by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

I tried with our SantaFe Wine Group this week (2/13/06) some Valtellina wines:

1. Balgera Chiavennasca TerrazzeRetiche di Sondrio IGT Frizzante (10.5%) 2004: Pale yellow color, fragrant fruity light yeasty attractive nose; soft grapey/fruity light spritzy fairly lush pleasant slight earthy flavor; med.short light yeasty pleasant fruity finish; a nice/simple Prosecco-like fruity quaff. $13.00
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2. NadaFiorenzo Langhe DOC Nebbiolo (14%) 2002: Dark color; light earthy fragrant/floral/
lilacs/dried rose petal light pungent/tarry nose; very tart/lean light tarry/floral/violets flavor w/ searing tannins & astringency; med.long tart/hard-as-nails tannic/astringent light lilacs/tarry/ pungent finish; a very hard/mean little Nebbiolo w/mouth-searing astringency; needs age but I'm not going to be that gambler. $22.00
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2a. Triacca Valtelline Superiore Sassella (13%) 2002: Med.light color; attractive fragrant/floral/ lilacs slight pungent/tarry pleasant bit aged nose; tart bit lean/astringent very light floral/lilacs slight tarry rather thin/weak flavor; short lean/astringent light tarry/pungent slight floral finish; a pleasant Nebb nose but lean/thin and unattractive on the palate, even w/ food. $25.00
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3. Balgera Ca'Fracia Valtelline Superiore DOC: Fracia (12.5%) 1999: Med.light color; rather tarry/ pungent classic Nebb/floral some earthy/dusty nose; rather tarry/pungent rather lean/ astringent light floral/violets/Nebb flavor; med. rather pungent/tarry slight floral bit tired/lean finish w/ some hard tannins; rather attractive nose but not so much on the palate; don't see this going anywhere. $20.00
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4. Balgera Valtelline Superiore DOC: Sassella (12.5%) 1999: Med.light color; stronger more intense/floral/lilacs some spicy/salami fairly tarry/pungent nose; softer some pungent/iodine rather Nebb/road tar somewhat richer/floral/lilacs flavor w/ less hard tannins; med.long very light floral/lilacs some tarry/pungent/Nebb fairly tannic finish; my easy favorite of these first three Balgeras; quite attractive nose but not so much on the palate. $20.00
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5. Balgera Valtelline Superiore DOC: Grumello (12.5%) 1998: Med.light color; some tarry/
pungent/Nebb rather dusty/earthy attractive floral/lilacs rather perfumed nose; slight
funky/earthy light lilacs/floral/dried rose petal slight tarry/pungent fairly hard/tannic flavor; med.long rather astringent/hard/tannic light floral/dried rose petal some tarry/pungent finish; needs age but ?? $20.00
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6. Balgera Valtelline Superiore Il Fondatore (13%) 1995: Med.color; very attractive fragrant light tarry/pungent/classic Nebb light floral light toasty/oak/pencillynose; softer slightly ripe/late harvesty light/pungent/tarry some spicy/smoked meat light lilac/floral smooth/balanced/complex light pencilly/oak flavor; long smooth/polished/balanced light floral some tarry/pungent/smokey complex finish; a lovely elegant/polished wine that speaks strongly of Nebb. $35.00
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7. Sandro Fay Valtelline Superiore Valgella Cartoria (13.5%) 2002: Very dark color; deep/intense black cherry/earthy very smokey/pungent smoked meats slight tarry complex nose; beautiful black cherry/boysenberry slight tarry/pungent/smokey quite smoked ham/spicy bit tannic flavor; long intense black cherry/plummy/boysenberry light tarry/earthy/pungent smoked meats finish w/ a tannic bite; much like a Refosco w/ black cherry & earthy character; terrific Nebb, very terroir driven. $30.00
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8. Sandro Fay Valtelline Superiore Sassella IlGlicine (13.5%) 2002: Very dark color;intense black cherry slight boysenberry/ripe some dusty/earthy slight smokey/smoked meats loads of dark fruit nose; bit tannic/rough dark fruit/black cherry/boysenberry some pungent/smokey rather tannic flavor; very long black cherry/dark fruit somewhat hard/tannic bit dusty/earthy spicy/smokey finish; needs 2-6 yrs age; terrific rendition of Nebb. $30.00
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9. Sandro Fay Valtelline Superiore Valgella Ca'Morei (13%) 2001: Med.dark color; more pungent/ tarry classic Nebb some black cherry/plummy bit menthol/fragrant complex nose; softer/smoother light tarry/pungent lovely floral/violets/black cherry bit cedary/spicy lovely complex flavor; very long/lingering floral/violets/black cherry some road tar/pungent spicy/complex bit tannic/astringent finish; needs few more yrs age; lots of Nebb character plus the dark fruits; terrific Nebb, my favorite of the whole bunch tonight.$30.00
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10. Balgera Sforzato (14.5%) 1996: Med.dark color; interesting dusty/earthy/walnutty some
late harvesty/very ripe licorice/black cherry slight volatile beautiful/perfumed/aromatic rather complex nose; soft/smooth/lush some hot/volatile/late harvesty smoked meat/charred Nebb/ floral/violets/dried rose petal bit tannic flavor; med.long road tar/pungent/smoked meats/slight charred dried rose petal/floral finish w/ bit tannic/astringent finish; very interesting w/ lots of smoked meat character. $55.00
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11. Conti Sertoli Salis Canna Sforzato di Valtelline (14.5%) 2001: Med.color; beautiful/fragrant toasty/Fr.oak black cherry/blackberry/dark fruits slight Cab/herbal/porcini very complex light tarry/pungent nose; tart but smooth/polished cedary/oak/toasty lightfloral/violets/lilacs/Nebb rather toasty flavor; very long/smooth toasty/Fr.oak some lilacs/floral/Nebb/dried rose petal slight pungent/tarry slight astringent finish; a lovely/complex Nebb w/ some international style; terrific Nebb. $48.00

1. The wines all came from WineExpo in SantaMonica save the Triacca.
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2. I first became entranced by the Valtelline Nebbiolos back in the mid-'70's when
PhilReich brought a bunch of the ArturoPellizattis into the LiquorMart in Boulder.
They were pretty big & rich & lush w/o those searing/mean tannins that Nebbiolo from
the Piemonte often show. I've not seen the Pellizattis in this country since those
early days, though the firm still exists and produces wines. Since that time, 'bout
all you see are the NinoNegri and Rainoldi Valtelline wines; which have never measured
up to my expectations based on the Pellizattis. But, then, I was younger and my palate
somewhat niave/different (egaads...I loved Calif Cab then!!) and 30 yrs between may
made my view of those Pellizattis being seen thru rose-colored glasses.
I, like most other folks, have long thought that Nebbiolo should be able to make
great wines in Calif; but real successes have been painfully few & far between. For
me, the Calif producers persist because the absurd prices of PiemonteNebbiolo is one
of the attractions that they hope to achieve. I think they would better look to the
Valtelline for their Nebbiolo model, rather than the Piemonte.
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2. Balgeras: The three regular Balgeras I, and most of the other tasters, did not find
particularly exciting. They had attractive noses of Nebb, but they were pretty lean/
hard on the palate and seemed a bit aged. Both the Fondatore and the Sforzato were,
OTOH, very attractive wine; yet w/ that usual Nebb bite to them.
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3. SandroFays: These, OTOH, were very/very exciting wines to me. This is very much what
I recall the Pellizattis being like; intense/rich/textured w/ lots of deep fruit. The
wines would probably never be mistaken for Piemonte Nebb. That be good. They were not
characterized by that ethereal Nebb floral perfume, but more like a plummy/black
cherry character you can find in Refosco or Toreldego. Maybe even a bit like some of the
bigger Calif cold-climate Pinots. Exceptional wines I thought.
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4. Sertoli Sforzato: This wine, which I liked quite a lot, walked a very fine line
between speaking of the Valtelline and being soundly in the international-style
camp. It had a fair amount of toasty/new oak I thought, but yet spoke loud and
clear of Valtelline Nebbiolo. Terrific wine.
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5. Nebbiolo: Oyyyyyyy....this is one variety that I struggle mightly with. I know that I'm
supposed to like it because it makes great & classic wines. Everyone tells me that Nebb is
one of the worlds great varieties. Sometimes I'm certain that the emperor wears no clothes.
I like Nebb because of that ethereal nose it often has of slightly tarry and violets/lilacs/
floral character. But then it often hits the palate w/ this hard/tannic/astringent blow; sorta
like stickin' your tongue between the jaws of a vise and torquing that sucker down. It hurts!!
So...everyone tells me you HAVE to let Nebb age to be attractive. And when you do, I often
find them to be dried out/lacking fruit and still painfully astringent, with this dried rose
petal fragrance like the buttonaire that was stuck between the pages of a thick book from
my high school prom (Ha!! You think I could really get a date for my high school prom??..
in my dreams!!) that I'm not that fond of. You would think that the technology exists to
deal w/ the tannin problem of Nebb. Micro-bullage perhaps??
These Fay Nebbs were some of the best Nebbs I've ever had. They had loads of dark fruit,
yet still had the things I like in Nebb. Terrific/terrific wines I thought.
Maybe my Calif palate is too wacked out to truly appreciate Nebbiolo. Maybe I should
give up on the variety. Yet I know I'm SUPPOSED to love Nebb for the great wines they make...
so I keep trying. Been kissing a lot of expensive frogs to find that rare prince.
Tom