VIVA VINO ITALIA

Artisan Italian vintages are gathering pace in Hong Kong, as illustrated by a recent visit by Berry Bros & Rudd's small-scale winemakers in Piedmont, writes HELEN DALLEY

BERRY BROS & RUDD has been busy educating the taste buds of Hong Kong’s wine lovers since establishing a presence here in 2003 with the opening of its Causeway Bay store. Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant raised its game by opening the Fine Wine Reserve in Prince’s Building last year, making Hong Kong the only city in the world to house two of the company’s outlets. The retail arm of the business is just one part of the operation, however, and topical wine luncheons and tasting dinners hosted by prominent producers continue to boost its profile here.

As Hong Kong becomes more discerning – it recently emerged as Asia’s most mature market in a global study by wine and spirits showcase Vinexpo – locals are looking for alternatives to their beloved Bordeaux and burgundies, and they’re entrusting their palates to less recognised producers. Sensing this sea change, Berry Bros recently brought over five artisan wine producers from Italy’s Piedmont region, organising a series of events including a tasting at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong attended by about 200 guests, including customers, enthusiasts and local collectors. The trip also provided an opportunity for the producers to familiarize themselves with what is now the world’s biggest wine-auction market (sales eclipsed New York’s in 2010) and get to know the city’s finest Italian restaurants.

As demand for home-grown and organic produce continues to expand (sales for such goods increased by 10 percent in France, for example, from 2009 to 2010), artisan producers are reaping the rewards. These producers are now keen to expand further internationally, particularly in China, which is forecast to be the world’s sixth largest wine market by 2014. Buyer David Berry Green is keen to stress, however, that Hong Kong remains the target market of its small-scale wine makers for the moment.

“China is still not quite ready for artisan producers,” he says. “[Consumers] still favour top French brands like Château Lafite and Château Mouton Rothschild over handmade wines. The Italian artisan wine movement may be gathering pace, but it’s still very much in its infancy, which is why we wanted to make our debut in a mature market.”

Situated in the foothills of the Alps in north-western Italy, Piedmont is famed for its Barolo and Barbaresco wines, both made from the Nebbiolo grape, a large, darkpurple fruit noted for its ability to age. Other grapes grown in the area include Barbera, Dolcetto and Croatina. Barolo is full bodied and can be floral or oaky depending on how it’s aged, while Barbaresco is less tannic and characterised by rich, spicy flavours. As the producers discovered over dinner at the China Club, both are a solid accompaniment to traditional Chinese dishes such as suckling pig and steamed garoupa, in addition to more traditional pairings like steak or truffle risotto.

What this new wave of Piedmont winemakers lacks in size – all own vineyards of just four to 12 hectares – they make up for with passion, which is only too apparent as their stories unfold. Assembled in Berry’s Fine Wine Reserve for the interview, they appear a tight-knit unit, laughing and joking with the charismatic Berry Green, a fluent Italian speaker whom they all clearly adore. The buyer, an eighth-generation Berry currently based in Piedmont, says, “I’ve always been struck by the integrity of these wine producers, but in 2000 I began to notice an improvement in the quality.” He’s clearly excited by the opportunities that Hong Kong and eventually China will present to his producers, who are friends as well as business associates.

First up is Mario Fontana, who set up a modest fourhectare estate, Cascina Fontana, along with his mother, wife and two sons in 1994, though his family has grown grapes in Barolo for six generations. Fontana prides himself on the rigorous checks he makes before the wine is bottled and, just like his late grandfather, he won’t move the wine or prune the vines when there’s a new moon, because it’s thought to pull the sap high into the vines, meaning that pruning would cause the loss of vital nutrients.

“I’m here because Berry Bros represent my philosophy,” Fontana says with calm conviction, adding that Berry Green lives just 10km from him. “The wine has a big personality. You can taste the soil in it, and that it’s been aged in a French oak barrel. The fermentation process is short, so it’s a fresh taste, not too strong and with little tannin.” As to what one should pair with his wine, he says, “This is wine for a proper meal, not fast food.” It doesn’t have to be an extravagant dish, however, as Fontana suggests a pizza Margherita with a bottle of his fragrant, plummy Nebbiolo delle Langhe.

Davide Rosso represents one of Piedmont’s older vineyards, as his family has been making wine there since the 1890s, but only bottling under its own label, Giovanni Rosso, since 1995. Azienda Agricola Rosso proudly produces organic vintages. “I don’t use any chemicals,” says Rosso. “It’s all natural and organic, and not filtered either. There’s little quantity but high quality. Every cru is fermented separately and spends a minimum of 26 months in oak.” Like many of the vineyard’s wines, the 2004 Barolo Cerretta is aromatic with distinctive cherry notes.

One of the most vocal members of the group, the wonderfully warm and vivacious Chiara Boschis, takes her food as seriously as her wine: the vineyard owner recently invested in a herd of cows and 20 hectares of mountain pasture, and she’s a member of the slow-food movement that strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisines. Boschis bought her vineyard in Barolo in 1980 and her three hectares produce about 800 cases of Cannubi and 400 cases of Via Nuova each year.

“Every plot has a different character,” she says, “but on the whole my wines are rich and elegant. Sometimes they’re compared with burgundies because they’re highly aromatic. I’m a woman, so I like to have a perfume in my wine. We love our area and the wine we produce. We’re a close-knit community, and no one else has the same history or the same idea of wine as we do.”

The Cascino delle Rose estate is headed by the Rizzolio family, and Giovanna Rizzolio explains with a playful smile that their first priority is to drink the fruits of their labour. The family outfit began bottling in 2002 from its modest three hectares, and its Tre Stelle and Rio Sordo wines deliver raspberry kirsch and mulberry-rich flavours respectively. “Our small plot means we can retain the quality of our wines, and we enjoy communicating our philosophy,” says Rizzolio, whose wines are aged the traditional way in Slavonian oak (originating in parts of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia), which imparts a more subtle flavour than French varieties.

Moving on from the Fine Wine Reserve to 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana for a memorable lunch buoyed by good wine (the selection pairs beautifully with the truffle spaghetti) and equally fine company, I’m seated next to Maria Teresa Mascarello, the fifth and final member of the group and head of the Cantina Mascarello Bartolo estate, one of the most revered in Barolo. The friendly producer becomes serious when talk turns from sightseeing to grapes, as one may well expect from the daughter of Bartolo Mascarello, who famously eschewed the market trend for younger, fruitier wines and continued to age his wines for long periods.

“Our wine is fine and elegant…it has nobility, it’s not a wine for every day. Actually, I’d say Barolo is like Pinot Noir because it’s also highly perfumed, and I always look for this style in wine,” says Mascarello, adding that all vintages are aged for four years.

As we skip to dessert (a dreamy lemon torte with raspberry sorbet) and continue draining our glasses (a Mascarello Dolcetto D’Alba is a standout, a balanced wine with a long finish), Nick Pegna, managing director of Berry Bros, observes that 40 percent of its business will come from China within the next 12 years. On that basis, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before these Piedmontese producers will be saying ni hao to Beijing or Shanghai, as the mainland, just like Hong Kong before it, seeks out alternatives to the big French labels and undergoes a thirsty quest to sample undiscovered vintages.