Wines

95 Points! It’s really hard to believe that this is a 2020, such is the youthful energy of this extraordinary wine. I love the intense lemon blossom aroma in the nose. Concentrated, creamy and very elegant, this high-end Savennieres isn’t difficult to understand. Less fundamentally mineral than the very best, but still plenty of wet stone at the long silky finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.- JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! It’s hard to find adequate words for the cornucopia of flowers, citrus and stone fruit aromas of this wine. The flinty element creates the most beautiful tension along with the wonderful interplay of fruit and wet stone minerality on the breathtakingly precise and pure medium- to full-bodied palate. And the incredibly energetic, almost endless finish sweeps you away. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Still youthful with aromas of summer meadows, dried flowers and flint, this sleek and medium-bodied chenin blanc is extremely focused and mineral. At the very long, dry finish the wet stone character is wrapped in a delicate veil of beeswax and honeycomb. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Hold on to your hat! The nose of this extraordinary dry chenin blanc is right on the borderline between summer flowers and floral hone, and it pulls you inexorably into this extremely vibrant and mineral wine. Astonishing concentration for the barely medium-bodied palate, the minerality cascading over you as if you were standing directly beneath an Alpine waterfall. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Tasted about three weeks after bottling, the Pecchenino 2019 Barolo Bussia opens to a beautiful ruby color that shines from inside the glass. There is a subtle note of candied cherry or fragrant rose, but once that lifts, the wine reverts to characteristic Nebbiolo aromas of tar, licorice and blood orange. Bussia delivers a classic progression of aromas that are elegantly reinforced by the extra intensity and concentration of the 2019 vintage. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

93 Points! A fresh, juicy red highlighted by cherry, plum, tar, grass and eucalyptus flavors. Gains support from vibrant acidity and pliable tannins as this cruises to a long aftertaste of fruit, vegetal and mineral notes. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! Superb...These are the best Barbarescos I have tasted from Dave Fletcher. It is not easy for an outsider to establish themselves in Piedmont, which makes these wines doubly impressive. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

93 Points! Intense nose of fresh and dried red berries, together with dried leaves and dark, clove-like spice. Medium-bodied with firm tannins and a concentrated bead of bright fruit and minerals. The tannins pull hard on the finish for now, so wait for this one. It’s structured and layered and definitely built to last. Hold until 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Notes of red berries, crushed herbs and orange blossom with hints of lilac and wet stones. Medium- to full-bodied. Meaty and mouth-filling with polished tannins that are a little chewy at the end. Refined and sleek. Hints of bitter spices in the finish. - JamesSuckling.com

95+ Points! Quite robust and powerful on first nose, the 2019 Barolo Ginestra Vigna del Gris needs more time in bottle to flesh out and move past this current youthful phase. This wine is definitely poised to give more to those who wait. It opens to a dark garnet hue and ripe aromas of cherry skin, plum, rose and orange peel. Within the span of a few minutes, it starts to show additional spice and nutmeg. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

95 Points! The La Spinetta 2019 Barolo Campè Vürsù is balanced and bright with a little more heft and overall fruit concentration. Dried cherry, blackberry, spice and black licorice all appear on the bouquet. This is smooth in consistency but shows a long, polished mouthfeel that is especially tight and elegant in this vintage. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

93 Points! Pure and focused, offering violet, cherry, raspberry and mineral aromas and flavors. Shaped by vibrant acidity, this red persists with a lingering, resonant aftertaste. - Wine Spectator

A star is born! From the importer: ...a finely etched garnet gemstone of seductive red fruit with operatic red rose and lightly minted confiture notes that burst from the glass is surely his finest Nebbiolo to date.

Taken from various plots high on the plateau inside the località of San Grato and Zora, and at the top of Ravera and Terlo, tension is the backbone of this fresh-fruited Nebbiolo. With altitudes that range between 380-460 meters, the parcels, La Volta (410m), Zora (420-425m), and by the cantina in San Grato (445-460m) are on the gentler slopes and tilt toward the south and west and are fully exposed to sun all day. They share the blueish Sant’Agata Fossili marls, but La Volta has slightly reddish clay topsoil (perhaps due to the presence of more iron) while Zora has a topsoil of pale calcareous sand. By contrast, Ravera and Terlo sit between 380-430m and take a focused hit of the morning sun and miss the last hours of the sun’s intense heat, preserving even more tension and fresh minerally textures.

Daniele explains that the MGA La Volta’s clay gives a stronger tannic base and structure, Zora and San Grato more elegance, finesse and higher aromatic notes, and Ravera more softness and depth. The mix of these higher altitude sites, their varying degrees of phenolic ripeness and individual terroir complexities make for a diverse and impressively nuanced starting Nebbiolo.

During the vinification there is some inclusion of whole bunches but it’s typically less than 10%. The parcel selection changes from year to year based on the quality of their main Nebbiolo parcels, though Terlo is usually the smallest proportion. For example, in 2020 it was almost entirely La Volta, while the 2021 is mostly from Ravera’s upper section—the answer to why the 2021 plays at a different amplitude than many a Langhe Nebbiolo from celebrated growers and the 2020 is more power than finesse. The 2020 was aged in new 30hl botte, while the 2021 was aged in many different barrel sizes of varying ages. It’s fermented naturally in steel and concrete, and the macerations last about 25-27 days with daily pump-overs: three in the first days and one further into the maceration. Temperatures in steel are controlled while those in concrete are not.

After pressing, the wines are racked once or twice before going into 10-30hl concrete and wood vats for four to five months, selected for quality, then racked into steel for another two months before bottling. Sulfites are first added after malolactic, and it’s not fined nor filtered.

An important new source! The fermentation of this classically styled white, Aubépine, takes place in old oak barrels with the total lees from the press—no débourbage (wherein the lees are settled before the wine is racked off them). There are no finings and filtrations, nor additions of sulfites—though, as already mentioned, necessary exceptions can be made. Fermentations can last months or more than a year before dry. Aubépine is a specific site of old vines closer to the Cher than the Loire.