Viticulture
The Relevance of the Vintage
While a careless winemaker can turn excellent grapes into poor wine, no amount of technical wizardry can make a fine wine out of poor grapes. Nowhere is this more apparent than in a red wine region like Piemonte.
As Piemonte has a relatively unreliable climate, winemakers are faced with the basic choice of whether to market their wines in favourable years only or to make the best of things when nature has been less kind to them. Even though economics dictate that the first option is unrealistic, with the agreement of growers in both zones, no DOC Barolo or Barbaresco was released from the abysmal 1972 vintage. Mean while perfectionists like Giovanni Conterno and Angelo Gaja prefer to bottle no wine under their own label when the harvest does not match up to their exacting individual standards (as happened in 1984). Others insist that it is essential to make wine every year and most dedicated producers manage to let their talents shine through in lesser vintages by performing a rigorous scelta (selection) in the vineyards, discarding any unripe or imperfect grapes.
Quantities are thus sometimes drastically reduced, but by modifying vinification techniques - perhaps by reducing skin contact during fermentation and aiming for a fresher, fruitier style - a winemaker need not worry about compromising his reputation. Many delicious examples of the 1984 vintage were made by producers willing to adapt their techniques to the nature of the crop.
The Choice of Site
In addition to a suitably structured, well-drained soil and considerations of altitude and microclimate, there are three basic elements that enable a vine to function properly: sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
Sunlight
The Piemonte vine-grower categorize their vineyards in four main types according
to the sori' or sorito - the lie of the land and its exposure
to the sun. This will be a major determining factor in the choice of the right
grape for a particular site. The east to southeast facing slopes have a sori'
della mattina (a morning exposure) in that they are directly facing the
sun as it rises in the early part of the day. The most prized, south-southeast
through to southwest facing hillsides have a mezzogiorno or noon aspect;
they take the sun as it rises, are fully exposed in the middle of the day and
continue to benefit from the sun's rays until they start to lose their power
in the early evening. A mainly southwest to west facing vineyard is thus termed
a sori' della sera (an afternoon and evening exposure). The mezzanotte
(midnight) exposures are primarily north facing and do not receive the sun directly
at all. They are only of use for certain white grapes requiring a prolonged
ripening season. The hardier vines such as Barbera are preferred in the more
exposed and windy positions, while the more sheltered conca (literally
'shell', or amphitheatre) sites are reserved for the most prized varieties.
Water
Although its leaves are capable of absorbing small amounts of moisture, a vine
takes in most of its water supply through its roots. The 'day' roots close to
the surface will absorb some ram but the base roots that anchor the plant by
penetrating deep into the ground are of primary importance here. They locate
the fine particles of moisture-retentive clay in the subsoil that sustain the
plant during dry spells. It is therefore imperative when selecting a site to be sure that it will provide the vines with the water they require.
Carbon Dioxide
A vine's leaves are its lungs. During daylight hours they extract carbon dioxide
from the air and release oxygen back into it, at night the process is reversed.
The leaves manufacture the carbohydrate essential to fuel the plant's growth
and which - as any excess is stored - will determine the amount of sugar present
in the fully ripened grapes. These carbohydrates are formed by the process of
photosynthesis: water and carbon dioxide are transformed in the presence of
light into sugars through the agency of the chlorophyll present in the leaves.
This 'assimilation' is clearly favoured in the earlier part of the day when
the air is full of the carbon dioxide the vines have exhaled during the night:
one very good reason why certain growers maintain that a south-southeast facing
site is ideal for Nebbiolo.