During my stay in the south part of Umbria, mid February, I tasted several interesting white wines of grape variety trebbiano spoletino. But unfortunately, I missed one of the most important ones, the Trebbiano Spoletino from Cantina Novelli. If my sources were correct, this had to be the producer who marketed the first varietal.
Luckily, Cantina Novelli was present at the large Umbria stand at Prowein, the large annual wine fair in Düsseldorf I attended in March. Export manager Jelena Sakic was very happy to let me taste this very special wine. Not many come and ask especially about the Trebbiano Spoletino, Jelena told me.
And I was fortunate to be able to taste this very delicious version of Umbria’s white secret. I think it is absolutely the best of the few I have tasted so far (Perticaia, Tabbarini, Raina and Antonelli San Marco).
Extensive research
Stefano Novelli started his Trebbiano Spoletino project in the early 2000s. With the help of Attilio Scienza of the University of Milan, the variety that was once widely available around Spoleto was intensively researched. Vines that were over 100 years and ungrafted were rescued; some of them had trunks of more then 20 cm diameter and were growing up the branches of maple trees. A first wine was put on the market in 2005. The research is still continuing at the moment, especially around DNA analysis and clonal selection. New plantings are realized and experiments with plant density and bud concentration take place.
All this is done because of the historical and qualitative character of the vines. The theory is that the word ‘trebbiano’ comes from ‘traibo’, an old Frankish word for ‘scion of a noble family’: a select and prized variety….
Fruit explosion
I tasted the 2011, still a very young wine. The wine is subtly aromatic, with hints of fresh yellow fruit and herbs. In the mouth, a fruity explosion, with zesty citrus and full bodied grapefruits. A hint of apricot and nuts was also present. In producing the wine, only steel vats are used. Oak doesn’t come anywhere near the Cantina Novelli Trebbiano Spoletino. The wine remains on the lees though for about 5 to 6 months. With my next lobster meal, or maybe a simple roast chicken, I know what I want….
Traibo
Even more special was a sip of an unlabelled bottle Jelena poured me: the Traibo 2009. Only 2266 bottles are made, of grapes of 80 to 120 year old vines, growing up maple trees in alberello fashion. Needless to say the harvest is completely manual: pickers have to climb up ladders to gather the grapes. Whole bunches are pressed, and the must is fermented in 500 litre acacia barrels; for the refinement the wines are transferred to oak barrels for 24 to 30 months.
And what a wine this was: powerful, full of griping acidity, full bodied, with aromas of yellow fruit, nuts and spices. Good with truffle dishes, fish and shell-fish!
The wines of Cantina Novelli are available in the Netherlands through Pallas Wines, but I have yet to find a shop that sells them. I will keep searching!
