As I decanted a bottle of Travaglini’s 1997 Gattinara Riserva before dinner last night, my thoughts drifted to a long ago evening at a restaurant outside of Verona, Italy, where I once met the late Giancarlo Travaglini.
Giancarlo spoke little or no English and I spoke little or no Italian, but amazingly enough we had a beautiful conversation over many courses and several bottles of Travaglini wine. It was a mixture of a few well-known phrases and words everyone understood, and the universal language of hand-waving, nodding and gesturing that you might find anywhere wine lovers gather around a table of good food and wine.
Gattinara is a miniscule district in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Its DOC red wine is produced from the Nebbiolo grape, though Gattinara is not nearly as famous as its more exalted neighbors, Barolo and Barbaresco. With the possible exception of Travaglini, which gained recognition initially for its oddly shaped frosted glass bottle.
Giancarlo made it his mission in life, however, to ensure the Travaglini wines were known at least as much for their quality as their visual appeal at the dinner table.
I had tasted the ’97 Riserva with Giancarlo that night and remember being impressed with its intensity and color, especially the fleshiness that balanced the sharpness of its ample tannins. At 10 years of age, the edges are beginning to tinge and the leathery notes that were so subtle in the wine’s youth are now more pronounced.
There remains plenty of concentrated fruit, and the spiciness of the nose seems to me to be more enhanced, coming together with a fragrant earthiness that makes you want to plunge your face into the glass. The tannins are still going strong, a bit grainy now but definitely mellowing.
I remember the expression on Giancarlo’s face as we tasted this wine. He was proud of it, as well he should have been. I purchased several bottles upon my return from Vinitaly that year, but this was the last from my stash.
So it was with a bit of sadness that I took the final sip, my thoughts turning once again to an evening long ago when Giancarlo and I drank this wine and wondered aloud what it would taste like in a few years’ time.
It was beautiful Giancarlo, just as you imagined it would be.
8