From the Lucchine vineyard at the foot of the Piedmont hills of the heartland of Valpolicella, this is a 25-year-old clay and limestone rooted blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara, Rossignola, Negrara, and Dindarella. Stainless fermented, then rested for a brief 2 months, this is a humble, charming Valpo with bright, sapid red fruit, perfumed florals, smoked stones, tobacco leaves, and fine, taut tannins to an alluring salt snap finish. Lower in alcohol (12.5 degrees), this charming, humble red is eager for a slight chill and to be paired with your pork or game birds.
La Kiuva is a tiny co-op in the Aosta Valley and Arnad is a small village in the DOC. This day-glo coho salmon-hued rosé is a blend of Nebbiolo, Gros Vien and Neyret from 380 to 500 m and sandy soils. After a 12-hour maceration, this saignée method rosé completes fermentation before 6 months in stainless steel tank and a 2 month stint in the bottle before release. Gushes of watery and youthful raspberry, strawberry, red currant on a medium, bright palate, ending with an appropriately bitter, salty rasp. Cured meats, salty alpine cheeses, lardon-laced salads would welcome this wine. Not overly complex, nor does it need or pretend to be. It's ideal just as it is.
An alluring nose with bright berry fruit, floral notes and spice with flavours of berries and currants, leather and pepper, a velvety texture and tight core with layered complexity and super refined tannins with a long, long finish that is lifted and lingering. Elegantly powerful.
Absolutely delicious! The deep ruby colour leads into a bouquet of blackcurrant, dark cherry, plum, herbs, cocoa, vanilla and coffee. Full-bodied and still sharply tannic, so hold until 2020 and then drink until 2040.
Contrada Santo Spirito is a project of Antonio Moretti Cuseri, the owner of iconic properties Tenuta Sette Ponti and Podere Orma in Tuscany and Feudo Maccari in Sicily. Morretti fell in love with the 14 ha estate planted to autochthonous grapes between 500-700 m, located between Passopisciaro and Randazzo, on the slopes of Mount Etna. This Nerello Mascalese is crafted from 60+ year-old ungrafted vines, fermented in wood and stainless, where it rested for 6 months. Anise, red liquorice, red florals, dried strawberry, worn leather, tobacco and walnut shells fill the textural, lighter-bodied palate, scented with raspberry, wild cherry, thorns, and gripped with herbal, fine hewn tannins. Subtle soil salts linger on the finish, brightening the finish. Rabbit, wild mushrooms would make an excellent pair.
I have had the chance to visit and taste at this winery on a couple of occasions and their commitment to quality is undeniable. This 2011 is a soft (for Barolo) and fruity offering with cherry, rose, dried flower, mocha and spice. Full-bodied, with a grippy finale and the 15% alcohol peaking out at the edges.
Brooding dark plum, boysenberry is infiltrated with black pepper, tobacco, and subtle sapid resin in this alluring, medium-bodied red from Campania. Tannins are slender but astringently raspy, finishing with an herbal/medicinal echo. This is from the centuries-old Sirica grape, rediscovered by the winery's agronomists. They found three giant plants, 200 years old, growing in Taurasi, and quickly determined they were not Agliancio, the dominant red in the area. DNA testing showed traces of Refosco, Teroldego and Syrah, and the newly known grape was determined as Sicira (a name that Pliny the Elder referred to in ancient Roman times). The viticultural team did a selection to reproduce the plant and now the winery has near to 2 ha of Sirica vines. The wine is aged in barriques for 9 months, followed by a 9-month stint in bottle. This blends the newly planted 6-year-old plants with those growing for 200 years.