Monsecco Sizzano DOC 2007

13.5% Imported by Rosenthal NY

Bottled by Zanetta Sergio E Valter

Sizzano is a small DOC in Alto Piedmont and allows some blending of other grapes - from Wikipedia - "The wine is a blend of 40 to 60% Nebbiolo (known locally as Spanna), 15 to 40% Vespolina and up to 25% of Uva Rara (known locally as Bonarda Novarese). "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizzano

I don't think of Sizzano as the equal of other Alto Piedmont regions like Gattinara or Boca but my sample size has been pretty limited. I attended a tasting at my local wine store where a later vintage of Monsecco Sizzano was being tasting. I wasn't very impressed - woody and very young nebbiolo without much depth. But I'm not a young nebbiolo taster so I reserved judgement on what it might become. I've also had an old one from the '70's that was ok but not great.

Then there's the folks who go out and buy the current Monsecco Gattinara to compare to the old stuff and to see if there's still that Monsecco magic. I find this rather odd as there's nothing in common between the old Monsecco wines and the new ones except the name. The Zanetta's merely bought or filed for the name. They had to start over with vineyards. I recall reading about how it took them forever to assemble their Gatinara vineyards as the ownership was so segmented and fractured. There were no recipes or barrels or wine making facilities passed down. There was at least 15 years where nothing was produced under the Monsecco name.

The wine itself was smooth, oaky, relatively ripe, modern and not recognizable as Alto Piedmont or nebbiolo. It did convey that it was an Italian wine. There wasn't much depth or complexity. The next day, the wine had slightly more depth but not a lot. I could taste the warmth of 2007 in the ripeness and I do not think this wine will improve. It will most likely hold for some time though. I liked the wine but wouldn't buy it again and it reinforced my opinion of Sizzano as lacking compared to some of the other appellations of Alto Piedmont. With duck legs and porcini pasta.

Thanks
Fraser


Attachments
Monsecco Sizzano 2007.JPG




Edited by fraser (01-26-2019 08:48:12)