Winemaker Notes
The aromas of this wine go together perfectly, mature fruit leaves space for a bouquet of licorice, alpine herbs, mint and cocoa. The tannins permeate the wine with a hypnotic balance between subtlety and flavor.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A juicy red, with a plush creaminess on the palate that carries flavors of baked black cherry, tea rose, bergamot, allspice and cocoa powder, while also softening the impact of the dense, fine-grained tannins, which emerge to firm the fragrant, lingering finish. Drink now through 2034. 625 cases made, 14 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The first thing you notice in the Mamete Prevostini 2019 Sforzato di Valtellina Albareda is the powerful 16.5% alcohol with background notes of whiskey or brandy. There is an element of jammy fruit, maybe a raspberry marmalade or Bing cherry, with grappa. This is a grappa-esque wine for sure, but it is certainly not unpleasant, especially for those who may enjoy this caliber of wine after a day in the snow.
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.