Attended a wedding last Friday. In Piemonte.
The Mass in late afternoon lasted about two hours. It was stomach-wrenching to keep hearing the Father say the word agnello over and over. I’d had lunch, but it felt already long gone at 5pm.
Followed the Mass was the antipasti. How they heard my rumbling tummy! Funny the sommelier asked if I’d care for some Prosecco, while in reality, the bubbly served was a traditional method sparkler based on Timorasso. If only the sommelier had known the newlyweds to be two die-hard advocates for Timorasso…
An antipasti usually includes only cold dishes like cheeses, hams. But the extra mile had been taken here. That pan-fried quail egg with black truffle flake made in situ was an eye-and-appetite-opener. You may have been to countless wedding banquets, but how many of the dishes you’ve had on them can you recall? In the end, life comes down to what you remember. And this quail egg was a dish to remember.
The traditional method sparkler Lusarein 2023 (Ezio Poggio) was zesty, limey, extremely fresh yet not without a “Timorasso gravity”. However fresh the style of a Timorasso is, the wine will never carry itself without a weighty, almost solemn air.
Libertà 2023 (Vigneti Massa) was a Barbera, Cortese, Freisa-based rosé. Aromatic and vinous. The palate almost felt like a red. A perfect pair with Salame di Varzi.
Then the band started playing Ring of Fire. I’d never heard of Johnny Cash till I watched the film “Walk The Line” in 2005. Oddly enough, his Ring of Fire has followed me like a shadow ever since: in The Wire, in my favourite wine bar in Milan now permanently shut, on two dear friends’ wedding. To me, Ring of Fire has transformed out of a song into something ubiquitous, intimate, similar to the air I am breathing in right now, but scented.
An Italian wedding does no speeches, but involves eternal chitchatting and mingling among fellow attendees. The dinner may as well be seen as an interruption to the antipasti conversations. Had there not been a dinner, the antipasti session would’ve never been over. No exaggeration intended.
At the longest table I’d ever seen in my life the “interrupting dinner” took place.
Derthona 2023 (Vigneti Massa) showed yellow apple and almost off-dryness. This subtle sweetness is very common in the Timorasso I’ve tasted lately. Timorasso’s ability to accumulate a high sugar level has been reinforced by the ever-warming climate in this century. Making the wine slightly off-dry can prevent the abv % from getting too high, now unpopular among consumers. But this also implies the bone-dry style of Timorasso will only be rarer and rarer. While picking grapes earlier can be a solution to higher potential abv %, many winemakers argue this may compromise the aroma and phenolic ripeness.
As winemaking is beyond our control, we can serve the wine at a temperature we please. For a drier, more austere style, a lower serving temperature; for a more opulent, vinous performance, a higher serving temperture. Simple as that.
The crepe parcel was extremely rich yet refreshing at the same time. (How did they make it?) The Piemonte steak “Fassona” was tender and cooked perfectly. Coming to dinner already half full, I surprisingly found myself finishing these two dishes with ease. If you have difficulty spotting soul-stirring food in your life, get yourself invited to a Piemontese wedding!
The two reds I tasted on the dinner were the 100% Barbera-based Monleale 2013 and 2019 (Vigneti Massa). The 2013 one had a more complex nose and palate, some tertiary dried violet character with lip-smacking acidity. It was lovely, but could wait for a few more years. The 2019 was fruit-driven with chocolatey roundness, very full and ready. Both were delicious.
Monleale, the commune the wines are named after is about one hour and a quarter drive from Milan. Located in the Tortonese Hills in the very southeastern corner of Piemonte, it is a wine region producing some of the most amazing Barbera wines yet so little known that neither the lines discussing Barbera in Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes nor those in Ian D’Agata’s Native Wine Grapes of Italy say anything about it.
Compared to the Alba counterpart, the Barbera produced in Monleale is more complex and angular, simply put, having more character and elegance. Unlike the Barbera from Alba being used as a day-to-day quaff in the Langhe area, Monleale Barbera can age beautifully.
It was quite an experience tasting the wines with the winemaker sitting right across the table from me. Most of the time, the legendary Walter Massa was all smiles enjoying the dinner like the rest of us. And when he decided he had to share with us a few ideas about his passion, his life, that is, winemaking, he would turn into a preacher of the most zealous zeal some may find a little overwhelming.
But I honestly appreciate it. Not because the wines he makes are delicious, but because I can totally relate to the need to express yourself with such bursts of fury and passion. I don’t know about Mr Massa, but in my case, it’s genetic. Several members of my family express themselves exactly in this way. And it is a known fact that traits get passed down through generations. Most of the time I am a calm person, but there are times I do feel the urge to shout to be heard or understood. Sometimes I execute my shouting plan and it works, sometimes I just resort to writing. I feel through writing, my voice can always be heard. I guess it is through winemaking that Mr Massa feels his voice can be heard.
“A WINE IS GOOD BECAUSE IT IS MADE WELL, NOT BECAUSE IT IS LABELLED ORGANIC!” So he shouted. With a few bangings on the table.
After the sorbetti, we headed back to where we’d had antipasti to anticipate the wedding cake. To accompany it was Massa’s Moscato. A Moscato made exquisitely. See? The Legend can also be as sweet as can be.
It’s easy to take things for granted. Like the good food, good wine I had on Friday’s wedding banquet. But pondering on how this invitation ever came about, the friendship behind it, the opportunity to initiate and even to grow the friendship, makes the whole experience all the more precious and not to be taken for granted.
Thank you, Elena and Andrea, for the invite. Wish you all the happiness in the world!
Thank you, Piero, a good friend and a person with a heart of gold.
