Franca Vacca, Barbaresco Winemaker of Cantina del Pino Visits America.

Welcoming Franca Vacca, the single most important winemaker for me in Barbaresco, could have been simply overwhelming. Whether primary fanboy disbelief that she intended to visit us from Italy on her first American trip since her husband Renato’s death in 2020, or the fact that I last saw someone from the winery many years ago in our very first corner shop…indeed it was then that Renato Vacca signed bottles and shared a really touching bit of time with me and my friend, and importer, Jim… perhaps it’s to be expected that if you meet someone and have the chance to cook for him/her and it is this person, who makes with those very same hands of hers, your favorite wine, overwhelm is probably a good and appropriate reaction… but, alas, on Thursday evening there was no time for that…

 

 

 

And, after a bit of getting settled, our guests slowly arrived. An unseasonably chilly evening, coats were hung in the hall closet and apéro began: a variety of olives (I particularly liked the calamata that I zested generously with fresh lemon), sliced dry sausage, Parmigiana, and some spicy pickled vegetables. For service in the dining room, I broke the house rule on gluten (knowing that while I can’t enjoy it, all of my guests would delight in fresh bread) and served a lovely focaccia cheat code: purchase high quality store made pizza dough. Pull it out of the refrigerator and allow to stand in a warm kitchen for about 90 minutes. Then, coat in olive oil and hand stretch to form a focaccia replete with forcing your fingers down and through the dough to the baking sheet. After the dough is stretched and punctured throughout, top with flaky salt, black pepper, red chili flake, and dried cracked rosemary. Place in a 400 degree oven and check at 25/30 minutes. Allow to cool briefly and cut and serve. It sure smells good! Franca’s single vineyard fresh Barbera d’Asti proved prefect to kick off the night. Naturally ultra-low in tannic acid, Barbera is an instant delight for a crowd preparing to drink through some stunning Barbaresco from the Cellar.

 

 

 

 For supper, we sat around the big table and enjoyed some modern pivots on very old recipes. Menu below, replete with coursed wine service. Do note that instead of the ‘Ovello’ 2011 listed we served vintage 2004 as Franca brought it as a surprise from her Cellar to share with us. Truly remarkable at 20 years past harvest…silky integrated tannins, explosive fine fruit, anise, lavender, fennel, spice (but no vanilla that might have peeked through had this wine rested in new oak)…lovely out of bottle, better and deeper with a gentle decant. A showstopper. And, as an aside a touching year for our household: Duncan, our original wise old dog was born in 2004 (he is long gone now, of course), but Allie and I have long sought this vintage in countless wines. Sentimental and more over, crazy delicious.

 

 

2018, little super stars that they are, show up again and again and again as enticing, iron-clad reliable fruit-driven performers. Think on this: the very first Barbaresco served to this room of nearly two dozen people, in my home, with Franca Vacca sitting right there was a 2018 DOCG from Jeroboam. This bottle handsomely set the tone. Seek 2018 and decant and drink a bottle on a school night. It will make a Tuesday or other mundane evening special.

 

 

2017…on release my word of that fall was ‘AROMA’… you know how I feel about the wine press and the guessing and expert-toned ‘drinking windows’ and points rating systems… so, if I am honest, I didn’t really know how serious the word ‘aroma’ would continue to play here and now seven years after harvest. My goodness, do not miss it. And, interestingly enough, 2017 seems to most clearly, of any vintage I’ve tasted, reflect the clear and correct differences and typicity of each vineyard site (Ovello/Albesani/Gallina/DOCG – the DOCG is a multi-vineyard blend typically made from about 70% Ovello). A treat.

 

 

2015 wasn’t shown at the Supper, but a few days later I celebrated some very special unrelated news for our family then opening a 2015 Albesani my friend Kevin had brought from his cellar on the night with Franca. ’15, a vintage I’ve consumed more of than perhaps any other single vintage, has deepened in a way I would not have anticipated. On release the 2015s across the board were just so pleasurable (back in the Fall of 2020 – shaking my head – when my requirement for all things was that they be, first and foremost DELICIOUS) that I had not imagined that with time they would grow as complex and thought-provoking as this bottle did from Kevin. On a subsequent evening with this perfectly cellared bottle, we ate simple free range chicken in preserved lemon with cultured butter, fresh thyme, and fresh lemon (okay, I confess, and a little cream)…with a bright green salad, this proved a handsome Tuesday. 

  

The 2012s stole the show. Delightful years ago, these typique side-by-side Jeroboams of Albesani and Ovello gave the room pause. More than some flashy adornment, these wines centered conversation, filled Franca with pride in the work of her family and late husband, and seemed to quiet our guests as they began to appreciate the room around them, the fact that likely never before had a group opened five 3L bottles as we had, and realizing that the very point of being here on this chilly Thursday was, indeed, to slow down and take it all in… unbelievable.