Monthly Archives: May 2016

How much difference does vintage make?

If you’re in sunny California and making wines blended to taste exactly the same year after year, then vintage isn’t all that important.

But what if you’re in Piedmont?  What if you’re the fifth generation to make wines on a modest little farm nestled in the rolling hills famed for the elegant and rustic wines made from the noble Nebbiolo grape?  Your weather is guaranteed to vary from year to year, and your philosophy is to make wine that reflects what Mother Nature gave you.  In that case, vintage matters a lot.

Azienda Agricola Stra is just that sort of winery.  For five generations, they’ve consistently made wines that are a unique, genuine expression of Piedmont, wines that are both subtle and powerful, nuanced and sturdy.

Mother Nature can be fickle, and the 2013 vintage certainly didn’t start out to be an easy one for Piemontese growers.  Winter felt like it lasted forever, and the spring was both exceptionally cold and exceptionally wet.  Budbreak was delayed by roughly two weeks throughout the region.  Even the summer was fairly cool, though August and September had plenty of sunshine and decent swings between daytime high temperatures and nighttime lows.

It all came down to October.  Though some estates saw early October rains, which can cause berries to swell and even burst, estates like Stra managed to let the Nebbiolo grapes hang long enough to ripen before a harvest that was much later than usual.

The result?  2013 is an exceptional, classic vintage, and the Stra Langhe Nebbiolo 2013 is a shining example.  Its vivid ruby color, fruit-forward nose that’s redolent of mulberries, roses, and licorice, and fine-grained tannins work together in a wine that’s an exquisite expression of an excellent vintage.  Drink it up while you can.