From a relatively recent appellation, this wine represents the land of the Langhe in white wine.
It is a beautiful, fresh and lively wine, full of white orchard fruit flavours, greengage and blossom. There is a delicious texture making is a wonderful match for food.
This is a blend of different 'natures' that Giorgio farms with different grapes in each place - the varieties he uses are Favorita, Riesling and Chardonnay, but this isn't the point - it's the quality of the terroir and the manner that the grapes show this land that gives the wine its vitality, focus and nerve.
This is a wine that maybe new in legal status, but feels as though it has been around for millennia such is its sense of place and the profound quality that it possesses.
It is made using only inert vessels - stainless steel and concrete vats - allowing for the grapes to quietly and slowly impart their quality and flavours into the wine. Gently racked and barely filtered or fined, the wine is pure and elegant yet charmingly abundant.
It is a hallmark of Giorgio Pelissero's winemaking that the wines are "digestible" (the word they use themselves), which really means that they are both approachable on their own and excellent for matching with food.
Giorgio started working in his Great-Uncle's vineyards as a very young boy and the winery ad house attached is now where he and his parents live. Having maintained this incredible set of vines since the 1960s they are one of the few who have grown by buying up parcels of land hat suit the style of wines they want to make.
The result is that Giorgio is now one of the largest owners of land in Barbaresco, and able to grow fruit for nearly 100% of the production requirements of the winery. It's not that this makes things easier - far from it - but it makes the quality higher and means that he can be in direct control of the vines from the beginning of one year until the end. The blame stops with him and so too does the credit! He's a proud man, but never conceited nor arrogant. He works as hard as anyone I've met in the business and deserves the plaudits he has received, many times over.
My first trip to the idiosyncratic wine fair VinItaly had me underestimate the time it can take to find ones way around a fair and also the amount of time it can take to hold a meeting. I was running late for the last meeting of the day which was with the eport manager working for Giorgio Pelissero. I ran into a booth that seemed to meet the coordinates of the meeting point and saw the wine-fair equivalent of tumble weed and a sparsely populated set of ramshackle tables and chairs.
One man was standing behind a bar and polishing glasses, sleeves rolled-up. Cue: pigeon Italian from the hurried visitor "Hullo, sorry to disturb you, I'm looking for Giorgio Pelissero, do you know where he is?"; "Yes, of course," said the glass-washer, "It's me!" And so began a long friendship with him and his whole team. In jig-time a plate of Ravioli in creamy Gorgonzola and walnut sauce (Fact: I still remember it) was in front of me and all of the staff as well. We tasted through the wines and Giorgio sat next to me, looking on at this ruffled, slightly harried, highly enthusiastic fellow.
The wines were sensational and they still are to this day. But the other thing that still sits with me is that, because it was the end of the day, many people were leaving the fair and made a point of coming to seek Giorgio in order to shake hands, pat him on the shoulder, give him a hug - he had the respect of everyone. Farmer, wine critic, fellow wine makers... and he made time for everyone, even me.
Region: Piemonte
Country: Italy
Grape(s): Riesling, Favorita, Chardonnay
Style: Round, Pure, Juicy, Fruity, Elegant, Crunchy, Complex, Bright, Balanced
Best food matches: Warm Salads, Tuna, Tapas, St Stephen's Day, Soft Cheeses, Shellfish, Seafood, Salads, Roasts, Poultry, Pork, Pizza, Pasta, Lamb, Hard Cheeses, Grills, Grilled Vegetables, Game, Cheeses, Charcuterie, Casseroles, Barbecue, Aperitif
Alcohol: 12.5%
