The struggles of domestic winemakers in 2010 and 2011 are well documented. Both years were cool, wet and rain shortened at harvest. 2010 also included a four day heat wave that destroyed the last hopes for many winemakers, as they were approaching an already questionable crush. While 2010 still produced some notable bright spots and was not nearly as bad from a quality perspective as our worst fears, 2011 was more uniformly bad, the highlights were few. Perhaps the one ironically good thing is that both years produced meager crops: while it was bad for cash flows, the wines were out of the market quickly, as just not very much wine was made.

While we struggled here in the United States, Europe enjoyed two great years. 2010 was an A-grade year, only to be surpassed by 2011, which was one of the best ever. Many of the higher end European appellations have restrictions in place on how long the wines must age prior to release. These rules place us on the cusp of seeing many of the 2011 wines come to market now.

One of our favorite producers from Piedmont was just in the shop last week for a tasting. Loredana Addari, co-owner and co-winemaker for Ruggeri Corsini, traveled from Italy to the US for a series of meetings and wine events. We were fortunate to have her travel from Seattle during her trip to taste with us at the shop. Her wines were amazing and the event was fabulous as Loredana is completely charming and enthusiastically spent time with every guest.

We have carried the wines from Ruggeri Corsini for several years.

Their higher end wines sell very well for us, and represent a prominent part of our Italian portfolio. The bonus for us too is they bottle of the varietals in 375 ml.

We were able to taste two of Loredana’s wines from the 2011 vintage and all we can say is wow! It left us with a feeling of great excitement for other European (and especially Piedmontesse) wines from this vintage, which may have benefitted more from this great year.

The 2011 Barbera d’Alba Armujan was simply extraordinary. The wine is highly aromatic, with layers of earth, violets, cherries and raspberries. In the mouth the cherry fruit is the focus, with dusty tannin and velvety texture. Barbera is known as the Pinot Noir of Italy, many times presenting with lighter color and body, but with the warm dry conditions of 2011, the Armujan was very dark, nearly opaque in the glass and showed great extraction in the body of the wine. It was one of the best sellers of the night despite its $29 price tag ($26.10 for our wine club members).

Barolo is an appellation that is tough for the American market to get its collective mind around. The growing season in Barolo is short, fall comes early, and the vineyards are planted with some elevation and on the steep hillsides of Piedmont. The Nebbiolo grape (the only varietal allowed in Barolo) is thick skinned, naturally creating even more tannin than the terroir develops. A “tongue in cheek” rule about Barolo is to age them for 20 years, then open them and leave them on the counter for a couple of days before drinking them. An exaggeration to be sure, but you get the picture. However, the warm dry and long summer conditions in Piedmont in 2011 created wines that are approachable in their youth, and exhibit grace and finesse in the glass. The Ruggeri Corsini Barolo Bussia is one of the best we have had. It is still no doubt Barolo, big, rich and tannic, but also exhibits great blueberry fruit on the finish and elegant aromatics of anise and dark stone fruits. The wine should not be missed, and most of our guests agreed, as we sold out of what we had at the tasting. Even at $47 ($42.30 for our wine club members), we will be keeping it on the shelf along with the Barbera, because of their appeal, but also because they are delicious.

We will eagerly seek out more of the wines from 2011 in Europe and keep you posted as they arrive. It promises to be a fun and tasty couple of years as this extraordinary vintage fully comes to market!

If there is a topic you would like to read about, or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and tabletop décor shop by Costco in Coeur d’Alene. George has also worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles and other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.