Monday Newsletter 3-23-2020

Subscriber special for the win!
Produttori del Barbaresco ‘Barbaresco DOCG’, Piedmont 2016 750ML ($49.95) Was $45, Now $39 Subscriber Special
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 95 points “The 2016 Barbaresco is a tight and beautiful wine that will require more time to unwind and soften. This beautifully balanced vintage is characterized by a tight inner core of fruit that underlines the graceful aging capacity of these wines. The 2016 is shaping up to be one destined for long cellar aging. Now in its youth, the wine offers wild berry, rose and licorice aromas.”
Wine Enthusiast 95 points “Cellar Selection. Enticing aromas of violet, woodland berry, loose vineyard soil, wild mint and a hint of spearmint shape the intensely fragrant nose. The tense, young palate is still nervous but already boasts finesse, showing wild raspberry, crunchy red cherry, white pepper and star anise. Firm, refined tannins and racy acidity give it a linear, almost austere elegance, while bright acidity keeps it focused and balanced. Drink 2026-2036.”
Antonio Galloni 94 points “The 2016 Barbaresco is a stunning wine with tremendous richness for this bottling. Ample, deep and powerful, the 2016 exudes pedigree and class from start to finish. I can’t remember a straight Barbaresco here with this much fruit density and unctuous richness, and yet there is more than enough tannin and overall structure to give the wine its classically leaning feel. A blast of sweet red cherry fruit, tobacco, menthol licorice and smoke hits the potent finish. What a wine!”
 
Giacomo Conterno bought the historic Nervi estate, which has some of the best holdings in the village. It was always a bit of an underperformer—at least until Roberto Conterno started making the wines.  These are now some of the most compelling yet affordable wines in all of the Piedmont.  They have all the skill and depth of Conterno, but in a distinctly Gattinara package.
 
Nervi Vigneto Molsino, Gattinara DOCG 2014 750ML ($119.95) $99 special
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 94 points “Roberto Conterno tells me he prefers the 2014 Gattinara Vigna Molsino over his other single-vineyard expression from the Vigna Valferana. I tend to agree given this wine’s large span of beautiful aromas. This is a deep and expressive Nebbiolo that starts with plump fruit tones and ends with drying mineral nuances. There is a touch of white pepper too. Bring this one out for pheasant or other game bird roast.”
Wine Spectator 93 points “This starts out spicy and savory, with a core of cherry, strawberry, licorice and stone flavors. Consistent from beginning to end, with leather and tobacco accents on the aftertaste. Best from 2020 through 2033. 1,166 cases made.”
James Suckling 93 points “Amphitheater site, just below Monte Rosa at 400 meters. South-facing. Quite an open nose with deep blue-fruit aromas here. The fruit is ahead of the flowers, which come later with deep blue-rose-like aromas. The palate has a very elegant and supple core of lilting roses with a gently herbal edge. The tannins are so soft, so ripe and balanced. Very ethereal finish.”
 
As trendy now as ever
Domaine Olivier Hillaire Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Petits Pieds d’Armand, Rhone 2016 750ML ($99.95) $79 special
Case-6 Domaine Olivier Hillaire Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Petits Pieds d’Armand, Rhone 2016 750ML ($599.95) $449 special (that’s only $74.83/bottle!)
Wine Advocate 96 points “The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Petits Pieds d’Armand comes from a parcel of Grenache originally planted at the end of the 19th century in a sandy part of La Crau. It’s Hillaire’s flagship, and it merits its status this vintage, where it shines with raspberry fruit and layers of dried spice complexity. It’s full-bodied and rich yet silky, elegant and long on the finish, epitomizing the delicious contradictions that Grenache can present.”
Josh Raynolds 95 points “Vivid ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes red fruit preserves, spicecake and incense, and a minerally element adds urgency. Impressively energetic on the palate, offering intense raspberry, cherry compote and lavender pastille flavors that deepen slowly on the back half. The floral note repeats emphatically on the impressively long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves a smoky mineral note behind.”
 

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

 
For many, Chianti symbolizes Italian wine and no winery symbolizes the modern quality of the region like Isole e Olena.  Stylistically, Isole e Olena occupies a place that is at once traditional and modern.  Their flagship Cepparello is firmly rooted in the primacy of Sangiovese and the idea of Tuscan typicity.  Elegance wedded to power, it shows the nuance and bright fruit you expect from a classic wine of the region combined with the density and complexity of top tier, noble wines.
 
This 100% Sanviovese is a “Super Tuscan” in its name but a classic in its game.
Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT, Tuscany 2016 750ML ($99.95) $79 special
Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT, Tuscany 2016 1.5L ($219.95) $199 special
Antonio Galloni 97+ points “The 2016 Cepparello is dense, dark and also very closed in on itself. Those qualities bode well for the future, but readers will have to be patient, as the 2016 is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. Black cherry, plum, lavender, spice and new leather gradually open up in the glass, but the 2016 is not ready to show all of its cards. This fruit was brought in during the second week of October, which is pretty much optimal at Isole e Olena. The 2016 spent 20 months in French oak, with a bit less than 30% new oak, and a few months in cask prior to bottling. An explosion of floral and spice notes punctuates the super-refined finish. The 2016 is shaping up to be epic. Don’t miss it!”
 
Bethel Heights is one of the legendary names in Oregon wine.  Founder Ted Casteel (literally) wrote the book on farming grapes in the Willamette Valley and the wines keep getting better. Many insiders think that Justice might be superior to Bethel Heights’ original vineyard, and it’s easy to see why.  At 500′, it’s a touch lower and warmer—perfect for consistent ripening in the Eola-Amity Hills.  The resulting wines are big, bold and powerful, but with beautiful floral tones and snappy acidity that the winds of region bring.
 
Bethel Heights Vineyard Justice Vineyard Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2016 750ML ($59.95) $51.90 special
Wine Advocate 93 points “From vines planted in 1999, the pale to medium ruby-purple colored 2016 Pinot Noir Justice Vineyard has a lovely nose of lilacs and violets over a core of warm black cherries and berries, blueberry pie and bramble berry preserves notions with touches of sliced prosciutto, black pepper and crushed rock. Medium-bodied, it fills the mouth with perfumed warm earth and black fruits flavors, with beautiful grainy tannins and great freshness lifting the long finish. 450 cases produced.”
Josh Raynolds 93 points “Shimmering ruby. A complex, expressive bouquet evokes fresh dark berries, candied flowers, incense and vanilla. Concentrated yet energetic, offering palate-staining, spice-laced black raspberry, cherry cola and violet pastille flavors that pick up a smoky mineral note on the back half. Displays a suave blend of depth and delicacy and finishes with sharp delineation, harmonious tannins and lingering spiciness. (40% new French oak).”
 

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

 
“For many people this is a ne plus ultra of Riesling” –Terry Theise
Weingut Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese, Nahe 2017 750ML ($69.95) $59 special
Weingut Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese, Nahe 2017 1.5L ($169.95) $149 special
Stuart Pigott-Jamessuckling 99 points “Most people who drink wine know what a ripe peach tastes like. However, this wine gives you a completely new appreciation of the meaning of the word “peach”. Beyond that, it possesses subtlety that is extremely rare anywhere in the world of food and wine. From organically grown grapes. Fair’n Green certification. Absolutely delicious now, but could be held for decades.”
David Schildknecht – Vinous 95 points “Lily perfume on the nose of this Hermannshöhle reminds me both of the corresponding 2016 and of this year’s Kirschheck. That is accompanied by ripe, fresh and high-toned, distillate-like notes of pear and quince. The glossy palate is lusciously fruited, billowingly perfumed, as well as seductively glossy and creamy in texture. Piquancy of pear pip and hints of anise add counterpoint, while fresh grapefruit and white peach contribute welcomed bright juiciness en route to a ravishingly-sustained, impeccably-balanced finish. The covering term “mineral” will for now have to serve the strikingly transparent finish, which becomes more intriguing the longer the wine takes on air.”
Wine Advocate 94+ points “The 2017 Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese combines ripe and noble fruit with delicate crystalline and flinty aromas. Very precise and stimulating. This is significantly finer than the Brücke; it’s singing and interwoven with very delicate slate and flinty notes, and it is still fresh and cool despite its ripeness. On the palate, this is a deep, dense and complex, very mineral and tensioned yet always refined and salty-piquant Spätlese with terroir expression and a promising, complex and stimulating finish. Great and sustainable. Tasted in July 2019.”
 

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $68

 
Paolo Bea is an iconic producer—a virtual one-winery symbol of Umbrian wine and it’s potential.  No one in the region produces wines as profound, interesting and delicious as the ‘first family’ of Umbrian wine.

The wine that defines Bea—a single vineyard Sagrantino with incredible power and complexity.
Paolo Bea Pagliaro Secco, Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG 2015 750ML ($149.95) $119 special
Importer Note “Bea produces perhaps his most renowned wine from pure Sagrantino grown on the prized hilltop site of Pagliaro, situated at 1300 feet above sea level in Montefalco proper. Following the example of the “Rosso de Veo” above, this 2015 is absolutely jaw-dropping in its intensity and presence. Bea’s wines at their best offer a panoply of spices so intoxicating, so far-reaching, and so evocative, as to nearly defy belief. The only wines that approach Bea’s in that regard are perhaps the most un-sculpted Syrah-based wines of the Northern Rhône, but even those feel as if they have governors on their accelerators in comparison to top vintages of “Pagliaro.” Similarly large in scale to the “Rosso de Veo,” this actually presents with greater precision and nuance, its overall attack more subtle but ultimately no less impactful—direct evidence of a great terroir translated with consummate skill.”
 
Biondi-Santi makes Brunello that other estates are judged against.  Their estate, Il Greppo, occupies some of the most hallowed ground in the Brunello appellation, in the heart of Montalcino.  Their standards are high (they rarely release riservas) and their style can only be described as classic.  The wines are powerful, but not overwrought, elegant but emphatic.  These are the wines that Brunello lovers dream about.

Biondi Santi Tenuta Greppo Annata, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2012 750ML ($199.95) $169 special
Wine Enthusiast 96 points “Underbrush, ripe berry, new leather and Mediterranean herb aromas slowly take shape in the glass. Showing youthful tension, the vibrant palate delivers red cherry, pomegranate, white pepper and pipe tobacco notes framed by bright acidity and taut, refined tannins. It already shows great balance and finesse but is still young and tight. Drink 2022-2035.”
James Suckling 95 points “Love the dried lemon rind, florals and red fruits. Medium to full body and a solid core of fruit and spices. Long and flavorful finish. Just a hint of sweet tobacco. Better in 2020.”