Cimson Aroma Newsletter

How has the year started for you so far? For us it has been busy despite all the doom and gloom the media would like us to believe. Our clients still do put on events, because they realise that when times are tough, they have to be remembered by their clients even more! And their staffs have to feel motivated too! On this point our article (Part 1) in the November issue gave away solutions on how to entertain in the crunch.

And we would like to make another point this month: quality is crucial. Even though your budget might have been cut recently, there is no point in putting on events which do not reflect your firm’s standards. At Crimson Aroma, we deliver value for our clients with our events providing flexible formats, expertly selected wines, the best professionals, all at reasonable budgets so that your clients spend a good time out and want to do business with you again! Contact us now for a quotation.

This month is the start of a new series of articles about the Major Grape Varieties. We will cover each month a specific varietal so that you grow your wine knowledge easily! And our interviewee is Franco Conterno from the famous Barolo wine estate Poderi Aldo Conterno who describes his beloved region and tells us about the importance of place in winemaking… Have a very good month!

Olivier Bourseau, MD

Starting this month, we provide an overview of the major grape varieties. To launch our program, we give you the king Cabernet Sauvignon.

Name and Synopsis - Cabernet Sauvignon. Widely planted, it provides some of the finest and most concentrated red wines in the world when produced with care and in the good environment.

Origin - French - Could have been born from a cross-pollination between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.

Best Climate - CS needs warm climate to ripen its thick and hard skin.

Flavours and Tastes - CS wines are usually concentrated with high acidity, high alcohol, and high tannins. Even though most of the CS produced in the world can be drunk immediately after release, the finest wines will need at least 10 years cellaring before the tannins integrate and the whole structure of the wine evolves into a more approachable liquid. Young CS bottles usually exhibit dark fruits' aromas (blackcurrant, blackberry, bilberry), some floral character like violet, and sometimes green capsicum if not completely ripe. Fruity and floral flavours will give way to the more "mature" aromas of cedar, leather, and dark chocolate in the older CS wines sometimes.

Best regions in the World (sub regions in parenthesis) - France: Bordeaux (Haut Médoc) / USA: California (Napa) / Chile: Colchagua, Maipo and Rapel / Italy: Tuscany (Bolgheri).

Next month - Viognier

Part 2 - Interview - Franco Conterno - Poderi Aldo Conterno

The name Conterno is synonymous with some of the greatest Barolo wines from Piedmont in Italy. Poderi Aldo Conterno is the winery created by Aldo Conterno, son of the most famous Giacomo Conterno, when Aldo decided to split from his brother Giovanni in 1969 and set up on his own further to a revealing 5 years’ experience in the US.

Wine estates in Italy are very much a family business and the 3 sons of Aldo have now taken over the winemaking and running of the vineyards even if Aldo is still the boss. And the traditional approach remains and is very much key to the success of their wines. While Poderi Aldo Conterno uses a more modern approach with a few of their wines like the Langhe “Il Favot” or Chardonnay “Bussiador” aged in new French oak, their Barolos are produced with the traditional approach.

They focus on conveying a sense of place into their wines: maturation in big Slovenian oak barrels before bottling in order to let the specificities of each vineyard speak and not the vanilla or toast of new oak. This is demonstrated by their single vineyards wines Cicala, Colonnello and Romirasco and also by their flagship wine Granbussia. I caught up with Franco Conterno in London, one of the 3 brothers who explained to me what their philosophy is, and also why Barolo is Barolo… Read the intervew here.