Travel

Moscato by Saracco: 100 years of history
«Vinnaya Karta» №9(100) November 2008

The Piedmont hills Langhe are fabulously beautiful in any season, but especially so in autumn.

The sun loses its fiery power, and the air becomes a new lord of the elements. In the morning it is filled with tiny drops of water, marking the time of Piedmont’s mystical fogs. They shroud in the whole region, absorbing hills, vineyards, and villages, and save the last warmth before the arrival of cold weather.

In early autumn, in September, the sun is still resolutely trying to fight with the fog, and the battle results in the nature’s amazing transformation. At a close distance colours and bright and cheerful, but the picture has lost focus further away. Contours are finely shaded, but not smeared, thus picturesque green-brown slopes with running down vineyards, crowded thickets, and scattered houses and settlements seem almost like an apparition. To get this beautiful landscape on a film is a mission almost impossible. The nuances of the three-dimensional picture can be detected, and, more importantly, felt only on the spot.

Tuning to a lyrical mood often happens in Langhe subconsciously. This was also the case with me when I came to see winemaker Paolo Saracco. Paolo first of all took to see a vineyard on the outskirts of his native village Castiglione Tinella. It sits on the top of a ridge and opens another fantastic panorama from 450 metres above the sea level. I couldn’t have dreamt of a better start. Vines go down almost to the bottom of a steep slope, and then scenically climb up on the neighbouring hill. Vineyards are not planted in a continuous manner, instead, they are broken into small plots. Lonely farmhouses are standing here and there. This way of life has a lot in common with that of Alto Adige — extreme terrain makes winegrowers work with small plots and then sell harvest to larger wineries. There are 200 wine farms around Castiglione Tinella, for example, but only ten produce wine.

The estate of Paolo Saracco has 40 hectares of vineyards, dispersed on the Langhe and Monferrato hills. Paolo deliberately chose the vineyard to which we came. He bought it several years ago and considers it as one of the best for Moscato. Here I suggest not to rush with an idea that Moscato is good only for sweet fizz, thus doesn’t merit talking about terroir. Firstly, Paolo Saracco works only in Moscato d’Asti area which produces a small, but much more reputable category of wine than Asti, and much higher in quality. Secondly, as the size of the estate is not large, wines reflect their place of origin much more precisely. Thirdly, after you taste fresh juice pressed from the grapes from different vineyards, all doubts disappear at once.

I will tell you later what happened at the tasting, and now it’s worth noting that Moscato came to Piedmont around a thousand years ago. According to Paolo Saracco, it was brought by crusading knights from a faraway Armenia. The grape perfectly adapted to local conditions during these 10 centuries. It, however, doesn’t mean that it grows everywhere. Only several towns and villages in Piedmont received a right to be called Moscato centres. As Paolo says, choosing a plot for a vineyard is a fundamental thing. Good Moscato wine will never come from clay soils. It needs sandy, limestone or other calcium-containing strata. These types of soil surround Castiglione Tinella. Height of a vineyard, as well as its exposition, play a great role, too. Even if Moscato is not as capricious as a legendary Piedmontese grape — Nebbiolo, Paolo Saracco compares cultivating any vineyard with breeding good horses. Both activities require time, scrupulous approach and love.

It’s past noon, and Paolo offers to taste his wines at lunch. A restaurant is already chosen — “La Ciau del Tornavento” in Treiso, with own magnificent view of the hills and stunning dishes from the Michelin-starred chef Maurilio Garola. Before lunch we quickly stop at Paolo’s house. At the entrance there is a plaque with a wolf, symbol of Saracco. It was a nickname of Paolo’s great grandfather Luigi who couldn’t stay at home when he was hungry and dinner was still cooking. Luigi Saracco paced outside the house, and the villagers called him a wolf. It is Luigi with whom a history of the Saracco winemaking dynasty starts. He came to Castiglione Tinella in early 20th century as a steward for a big estate, and bought the lord’s manor precisely 100 years ago. The mansion is still in possession of the family. Luigi was the first winegrower, and Paolo, in the fourth generation, was the first to bottle and sell wine under the Saracco name.

For an aperitif we were having — no, not Moscato d’Asti, but Prasue Chardonnay. Though Paolo has built an enviable reputation on making sparkling wines for which he is respectfully called “Maestro Moscato”, he also works with three other favourite varieties — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Saracco was the first to have planted a Burgundy clone of Chardonnay in Piedmont 15 years ago. At the start the wines were not as refined as he wanted. Piedmont is warmer than Burgundy — it means that grapes accumulate more sugar, but acidity remains relatively low. The problem of freshness and good balance was solved with planning a Champagne clone, which, even with full ripened, retains higher natural acidity. As a result, despite almost 14% of alcohol, elegant Prasue refreshes and drinks very easily.

At lunch Paolo opened two vintages of Pinot Nero — 2006 and 2004, to show evolution. I was amazed with the quality of both. I haven’t come across an Italian Pinot Noir of such a high level. A younger vintage certainly needs time to mature and open up its true character, now hidden under more obvious oak nuances, but both wines possess inimitable Burgundy spirit, which many winemakers outside France are trying to capture in vain. Yet Pinot Nero by Saracco is not a Burgundy. It has slightly more expressive, intense fruit and a particular, Piedmontese character that is difficult to describe in words, but that is clear to anyone who tasted great wines from Piedmont.

What about Moscato d’Asti? The lunch was coming to the end, and we hardly spoke about it. To tell the truth, I know this wine well. It impressed from the first encounter 2 years ago with its fine bubbles, elegant aromas and flavours of flowers and fruit, freshness (despite 150 g/l of residual sugar), minerality and dry finish (a sign that a sweet wine is made correctly). By Piemontese tradition Moscato was served at the end of the meal, although it can really be drunk any time depending on the mood — it contains only 5% of alcohol.

Secrets of vinification were left until the visit to the winery. The entrance is right in the courtyard, and the architecture combines three time periods — historic, dating back over a century ago, contemporary, of the 1970-80s, and new, of our days. The filtering machine is rattling rhythmically, while Paolo explains his philosophy, “We work for quality rather than merely for a historic tradition. The most important thing is to preserve the fruity character of the grape in wine”. Such approach seems simple at a glance. Two months are enough to make a Moscato wine — press the grapes, transfer the juice to stainless steel vats, run fermentation under pressure, then filter the wine to stop fermentation and bottle. Yet, the result of even such a straightforward process much depends on a winemaker’s skill and intellect.

Let’s take pressing, for example. It is known that a press should work softly, to avoid extracting unwanted aromas and flavours, but the press cannot decide by itself when to start and to finish. This is the job of a winemaker. Paolo explains a small detail for which he gives me a berry and asks to chew it. Typical Moscato flavours are followed by a light bitterness from the skin. If one doesn’t take this into account when pressing, quality of the must will not be ideal.

In the meantime, the winemaker pours fresh, unfermented juice from three vats, where it is kept at zero degrees. One glass is bursting with expressive floral aromas, while the other has more intensity and sweetness, and the third has a fine structure and complexity. The must comes from the grapes harvested at different vineyards, that’s why each sample has a particular taste. Later the vats will be blended to get a signature Saracco style. We finish the tasting with a wine, still undergoing fermentation. In a glass, it looks like freshly brewed beer — with thick, soft foam, floating sediment and pronounced yeasty smell, but the winemaker is looking for something else. “Check out the flavours and the balance”, he says. The features, that will build the character of a future wine, are already there. “It is much more difficult to make elegant, balanced wines, rather than the powerful ones”, remarks Paolo, but this is the style which he considers as a benchmark for all his wines.

An improvised master class on Moscato d’Asti, as well as the visit are finished. Before the farewell, Paolo gives me a bottle of 2001 vintage. “They say that good wines are capable of keeping in a bottle. I won’t say anything, check it for yourself”. Wines by Paolo Saracco are not just good, they are excellent, so I think I already know what the wine will be like. When I will open the bottle, I will also remember mystical Langhe hills and mists, a picturesque Castiglione Tinella, and a marvellous winemaker who works with Moscato real wonders.