winery and holdings in almost every important vineyard in the region. This drive also means there are a lot of different bottlings—Molitor believes that every single sub-parcel and selective pick should be vinified to its utmost potential. The critical praise backs this up— Markus Molitor’s wines are some of the most celebrated in the world.
Most winemakers would pick a vineyard once or twice and vinify the lots together—it’s easier and the wines are good. Molitor, though, asks what each parcel and pick would be like on its own—treated as if it were a wine of distinction rather than a blending component.… Read the rest
G.B. Burlotto was considered among the absolute greatest winemakers in the world for the seventy plus years he was at the helm. After his passing in 1927, the winery and his hometown of Verduno slipped into obscurity. Now Fabio Alessandria, the great-great-grandson has taken over and Burlotto regained the place it deserves among the top echelon of small producers in the Piedmont. Tradition is first and foremost for Fabio, going so far as to use gentle crushing by foot followed by a sixty day maceration period, once common but now virtually unheard of in Barolo. The technique is used for the home vineyard of Monvigliero and the soft touch develops a wine of remarkable character with notes of cedar, olives in herbs, and something rich – like truffles – the feel is structurally powerful, but so elegant as to be shimmery. … Read the rest