WTI Magazine #35    2014 June, 18
Author : Jennifer Gentile Martin      Translation by:

Familiar with Gattinara? I'll give you a hint. It has a lot of similarities to some of the blogs I have posted recently. Well Gattinara is primarily made up of the Nebbiolo grape. Gattinara is in the commune in Piedmont where this wine comes from, in the northwest part of Italy.

So what's the difference between Nebbiolo produced in this area and that of Barolo or Barbaresco we have been covering? This area has a continental climate with extremes in temperature, which produces nebbiolo with higher acidity. The Gattinara wines are a little more refined and lighter. The soil in Gattinara is also more volcanic where in Barolo and Barbaresco it's more calcium based.

This wine has earned the right to use DOC and DOCG status based on its qualifications and its requirements differ as well than those of Barolo and Barbaresco. Gattinara must consist of at least 90% of Nebbiolo, but it can also include up to 10% of Bonarda di Gattinara and 4% of Vespolina. It's aged 1 year in oak and 2 years in bottle and an additional year in oak for the riserva wines.

At a recent tasting at Bin Ends I tasted the 2008 Travaglini Gattinara D.O.C.G. It was served in a funky shaped bottle created and developed within the family that is meant to catch sediment from pouring into the glass instead of having to decant the wine and it's also tinted darker, which benefits the wine for aging purposes. I noticed the difference in comparing this wine against those of Barolo as it was definitely a lighter style, with nice red fruit, dry and with subtle tannins.

The Travaglini family has been producing wines since the 1920's and is now run by the great-grandaughter of Clemente whom started Travaglini, Cinzia Travaglini, and her husband, Massimo Collauto, whom is the winemaker. This is one of the more well known producers in the area. Try one of the Gattinara wines for yourself and relate it to some of the Barolo or Barbaresco wines you have tried. I'd love to hear your opinion.