New York City under the sign of Piedmont. At the Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening, or BBWO for short, 148 wine producers presented over 400 top-class red wines. 60 “Best Palates Judges” judged the new vintages – Barolo 2016 and Barbaresco 2017 – at a large blind tasting. The author was there.
The plane from Vienna landed punctually at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. When I truthfully told the immigration officer at the border control that I wanted to travel to the United States to taste wines, I frowned and looked suspicious. Further explanations that at the invitation of the consortium of Barolo and Barbaresco as a judge I should evaluate the new year made his skepticism grow. Confused, I added: “I ?? ma wine journalist ???” The stern expression of the officer lightened slightly: “Ah, must be a nice job.” Since I nodded in agreement and also confirmed that I would leave again after three days, he finally waved me on. BBWO – here I come!
Piemont goes Overseas
When the BBWO 2020, the premiere of the Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening, took place in the Big Apple at the beginning of February, there was no talk of Corona. Wine critics, Masters of Wine and sommeliers from all over the world – Europe, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and of course the USA – came to New York as “Best Palates Judges” for this top event, which focused on the top wines of Piedmont. Matteo Ascheri, President of the “Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani”, explained the background as follows: “The USA has become the most important market for Barolo and Barbaresco, but we have never organized such a large presentation here. With the BBWO we want to set an example, bring our wines closer to the consumer and especially introduce our individual vineyards. “
For the “Grand Tasting” in Center415 on Fifth Avenue, around 1,600 tasting enthusiasts, initially trade visitors and later also private wine lovers, came together. Almost 150 winemakers were ready with their wines. Even Grandmaster Angelo Gaja had traveled to New York and personally poured his cult Barolo Sperss from 2015 into the guests’ glasses.
Best Palates Tasting
The next day, the exclusive “World ?? s Best Palates Tasting” on the 17th floor of the Public Hotel was on the program for the wine experts. At each round, white-set tables, six people formed a jury whose task it was to “blindly” judge around 45 wines using the 100-point system. Thrown together colorfully from the USA, Australia, Brazil, Poland and Austria, we formed a discussion-friendly taster panel at table C, which had different approaches and experiences with Barolo and Barbaresco, but rated the covertly served wine samples quite homogeneously. We were able to submit our wine reviews directly online via tablets and a specially programmed app. Trying very young wines of the Nebbiolo grape variety is always a challenge, even for professionals, because the high amount of tannins that is typical of the variety is a huge strain on the palate. After a few hours of concentrated tasting, we finally mastered our task.
The audience was able to taste over 400 different wines from Barolo and Barbaresco at the Grand Tasting. – © Consorzio Barolo Barbaresco
Quintessence
The 2016 Barolo vintage is great! The wines are precise, elegant and have a fine acid balance and tannins of the highest quality. The long growing season in 2016 allowed the Nebbiolo grapes to ripen slowly and produced no alcohol bombs, but structured, profound wines – Barolo with great ripening potential.
The wines of the Barbaresco origin come on the market a year earlier. The 2017 vintage was characterized by very hot, dry weather and its wines were approachable, with warm fruit aromas, but sometimes somewhat rougher tannins.
Gala im World Trade Center
The festive conclusion of the Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening 2020 was a large gala dinner in Eataly Downtown in the new World Trade Center. The evening’s extraordinary menu was created by celebrity chef Massimo Bottura from Osteria Francescana in Modena – awarded three Michelin stars and the title “World Best Restaurant” in 2018.
Consorzio President Matteo Ascheri presented the results of the “Best Palates Tasting” between courses and was pleased with the excellent evaluation of the wines. Combined with the assessment of the producers and the results of the primeur tasting “Nebbiolo Prima”, the Consorzio awarded the 2016 Barolo vintage an astonishing 99.3 out of 100 possible points. A short appearance by the famous pop opera trio “Il Volo” crowned the event. The BBWO 2020 brought an unforgettable time in New York.
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