2007 De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo Piedmont Italy

2007 De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo Piedmont Italy

De Forville is definitely one of my favorite Piedmont producers for quality and value. I loved their 2007 Barbera and now I'm in love with their 2007 Langhe Nebbiolo. It taste like a baby Barbaresco and 2007 was such an interesting vintage in Piedmont that it brings even more depth and complexity to this little gem.

The DeForville family emigrated to Piedmont from Belgium in 1848 and established themselves in the village of Barbaresco in 1860. Here, the family started to grow Nebbiolo grapes. In 1907 Paolo Anfosso married into the DeForville family and took over the reins of the family business. For five generations, the Anfosso family has lived in the nearby town of Castagnole Lanze and, to this day, vineyards are maintained in Castagnole.

In the early part of the 20th century, the DeForvilles sold their wine in bulk directly to restaurants and to retailers who then bottled the wine. In 1940 the Anfossos bottled their first wine and now virtually their entire production is bottled at the estate. Valter and Paolo Anfosso, sons of Bruno, now manage the estate.

The 10 hectare Domaine is divided between holdings in the villages of Barbaresco (3.5 hectare) and Castagnole Lanze (6.5 hectare). Within Barbaresco, Nebbiolo is planted in the "cru" vineyards of Rabaja, Loreto and Pozzo. Dolcetto is also planted in the Loreto site and Barbera is cultivated within the "cru" of "Ca'Grossa".

These wines are particularly age worthy and, after receiving sufficient bottle age, develop the complex aromas of fruit, earth and flowers that can only result from wines that are vinified in this traditional manner. Beginning with the 1997 vintage a special parcel of old vines Barbera is vinified in small oak barrels.

2007 De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo Piedmont Italy
Suggested retail price $15-$18
Distributed by Rosenthal in NYC

2007 De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo like their Barbera is a lovely, earthy, floral, juicy example of what a good traditional Nebbiolo taste like. Beautiful ruby color. The nose offers earthy, slightly smoky, floral notes with bright red fruit (cherry, raspberry) aromas with hints of spice. The palate is really juicy in the attack, exposing red cherry and unripe strawberry notes. The mid-palate expands gently toward the earthy, touch dry, finish. Hints of integrated oak and vivid acidity bring structure and freshness to this excellent, young Nebbiolo. Crisp and easy drinking yet young with obvious ageing potential. Decante it to better appreciate it or wait for it a few years, it should even get nicer.

Overall, here is what I think about this wine and this winery (and, in general, about all good wines and wineries):

"Year in, year out, a good winemaker will always be a good winemaker. More over, attentive, traditional and natural vineyard management mixed with careful selection, appropriate vinification and winemaking technique, great exposure, well planted vineyard and respect of the environment contribute a great deal to the rich yet not heavy texture, adding needed balance, harmony, complexity and depth to this earthy, fine tuned wine. And if the vintage is good to excellent, then the wine will even be greater, longer and surely have higher ageing potential."

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

Info partly taken from www.madrose.com

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