Vietti Barolo Rocche: A Historical Retrospective 1961-2011

Sometimes everything just works. That isn't always the case with older, artisan wines that can at times be moody, but on this night I had a feeling the late Alfredo Currado was looking down on us as we embarked on a search to understand the essence of his family’s iconic Barolo Rocche through seventeen vintages going all the way back to the inaugural 1961. Proprietors Luca and Elena Currado were on hand to add their invaluable insights as we travelled through the history of one of Italy’s most iconic wines.

The table is set

Dinner was at Vaucluse, Chef/Proprietor Michael White’s new French-inspired, upscale brasserie on New York’s Upper East Side. I have long believed that Italy is capable of producing world-class wines on a par with the best France, California and anywhere else has to offer. But Italian wines are often limited by the constraints of the Italian kitchen. For that reason, whenever possible, we host dinners featuring Italian wines outside of their more familiar habitat. That approach has never failed to produce stellar results. This night was no exception.

White and his team prepared a fabulous meal, while Wine Director Richard Anderson took great care of the wines. The bottles were left standing for a number of days before the event to allow sediments to settle naturally. We started opened the wines at 4:30pm. I tasted through every bottle myself. We had only one corked bottle. I chose to discard two other bottles that, while not corked, weren’t perfect. Everything was double decanted beforehand. Some of the wines from the 1980s needed more time in the decanter, but all the wines got a good bit of air. Provenance was as good as it can be. With the exception of the 1982, which was sourced from two different private collections, all of the wines were acquired from the estate. The only decade not represented, sadly, was the 1970s, only because of a lack of bottles. As is our custom, the wines were served in thematic flights rather than chronologically, which I feel keeps the palate engaged and makes for fascinating comparisons along the way.

Wine Director Richard Anderson prepares the wines

Historical Background

Vietti is one of Italy’s most historic wineries. Husband and wife Alfredo Currado and Luciana Vietti (Luca Currado’s parents) were pioneers in so many ways. They were among the first producers to bottle single-vineyard Barolo and to promote Piedmont and its wines abroad, especially in the United States. Alfredo Currado is also widely credited for rescuing Arneis from total obscurity in the 1960s.

I started drinking Vietti when I was a teenager. My parents had a wine shop and we sold many of the Vietti offerings. At the risk of dating myself too much, let me just say this was before prices for Barolo and Barbaresco exploded to levels that made them less accessible for a mid-week splurge. Later, as a struggling musician, I often turned to the Tre Vigne Barberas. The Scarrone and La Crena were reserved for special occasions. A few years later I had the opportunity to live in Italy. The dollar was strong and all the wines were readily available in the Vietti tasting room in pretty much unlimited quantities. To say things have changed since then is a massive understatement.

Alfredo Currado and Luciana Vietti, photographed the day Currado came home from the hospital after losing part of a finger to a destemmer

Today, Piedmont is living through a period of extraordinary prosperity. But it wasn’t always that way. In the 1950s, Piedmont was losing its young generation to the factories of Alba and Torino, where the lure of a stable income and an easier life away from the poor, decidedly rustic countryside proved to be irresistible for many. At the time, the price of a hectare of Dolcetto was roughly the same as that of a hectare of Nebbiolo designated for Barolo.

Inspired by the French concept of terroir, respected Italian journalist Luigi Veronelli urged Piedmont’s producers to recognize the distinctiveness of their vineyards. Up until the early 1960s, Barolo was made by blending fruit from different vineyards in the belief that each parcel had something unique to add to a blend; one site might contribute aromatics, while others might add structure, fruit and other desirable attributes. That approach, which is now, curiously, being rediscovered, yielded many spectacular wines, as readers versed in Barolo know well. But it was a different time in Piedmont. The goal of farming vineyards and making wine was quantity, not quality.  Only a few estates bottled Barolo at all; most growers sold fruit to one of the large commercial firms such as Borgogno and Fontanafredda.

In 1961, Alfredo and Luciana Currado made their first single vineyard Barolo Rocche from the family’s prized hillside site in Castiglione Falletto. The same year, Beppe Colla also made a Barolo Bussia at Prunotto. Bruno Giacosa followed in 1964 with the first single-vineyard Barbaresco, his epic Santo Stefano Riserva. These three seminal wines changed the history of Piedmont forever.