SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch can think of few wines from anywhere that over-perform as consistently as this classically styled Barbaresco from De Forville.
For me, choosing a “favorite” Italian wine is like choosing among one’s children, but if pressed, I could probably give you a top five—and today’s wine would likely be on that list. It would certainly be on any wine list I was writing, as it has proved, vintage after vintage, to be one of the most enduring values in Italian wine. De Forville’s “Loreto” is a single-vineyard wine from the “Ovello” vineyard, one of Barbaresco’s best, and, despite its lengthy track record, its price has remained remarkably consistent. During my time in the restaurant business it was an anchor of my wine lists, in the same way that Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” is an anchor of my record collection and a certain roast chicken recipe is the anchor of my culinary repertoire. And not only did De Forville deliver yet again in 2014, they outdid themselves—this is a perfectly proportioned (which is to say, classic) expression of Barbaresco with all of the aromatic complexity and textural tension I expect from this appellation. It’s a wine I want to put in front of someone who’s never tried Barbaresco. And it’s a wine, if I may be so bold, that you want in your collection.
I’ve long known this wine as “Vigneto Loreto,” but its label these days says only “Loreto”—but regardless, this name refers to De Forville’s piece of the famed Barbaresco cru named Ovello, a 20-hectare site and the northern-most vineyard in the village of Barbaresco. It’s a south-facing parcel, angling both to the southeast and southwest, with the calcareous marl soils typical of the region—although it is said to have a relatively high percentage of clay, which lends intensity to the wines bottled from it. Loreto has a southwestern exposure, and De Forville’s vines on the site exceed 35 years of age, which is readily evident in the concentration and structure of this bottling.
The De Forville family began producing wine in Barbaresco in the mid-1800s. Gioachino De Forville made Nebbiolo the family’s focus early on before being succeeded by his son, Vincenzo, who was followed by his nephew, Paolo, who passed the torch to his daughter, Mafalda, who is honored now by her sons and current proprietors, Valter and Paolo. Confused yet? To recap, De Forville is a small family business that has endured two World Wars and overcome countless challenges during its 150 year evolution from rural farm to respected winemaking dynasty. This multi-generation commitment to grueling manual labor, tradition and excellence is how remote hillsides become the world’s greatest wine terroirs. In the last decade, De Forville has grown into a mid-size estate by Piedmont standards. There is a clear line drawn between the family’s modestly priced, fresh and quaffable young-release Dolcetto, Barbera, and Chardonnay, versus the more serious, expensive, barrel-aged Nebbiolo-based Barbaresco bottlings for which they are known. “Loreto” is the top-of-the-line wine from the estate, fermented in stainless steel and transferred to large (50-60 hectoliter) oak botti for two years of aging, followed by several months of bottle aging before release.
The 2014 “Loreto” is a master class in what’s possible in so-called “difficult” or “challenging” vintages—namely, that blanket proclamations are fundamentally useless in a wine zone as topographically and geologically variable as Barbaresco. This is a fully realized Barbaresco wine, with all its pieces in the right place. It is not a “bigger” wine in ’14, and that’s kind of my point—we too often associate “size” with quality when assessing vintages, when in fact many “bigger” vintages (like 2015 in most of Europe) can produce overblown wines that lack typicity. This wine screams typicity: In the glass, it’s a bright garnet red with hints of brick at the rim, with textbook aromas of dried cherry, red current, blood orange peel, dried roses, leather, crushed rock, black tea, and pipe tobacco. It is a classically structured wine, which is to say it is a little reticent at first—if enjoying a bottle now you must decant it at least an hour before serving at 60-65 in Burgundy stems, and you should most definitely enjoy it alongside a classic Piedmontese pasta or risotto to bring out its best. What really wowed us about this wine was how good it was on day three—we re-corked the open bottle, put it in the refrigerator (yes, the refrigerator, and without any pumping out of air or argon gassing or the like) and it continued to improve and impress for several days. It’s a 20-year wine, should you choose to cellar some. And you should, believe me. This is one of the surest bets in Italian wine. Cheers!
— D.L.
