Piemonte 2011 – too early to say?

See also last week's report on the 2011 vintage in other European wine regions.

It is a sweltering early August day and I am in the car in Barolo heading towards Castiglione Falletto to visit the Cavallotto-Bricco Boschis estate. In the back of the car sits Fritz, our German pointer, and he is whining while watching the lush green landscape passing by, eager to get out and explore.

While showing me the estate's vineyards, Guiseppe Cavallotto tells me that the abundance of herbs and fresh, green grass between the rows of the amphitheatre-like Bricco Boschis vineyard is an anomaly. By...