Inaugural NAP (Nebbiolo Advocates & Producers) GetToGether:
Nebbiolo is a grape that absolutely perplexes me. DarrellCorti steered me to some that I really liked back in the early '70's, when I first fell in love w/ the grape. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't like those Piedmonte Nebbs because I knew I was supposed to like them...that it was recognized as one of the world's great wines and , therefore, if'n I was to have any wine cred, I, too, must like them. Since then, it's sorta developed into a love/hate relationship...heavily weighted towards the "hate" part of the spectrum. I describe drinking Piedmonte Nebbiolo as stuffing lilac petals up one nostril, violet petals up the other nostril, sealing both nostrils with a plug of hot tar; then sticking your tongue out betwixt the jaws of a vise and torquing that sucker down...there's some pleasurable things going on, but it also involves a lot of pain. I just don't get (most of the time) those wines. But my whining is always dismissed by those who love those wines as I just don't try the right producer, or that I just drink them too young. But I've had plenty of old Baroli that have this beautiful/complex slight tarry/floral/dried rose petal fragrance and I still find them hurtey on the palate from the acids and the dried-out tannins.
I try some of the young Piedmonte Nebbs, made in a modern style for earlier drinking. Same reaction...I love the lovely fragrance of the grape...but they still hurt on the palate. But, then.....every once in awhile, I'll get that rare Piedmonte Nebb that has it all together and I'm blown away by the variety and I understand, once again, why I love Nebbiolo and I want to try more. Sorta like a moth being drawn to a fire.
As I followed Calif wines over the yrs, I came to the opinion that, because of its superior climate,
they can, eventually, make better wines (for my palate) from the same grape variety then any of their old-world counterparts. Happened w/ Cabernet...Zinfandel...maybe Chardonnay...PinotNoir... Syrah.. Grenache...not Riesling, yet...not GWT, yet. So...surely...they can do it with Nebbiolo.
I've followed Calif Nebb from the very start. When NickMartin made that first one from CentralVlly
grapes at MartinBros (now Martin & Wyerich) in PasoRobles. 'Twarn't much of a Nebbiolo. But he had this vision for Calif Nebbiolo. Till then, they only had planted in Calif the NebbioloFino, not much of a clone. Nick planted the first Nebbiolo Michet and made his first wine from it, EastSide Paso, in 1986. Nothing great...but actually pretty good and gave a glimpse of what Nebb could do out there. Next was probably DaveCaparone, there in Paso. The grapes may have been good...but flawed by inept winemaking.
The next real milestone for Nebb in Calif was when TomStolpman planted Nebb in his vnyd in SantaYnezVlly, for gawd-knows whatever reason. From those grapes have come some of the first really good Calif Nebbs; first from SteveClifton under his Palmina label, and then SashiMoorman at Stolpman. I think there are some other plantings that Steve draws Nebb from as well. But these folks are probably the real pioneers of great Nebbiolo in Calif.
Over the last few yrs, there's been sort of a quiet/below-the-radar growth of interest in Nebbiolo.
Some 6-7 yrs ago, I found out KenMusso was growing Nebb up on his ElDorado property just North of Placerville. A few yrs ago, I also found out EmilioCastelli was growing Nebb in the GreenVlly area of SonomaCnty. We did a visit to his property last year at this time. This last year, I'd tried several of AdamLee's Nebbs and liked them. When I found out PaxMahle was making Nebbiolo as well, I suggested to Emilio that it might be a good idea to get some of these producers together and taste each other's Nebbs. He was all in favor of that, and so the idea of an Inagural NAP mtg was hatched.\
Invited was Adam&Diana Lee, their winemaker Ryan Zepaltas, Pax Mahle and his assistant, Ryan, KenMusso/grower and winemaker at DueVigna, and Emilio. NateWeis/Antica winemaker at AtlasPeakVnyds of the Antinori's operation, and a future Nebb producer, was also invited, but had to bow out at the last minute due to two of his kid's illness. When I invited DarrellCorti to join us, he responded...."When are you people going to give up". He was interested, but prior travel committments prevented his joining us. Since he had already declared Nebbiolo a failure in Calif, RobertParker was NOT invited. As with Syrah, he'll probably come to the party ten yrs after it started. Pax agreed to host us at his WindGap wnry in downtown Forestville. With this core group, the Inagural NAP get-together was launched. I have little doubt that NAP will grow in leaps&bounds and someday dwarf ZAP is size. Tastings at FtMason, even, that will put VinExpo to shame. It will happen.
So we got together and did some serious tasting:
