Vajra 2006 Langhe Rosso (Piedmont) – The aromatics are a mixture of elegantly floral and fruit-sprightly, hued dark-purple, with a bite of fine acidity and a very appealing nature, especially with food. An absurdly good value. (7/08)
piedmont
Sugar, sugar
Bera 2006 Canelli “Arcese” (Piedmont) – Tastes like muscat, smells like muscat, but it’s not muscat, it’s favorita, cortese, and arneis. So, then: it’s floral and bubbly/spicy (no actual bubbles), with a bit of sweat but little toil. Eminently appealing at first sip, yet there’s a difficult component that not everyone will get past. I love it, because it takes muscattish obviousness and brings to it more complexity and balance than is the norm. And still, no muscat. It’s almost hard to believe. Fun wine. (7/08)
ca’mia, I’ve got something to show you
Brovia 1995 Barolo ca’mia (Piedmont) – Gorgeous. Roses, muscular tannin, and a huge core of dark but supple fruit. Complex. Still in its very early adolescence, but surprisingly drinkable now. (2/08)
Survivor: Vanotu
Pelissero 1995 Barbaresco Vanotu (Piedmont) – Tannic, showing crushed flowers and black cherries. Very aromatic. The palate turns to chocolate, the wine thickens, and then gravitically disappears within itself. A little too worked, I think. (2/08)
Colline all cars
Le Piane 2004 Colline Novaresi “La Maggiorina” (Piedmont) – Brittle, sharp with acidity, and chilly. But all the more interesting for it. I’ll say it again: this is red riesling…mineral to the core, biting, Teutonic, and precise. And it’s not a cocktail wine. (6/08)
Sacco & Vietti
Vietti 1997 Barolo Villero “Riserva” (Piedmont) – I’m not entirely sure I could identify this as Barolo or nebbiolo, if served from an unmarked container. However, some of the aromatics are definitely there – roses turning to potpourri, black minerality disintegrating into wet dust – along with dark chocolate and a concentrated, present-but-not-unpleasant cherry confiture spread over the top. There’s plenty of tannin, but it’s mostly ripe (though the tannin-averse should still avoid this wine), and very little acidity. If this note sounds conflicted, it is; based on the producer and vintage, I want to be more suspicious (or even cynical) than I am. But I do like the wine, as a beverage. Concerns about its typicity, or even its core philosophy, can wait for another day. (8/07)
Dan Montemarino
Bellotti “Cascina degli Ulivi” 2005 Monferrato Bianco “Montemarino” (Piedmont) – Saline, with intense citrus turning almost to redder fruit, especially quince, but not quite getting there. This flashes and bites, seeming to yield everything and then jamming itself throatward. A really striking wine. (6/08)
Sylvia Majoli for NPR
Sella 2006 Coste della Sesia “Majoli” Rosato (Piedmont) – Difficult. There’s a leafy, semi-exotic red fruit character here that should be compelling, but the wine just doesn’t bring its qualities to the palate, instead preferring to sit in the corner and brood. It was much better tasted at the source, which suggests either damage or bottle shock, but in this form it’s never going to be a crowd-pleaser. Or, for that matter, a me-pleaser. (6/08)
Louis sings
Roagna “Opera Prima XV” (Piedmont) – The first Roagna I haven’t much liked. There’s some nice aromatics – leafy and dark, with a lot of wet earth involved – but the wine seems forced, troubled, even a bit harsh. Extended aeration doesn’t seem to help, either. It tastes like the outcome of difficulty and strain, rather than a smooth transition from grape to glass. (6/08)
Sito Corleone
Gaja 2004 Langhe “Sito Moresco” (Piedmont) – Less delicious than a year ago, still tasting of very expensive wood ground into the finest particulate texture, but with the smooth, balancing fruit starting to erode. It continues to caress the tongue, but there’s some fine-grained sandpaper newly entered into the caress. The near future of this wine is wood, wood, and more wood, so the remaining hope is that it comes out the other end with some interesting fruit to match the arboreal sensations. (5/08)