Italy
2018 Gaggiano - Gattinara Timoteo
Gattinara lies a good 60 miles north of Barbaresco and Barolo, but its soil structure is much closer to Mt. Etna—altogether volcanic, the difference being that the Alps are much older than Etna. The Langhe appellations have limestone and clay, and there’s none of that in Gattinara’s iron-rich red soils. The DOCG is the best known of the historic upper Piedmont appellations. Legend has it that Mercurino Arborio, Marchese de Gattinara, a local nobleman and wine lover who became the last imperial chancellor to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in the first half of the 16th century, did much to promote the wines of his region. Entering our century, Gattinara had the best-preserved viticulture of the upper appellations, thanks in large part to a couple of prominent wine producing families.
There’s a lot of pride among Gattinara producers. They have the distinct sense that their remote mountain foothill terroir can make an age-worthy wine of noble elegance, one that is very much of a Nebbiolo lover’s Nebbiolo.
Timoteo is named after Marco and Isabella’s son. The wine comes from their 1.7-acre parcel high in the Galizia vineyard (number 8 in the map linked below), farmed without pesticides and harvested by hand. Aged 24 months in neutral 500L barrels followed by 11 more in steel before bottling. The 2015 vintage made 1,200 bottle
-Importer notes (V59)
2018 Gaggiano - Bramaterra DOC Gerivasio
Bramaterra is sandwiched between the hills of Lessona and Gattinara, and it has a mix of Lessona’s sandy soils with a lot of Gattinara’s volcanic soils. Spanning seven communes, it received DOC status in 1979. The appellation rules permit up to 30% Croatina and up to 20% either of Uva Rara or Vespolina to be blended with Nebbiolo to soften the latter’s tannic structure, particularly in under-ripe years. Gaggiano normally harvests its Bramaterra 7-10 days after the Gattinara harvest.
Gervasio was the grandfather who first came to Bramaterra and cultivated grapes. The wine is the product of four small hillside parcels, lower in elevation than Gaggiano’s vines in Gattinara, totaling 5.6 acres. The parcels are farmed without pesticides, harvested by hand, and normally (depends on the vintage) the three varieties are picked at once and co-fermented. The wine is raised in large Austrian casks for around 18 months and then racked into steel where it rests for several weeks before being put into bottle. The 2016 vintage made 1,000 bottles.
-Importer notes (V59)
2019 Garesio - Barolo DOCG Serralunga (750ml)
Fresh and focused, offering cherry, raspberry, wild herbs, iron and licorice. Muscular and balanced, echoing the fruit and savory elements on the finish. Best from 2026 through 2043. 916 cases made.
2016 Giacosa - Barbaresco Riserva Asili DOUBLE MAGNUM (3L)
Packaged in its distinctive red label, the 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Asili is a rich and profound wine with incredible depth and dimension. Bruna Giacosa skipped over the 2015 vintage because she felt that the fruit was not poised for long aging. From the 2...
2019 Giacosa - Barbaresco Asili
Sweet and succulent aromas of tangerines, freshly cut ripe strawberries, cherries and flowers follow through to a full-bodied palate with sleek and dense tannins that run the length of the wine and then fan out into a dense, vivid finish of fruit. It’s ch...
2019 Giacosa - Barolo Falletto
Purchased in 1980, the Falletto estate is comprised of 13 hectares (32acres) in the commune of Serralunga d’Alba. Considered by Bruno Giacosa as the best area for producing elegant and long-lived Barolos, the Falletto vineyard is southwest facing on steep slopes of calcareaous clay soils in an amphitheater shape. The Falletto wines are austere, elegant and complex on the nose, with excellent structure and suave tannins
2020 Gini - Soave DOC Classico La Frosca
The 2020 Soave Classico La Froscà is smoky with pungent florals and hints of tropical peach. This is round and enveloping, balanced by a core of saline-minerals and zesty citrus-tinged acids with vivid green apple fruits. It finishes long and lightly s...
2022 Gini - Soave DOC Classico
A minerally white, fresh and lightly chalky in texture, offering an appealing range of ripe green apple and pear fruit flavors, with details of honeysuckle, pickled ginger and salty minerality. Drink now. 9,000 cases made, 500 cases imported.
2023 Giovanni Almondo - Langhe Nebbiolo DOC (750ml)
Its denomination is Langhe Nebbiolo, its spirit is that of Roero Nebbiolo.
It was born of our youngest Nebbiolo vines, 20 years of age. It takes inspiration from the traditional Roero Nebbiolino, the most authentic and honest expression of the Nebbiolo grown from the sands of Roero, the one that old people recognized as the true Roero Nebbiolo. This is a light-hearted and graceful wine. On the nose, you immediately understand the difference compared to structured and intense Nebbiolo wines, with its gentle fruity and floral fragrance, a slightly spicy finish as well as overtones of raspberries, blackberries, currants, violets and wild roses.
On the palate, it is dry, harmonious, velvety, with touches of freshness and the right amount of tannin. Within the traditional culture of Roero, this was an all-round wine and this great versatility does show.
-Winery notes