Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Complex wine with licorice, smoke and wild strawberries on the nose. Tight-knit structure on the palate, with toasty flavors, chewy tannins and crisp acidity. Needs time for integration. Best after six months.
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Wine Spectator
Thid fresh, minerally red is medium-bodied and silky on the palate, with smoke and wet stone notes underscoring flavors of sun-dried cherry, wild strawberry, leather and anise. Light tannins firm the modest finish. Drink now. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 1,100 cases made, 250 cases imported.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
Containing an exciting mix of wine producing subregions, Lombardy is Italy’s largest in size and population. Good quality Pinot noir, Bonarda and Barbera have elevated the reputation of the plains of Oltrepò Pavese. To its northeast in the Alps, Valtellina is the source of Italy’s best Nebbiolo wines outside of Piedmont. Often missed in the shadow of Prosecco, Franciacorta produces collectively Italy’s best Champagne style wines, and for the fun and less serious bubbly, find Lambrusco Mantovano around the city of Mantua. Lugana, a dry white with a devoted following, is produced to the southwest of Lake Garda.