#229 DuToitskloof Nebbiolo 2020

VIDEO CONTENTS INDEX:
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00:00 – INTRO
01:10 – WHERE DOES NEBBIOLO COME FROM?
01:50 – NEBBIOLO : ONE OF ITALY’S ORIGINAL GANGSTERS
03:00 – WHAT DOES NEBBIOLO TASTE LIKE?
04:13 – NEBBIOLO IN THE MODERN ERA
04:29 – HOW IS THE DUTOITSKLOOF NEBBIOLO MADE?
04:58 – WHAT DOES THE DUTOITSKLOOF NEBBIOLO TASTE LIKE?
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The Fresh Face of Nebbiolo
Trying to figure out Nebbiolo is like watching Christopher Nolan’s Memento. No one remembers anything that happened before, but we all feel very strongly about what’s happening now. In Barolo, Piedmont, it is the regions calling card, and rather grandiosely calls itself the wine of kings…But when one tries to figure out its lineage (as royalty has been known to do) ampelographers are of the opinion that Nebbiolo (or “the Nebb-dawg” as I like to call it) is so old that both of its parent grapes are extinct.
Which in part explains why it so unassailably other-worldy in it’s nature. It manages to be sweet and floral, while also moody, smokey, and brimming with black tar and splinters. It is visibly light in colour, but texturally so heavy and tannic that the contrast triggers involuntary grimaces in sippers who are not properly briefed. And for all this; the violent contradictions of sight, smell, and taste, the end experience can be amongst the most sublime of any cultivar on the planet…which is perhaps exactly why it holds the high esteem that it does.
DuToitskloof have somehow managed to take all that, and (while preserving most of what I mention above) achieve a wine that possesses the common touch. For those of you who have yet to sign up for your HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription, you’ll just have to settle for reading my tasting notes (although this is one wine that you really need to taste for yourself):
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Tasting Notes
👃🏼 Some green notes of crushed mediterranean herbs and cucumber, set against some red cherries and raspberry elements and lavender.
👄 Unsurprisingly the tannins on this guy are still quite pronounced, but serve to nicely couch this bright, fresh red fruit notes of cherry, raspberry and pomegranate.
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Technical Notes
🔬 Fruit is harvested from Dagbreek farm in the Breedekloof, before being crushed, destemmed, and cooled down to about 10 degrees in rotor tanks, where it cold macerates for three days before fermentation starts. Winemakers Shawn Thomson and Tiaan Loubser inoculate the grapes with Laffort se Zymaflore FX10 & F15 gis, and fermentation takes place over 6 – 7 days. The rotortanks are set to turn every four to six hours, eliminating the need for punch downs or pump overs, and allowing a supremely gentle shifting of the grape cap, and therefore minimal tannic extraction.
The wine is racked of skins before malolactic conversion, and is then matured in a combination of French (70%) and Hungarian oak (30%) for 16 months.
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