These grapes get a ten-day maceration before being pressed off. After that, it's three months in the bottle and one year in chestnut and oak barrel. A lovely and expressive... read more →
Of Barbacàn’s three single vineyard bottlings, this one is the only one that showed some reduction. This one, unlike Sol, is raised in Stockinger vats. Power and elegance, a sandy,... read more →
This is practically all Chiavennasca (nebbiolo) with just a smidge of rossola (a nebbiolo cousin). Fermented in steel, raised in old oak for a year, it then goes back into... read more →
If you’re at a restaurant like Trippi in Sondrio you might snag a bottle of this to start your meal. In fact, get two, because when we were drinking this,... read more →
From the so-called Bartolo Mascarello of the Oltrepò Pavese, this is the wine you need to round out your knowledge of traditional farmer, natural Italian wine traditions. Lino Maga has... read more →
When in Valtellina in 2019 I met a man named Marco Ferrari at Ar.Pe.Pe. He had worked with Franck Balthazar in Cornas and was looking forward to making wine on... read more →
Would I love to see this cheaper? Yes. Would it taste better at $25? Yes. But still this is a gorgeous example of mountain nebbiolo. Coming from silly steep slopes... read more →
Stella Retica ages in large wood barrels for 24 months, 24 additional months of in-bottle aging and is only made in those vintages when the Rocce Rosse is not released,... read more →
I found this swell bubble from Franciacorta at ViVit, the natural wine tasting that is tucked into the Vinitaly wine fair. Well, it’s not actually labeled Franciacorta and that’s because... read more →
Let me get this off my chest: I just hate that a grape has its own designation. The grape is secondary to the place and it pisses me off. Okay,... read more →