Lombardy

                          

At an unknown time in the distant past, an odd geologic upheaval formed what is today the country of Italy, shaped like a long high heel boot. Economics and politics exerted a different force, in present day Italy, shaping the country into an industrial north and an agricultural south.

Milan, the great industrial city of northern Italy, developed as the economic force of Lombardy, the most populous region in the country.  And, Milan became the center of a burgeoning wine culture in Lombardy and neighboring Piedmont. 

In Lombardy, the cool growing climate is ideally suited for the production of much of Italy's best sparkling wine in the region of Franciacorta.  Historically, while Franciacorta developed as Italy's leading producer of high-end spumante, the region did not come on the scene until the 1960s. 

Franciacorta spumante (the Italian word for sparkling wine) is  made in the hills near Brescia.  The spumante is made by the traditional Champagne method from Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir), Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco (Pinot Blanc).  Most of the top houses, like Ca' del Bosco, favor a higher percentage of Chardonnay in their blends. 

There's a lot of speculation about when the French varieties arrived in Franciacorta, but the money seems to be during the replanting of the vineyards after the devastation of phylloxera had passed.  In an homage to Champagne, Franciacorta spumante sports French label language  and uses the same residual sweetness levels as Champagne.

While Champagne deserves its reputation for elegant, refined sparkling wine, Franciacorta produces an equally good bubbly.  Unfortunately, the Italian wine does not enjoy the same prestige as the French wine.

Oltrepo Pavese, Lombardy's oldest sparkling wine region, in the Pavia zone, supplies Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes for the production of spumante in neighboring Piedmont.  The spumante from Pavia is made according to the traditional Champagne method.  Other authorized varieties include Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris), two grapes that give the sparklers a decided Italian character.   

The requirement for spumante is a minimum of 70% Pinot Noir, and the wines must be aged on the lees for at least 15 months, or 24 months for vintage wines.  Oltrepo Pavese was granted DOCG status in 2007.

In the 1960s, English wine writer, Cyril Ray, did not mention Oltrepo Pavese in his book, "The Wines of Italy."  Twenty years later, American writer, Burton Anderson, in his seminal book "Vino" declared the wines of Oltrepo Pavese, "conspicuously underrated."  

Things have improved for Oltrepo since Anderson wrote that  in the early 1980s.  Today, the area is best-known for still red wine, made from Pinot Noir.

 The rest of Lombardy is divided into several DOCs, and with one exception, they are lesser known than the heavy hitters on the Italian wine list, like Barolo and Chianti. 

While Lombardy's two sparkling wines follow the French methodology, Lambrusco became an international best seller as a distinctly Italian wine, taking the American market by storm in the 1980s.  The popular Lambrusco is a version from four production zones in Emilia-Romagna, south of Lombardy, across the Po river.  Lombardy's claim to Lambrusco is Lambrusco Mantovano, a lightly sparkling ((frizzante) red wine, made from the Lambrusco grape. 

Exclusivity on Lake Garda

Lake Garda is one of the loveliest spots in Italy; if you can afford it.  Lugana, a dry white wine produced in a small area south of the lake helps ease the sticker shock of living large on Garda and nearby Lake Como.  Lugana, made from Trebbiano di Lugana, has a trace of mineral, likely from the limestone and clay in the zone's best vineyards. 

Not far from the border with Switzerland, in an alpine valley, is Valtellina, a DOC red wine, made from Nebbiolo (known locally as Chiavennasca), the same high-value grape in Barolo and Barbaresco, from neighboring Piedmont.  The mountainous terrain and terraced vineyards of Valtellina give the Nebbiolo wines a certain "nervousness," the local way of describing the wine's brisk acidity.

Additionally, there are four single high-altitude vineyards in Valtellina, each with a different take on Nebbiolo: Grumello, Inferno, Sassella and Valgella. These four red wines are labeled Valtellina Superiore and are mostly available in major U. S. markets.

Piemontese wines may get a lot of attention for its stellar red wines, but neighboring Lombardy wines have plenty of sparkle. 

(Italy "boot" - Getty image)

Next blog: Chablis: the alternate white Burgundy

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Carneros

In 1981, a young German couple arrived in an alien wine culture.  Markus Moller-Racke's father, director of the German wine and spirits firm, A. Racke, sent Markus to head up Racke's recent acquisition, historic Buena Vista Winery, in the Carneros wine region of Northern California.  Markus and his wife,  Anne Moller-Racke, a talented viticulturist, were anxious about their new adventure. 

Markus Moller-Racke

In Germany, the Moller-Rackes were used to steeply terraced vineyards, subject to a northern climate best suited to white varieties like Riesling and Muller-Thurgau.  They would encounter something different in Carneros; vineyards running along gently rolling hills, adjacent to a large body of water that tempered the climate for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 

The Moller-Rackes met the challenge head on, injecting new energy into Buena Vista's vineyards and wines. By 2000, though, things had changed in Germany and the elder Moller-Rache decided his son should come home to run the family business.  The Moller-Rackes went their separate ways: Markus back to Germany, while Anne stayed in Carneros, running the very successful Donum Estate.

In the twenty years that the Moller-Rackes were in Carneros, the wine community came together to form the Carneros Wine Alliance, attract new wineries and grape growers and establish Carneros as one of California's premier wine regions. 

Carneros By the Numbers

Los Carneros means "the rams" in Spanish, an appropriate name since the land was once part of a Spanish land Grant, used as grazing pasture for large flocks of sheep.  In the late 1800s, Agoston Haraszthy, the Hungarian entrepreneur who brought premium grape varieties to California, planted the first vineyard in Carneros, overlooking San Pablo Bay.  The area's first winery opened in 1880 at the Stanly Ranch.  Today, the historic property is owned by Auberge Resorts.

San Pablo Bay, at the northern end of the San Francisco Bay, provides morning fog and cool breezes for the Carneros vineyards along the southern parts of Napa and Sonoma counties.  Los Carneros, granted an AVA in 1983 (amended in 2006), is one of many California AVAs located in more than one county. 

The bulk of the rural Carneros appellation is in Sonoma County, from the historic town of Sonoma in the north to a southern point near the famous Sears-Point Raceway.  There is a sameness to the land, from one county to the other. 

In wine terms, Carneros is defined by climate and not political lines.  At one time, the climate across Carneros was cooler than it is today.  Still, because it is close to the northern reaches of San Francisco Bay, Carneros can be cool, foggy and wet, the right growing environment for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 

Once, California Pinot Noirs were few and far between.  Except for the occasional Pinots from Joseph Swan and Hanzell, the PN Revolution didn't get started until Russian River devotees came along in the late 1980s.  

Since then, interest has grown. Today, noteworthy Pinot Noir is being made in Carneros, and the Russian River Valley, Santa Barbara, Anderson Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands. Except for Anderson Valley, Pinots from the other areas tend to be more concentrated, with deeper black cherry flavors.  

In the early 1980s, new wineries making Burgundian-style wines came on line in Carneros,  including Saintsbury, Bouchaine, Acacia, Gloria Ferrer and Richardson.  Syrah and Merlot were added to the grape inventory, along with a growing list of other varieties, but it was Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that showed promise for still and sparkling wine.

During the same decade, the Carneros wine map added another new dimension, with the arrival of a handful of sparkling wine producers.   On the Napa side, Domaine Carneros, owned by Champagne Taittinger, opened its doors in 1987.  In Sonoma, Spain's Freixenet, a CAVA maker in Catalonia, began making sparkling wine under the Gloria Ferrer label.  Codorniu, another major CAVA maker, had Codorniu Napa, but converted to still wines, rebranding as Artesa.  

Today, there are more than 35 Carneros wineries making still and sparkling wines. On the Napa side, Carneros Creek lays claim to the oldest Carneros winery, operating since 1972. Mont St. John, a reliable maker of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, opened its doors in 1979. 

Although the effects of climate change will continue to alter the growing environment, for now Carneros Pinot Noir remains a lighter wine with more delicate berry flavors, supported by brisk acidity.  Carneros Chardonnay tastes of sweet-tart apples, spice and the zesty acidity characteristic of Carneros.

Sheep that once grazed on the rolling hills of Carneros are gone, replaced by a growing number of vineyards, supplying grapes for the distinctive wines of Los Carneros. 

Next post:  Italy's Northern Lombardy

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