Every year, the major wine consortia organize preview tastings of new vintages, usually for the press and trade professionals. Nebbiolo Prima, dedicated to the great red wines of Piedmont, opens the dances.
From January 22 in Alba, the Albeisa Consortium organized the first of the preview tastings in Italy. It is called Nebbiolo Prima and in fact opened a period that will then go on for a couple of months. It is followed closely by Grandi Langhe in Turin, then there will be the Valpolicella and in mid-February all those dedicated to Tuscan wines and so on. But Nebbiolo Prima is the first in chronological order.
Many companies from Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero that use the Albeisa bottle, as well as wineries that are not part of that consortium and that offered strictly anonymized tastings of wines from the vintages coming out on the market.
A professional tasting for insiders
Representatives of the Italian but especially international press, and it was also a really interesting opportunity for discussion for the participants, who were able to discuss, as they do every year, the value of vintages, the evolution of winemaking styles, and whether critics’ views have changed. Then, those who wanted to, were able to visit wineries and meet new emerging producers as well.
Of course, it is not open to the public (Grandi Langhe, on the other hand, is), but on the other hand it is really very professional, the covered tastings to be done are on hundreds of wines and it would not be much fun for a layman. For the writer, however, it is one of the most useful events, and I personally have been going there for years and clearing my mind. By the way, some small wineries I was able to meet right there. Amalia Cascina in Langa and Livia Fontana, for example. Then, some wines that are very difficult to taste elsewhere, such as those of Marta and Carlotta Rinaldi, or Alberto Di Gresy. Just to mention the first ones that come to mind.