Crazy Good Wine from Piedmont
8/28/2007 -
A five day trip to Piedmont in late May produced numerous highlights – impossible not to with visits to Roagna, Guiseppe and Francesco Rinaldi, both Mascarellos, G Conterno, etc. But our visit to Cappellano was really memorable. The wines are extraordinary, and their quality is well-complimented by Teobaldo Cappellano, who is passionate, erudite, philosophical, and entertaining on any topic, but particularly as regards his wines. Cappellano makes intensely personal wine that reflects his deep commitment to his land and vines – a commitment he sees as extending back many generations.
While Cappellano is unfailingly courteous, he does give the impression that he really doesn’t give a damn about whatever anyone else thinks; years ago he decided that he didn’t care to have his wines written about by the press. In his own words:
“In 1983 I asked the journalist Sheldon Wasserman not to publish scores for my wines. Not only did he not publish the scores: he also wrote that I had asked not to be included in “classifications” in which a comparison becomes a divisive numerical term rather than expressing human toil. I have not changed my mind: my tiny farm producing 20,000 bottles of wine a year interests only a small number of customer-friends. I believe in freedom of information, even if the judgment is negative. I think of my hills as an anarchical arena, with no inquisitors or opposing factions, whose inner richness is stimulated by severe, thoughtful critics. I strive for community that can still express solidarity with whoever has not been so well rewarded by Mother Nature.”
None of this matters, of course, except that the wines are so good, and for anyone who wants to find independent confirmation of this it’s hard to find much in print about Cappellano either before or since Wasserman. From 1989 – 1998, Winebow, then Cappellano’s importer, presented some of the wines to Parker, who gave them scores ranging from 87 –90 points (except for Pie Franco 1997, which got 83 points). How shall I put it… there’s really no way to say this delicately: I think he dramatically mis-read (mis-tasted?) the character of the wines – although the scores seem correct on the Parker scale of the world, especially when compared to the similar scores given in those vintages to the Masarellos, on the one hand, or the higher scores for Clerico-Scavino-Altare on the other. The proof is in the bottle, but at any rate it seems clear from the reviews that Parker never visited, never saw the vines, never had the benefit of comprehending the motives and ideals behind them.
If Cappellano had a flair for self-promotion, then the current releases would be celebrated on the same level as the other best Barolos, and the old wines would be famous.
Uncompromisingly old-fashioned, they will age longer than we will (1947, 1952, 1955, 1957, and 1958, all tasted in the last 12 months, more than proved this point). You get all the classic Barolo aromatics and flavors, ripe tannins, great length, and really focused, pure wine.
We have a few bottles of older wine to offer, and if you missed the very fine 1998s and 1999s, then here’s a chance to cellar some bottles.
