Category: Italy

2020 Cavallotto Dolcetto d’Alba Vigna Scot

Location indeed. Not the beautiful, politically sensible bit of the British Isles but between Bricco Boschis and Monprivato as they buttress the rise to Castiglione Falletto. To find Dolcetto in such real estate is good. To have it then grown and turned into wine by Cavallotto is better. I’ve read they make it in roughly the same way as Nebbiolo to extract good tannin and avoid the reduction which can afflict Dolcetto. It surely presents thus in the glass. Austere smells of rocks, sweet earth and those Piemontese cherries. All quite strict and quiet until the end where there’s a pleasing dance of pure sweet fruit, firm but melted skin tannin and acidity of perfect ripeness. No lush fruit explosion just confident refreshment, sort of like old school claret. Second day and it changes gear with a purr like an old Alpha. Fresher, richer and deeper but paradoxically more severe. Uncompromising tannin and ripe acidity blast through the beautifully detailed, tartly sweet depth of fruit. Challenging you to find something deliciously Italian to eat. Then the structure makes perfect sense. Probably not as good with haggis but I haven’t tried.

13% alcohol and such poise. Cork albeit a first grade sort. $50 and value still. Think I’ll have to buy another.

93 points but I wouldn’t argue with 94 the second day.

2016 Paitin Sori’ Paitin Dolcetto d’Alba

Probably said it many times but The Winefront is probably the most useful resource for we who chase honest pleasure from our purchases. When this scrolled up on a Langton’s auction, the fine review made a bid obligatory really. Spot on the review is too. Goodness I love good Dolcetto, sort of austerely sophisticated yet generous and yum at the same time. Here be dark, tartly ripe cherries, sweeter blackberry, the tang and depth of blood oranges, aniseed and an anchor of good Langhe dirt. The fruit’s so good, it’s freshness frozen in time, just smoothed a little by age. I wish. So delicious with umami rich veggies and tomato sugo. Great surge of chocolate ripe furry tannin and a lick of acidity to finally clear up my dribble. Seems those Piemontese take pleasure at the table very seriously. Take your time, chew thoughtfully, sip and reflect. Sloowww fooodddd.

13.5% alcohol. Diam. $40 at auction.

93 points.

2020 Cantine Settesoli Mandrarossa Frappato Costadune Terre Siciliane IGT

Another of Dan’s July budget savers. A close up bottle image rather than repeat the seven bottle line up again. Pretty colour label. Italy’s heritage of what seems like thousands of grape varieties is great territory for the nerd, guilty. I just about remember a tasty Planeta bottle of Frappato in purezza and a Cerasuolo di Vittoria where it’s blended with stodgy old Nero d’Avola to bring perfume and life. Not to be confused with Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo of course which is a rosato made from Montepulciano. Love Italian convolution. Good to see this on Dan’s shelves then. Settesoli I also remember were a major player in Sicilian imports in the nineties. Judging from their website, they’re still commercially powerful. Well, this is nothing like the Planeta version I remember, it’s light of weight and took a hour or two to open up after seeming washy and a bit dilute at first. With air it’s seventies disco perfume time. Fragrant with musky rose water, raspberries, almost like a red version of one of those Muscat variations. Bit challenging and odd to the red wine drinker’s expectations. Second day and the perfume’s toned down a notch, more red fruit, sort of New World Pinot Noir in shape and texture but uniquely Frappato in flavour. Spice and volcanic rocks push against the perfume. Good smear of drying skin tannin and an incoming tide of firm acidity. It finally dawned that if you were to drink this fridge cooled with one of those western Sicily seafood couscous, then it would make sense, obvious really. The thought did also occur that if I had tasted this from one of those black Riedel tasting glasses, I think I might of thought it a white made with skin contact such is the surprise awaiting here. Warning, Australian Shiraz it is not.

13% alcohol. One of those odd conglomerate corks with a disc of cork glued each end, why bother? $17.10

Started 87 points but warmed up to an open minded 91. What’s Italian for vive la difference?

2020 Combe St Jean Bourgogne Gamay and 2019 Tenuta Santodeno Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore

Two direct imports from Dan Murphy’s or Pinnacle Drinks or whichever brand one of the three big supermarkets who bypass the usual wholesale call themselves. Australia’s appalling wine taxation seems to make us wine freaks seek some import value wherever we can. I’ve noticed that the most viewed posts on this sporadic blog seem to be for cheap imports, glad to know I’m not alone in my ache to find a gem that helps the budget. The exploration has been entirely Dan Murphy’s and Aldi. One day I’ll brave Vintage Cellars or the other versions of Coles booze outlets again but their silly pricing and lack of spark still look pretty discouraging. Dan’s and on rare occasion, Aldi offer the odd one good enough to raise the enthusiasm for a recommendation. Often the shiny new French, Italian or Spaniard on the shelf turns out to be not exactly a disaster but something that’s just acceptable, certainly not worth bothering a reader about. Maybe it’s worth the time to point out those that are OK if you’re desperate for a latin fandango but not much more. I’ve certainly laboured my way through a few over two or three nights. Don’t think a little disparaging here is exactly going to worry the megastores. It’s only opinion anyway. So….things to maybe avoid if you want to make every bottle count.

The Bourgogne Gamay. Impossible to nail down a producer. Googling just leads to opaque branding and a suggestion the Gamay in question comes from “Beaujolais Crus”, who knows where the Combe St Jean makes wine? Light to medium weight, sappy cherries, sweet green herbs and nuts, good firm 2020 acidity but dilute through the end just when you’d prefer some weight and clipped with what tastes like a heavy hand with safety first sulphur flinging. The Mommessin from Dan’s versions are much better value and often delicious. Enough here to go back to see if there’s more to come but ultimately there’s not.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. $23.80 in a six.

87 or 88 points and a nice gold medal sticker too.

The Sangiovese. Must admit to a long time love of Emilia Romagna, Champagne socialists, food, red brick ancient cities, delightfully out of fashion Lambrusco and the occasional great Sangiovese. Whenever a new Sangio import appears, the lure is siren. Flashy heavy bottle here, filled by a winery that’s part of one of those large conglomerate Italian businesses. Industrially clean, heavily extracted from just OK, just ripe enough grapes. Loads of furry tannin and reasonably mouth friendly acidity. Sadly, the fruit decides to take a holiday as that structure flexes. Not sure I could say it were Sangiovese were it not on the label. Again, no faults but not much joy. it’s very difficult to find proper Sangiovese under $30. Suggestions welcome.

14% alcohol. Diam. $17.80 in a six.

87 points.

2020 Michele Chiarlo Palás Barbera d’Asti

It’s been a long and unexpected hiatus in a blathering on about wine. Old age could be blamed. Spending time watching the last grains drop through the hourglass and battling the cardiac horrors a declining body brings seems to have squashed the enthusiasm and encouraged some lazy pleasure. This bottle of Barbera jogged memories of tasting Italians before a fashion for power and climate change encouraged slippery ripeness. Times when a lot of Italian wine seemed out of whack in terms of tannin and acid when tasted away from the meal table. Crisp, very fresh and just ripe fruit bounces here on some bristling acidity. Too puckering until it’s sluiced through after some pasta. Then it all makes sense. Bright, clean and delicious cherry fruit, just medium weight at best, shines as that acidity leaves a craving for oily garlic scented goodness. Just a brush of ripe, skin tannin to settle. Fermented grapes to help good food go down. Nice lightweight bottle too. Nothing to boast about, just enjoy.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $19.00 Dan Murphy direct import.

90 points.

2019 Trediberri Dogliani Bricco Mollea

Another of those beautiful Gallina labels. Dolcetto from one of two DOCGs especially given for Piemonte’s under rated quotidian joy. Spicy cherry compote, stones, fresh and crisply mouthwatering. Not as rich as some Dogliani but suave and nuanced with that bramble caramelised jam note that maybe whispers Dolcetto? Lovely structure but perhaps a little washy verging on dilute compared to the best. For the modest tariff, no complaints here just sad to see the bottle empty.

13% alcohol. Diam. About $30.

91 points.

2017 Schiavenza Dolcetto d’Alba

Sometimes it’s a thin line between an interesting drink despite a dislike of one or two things in the making and enough pleasure to want another glass. Not knowing the maker but loving Langhe Dolcetto, I risked a small bid on a few bottles of this at auction. The first was just a bit too ripe, lacking a little fruit sweetness through the middle to buffer the tough dry skin tannins. Bit butch, extractive and trying too hard for ripeness, like they’d left things hanging on the vine too long in a hot vintage. Another bottle some time later as lubricant to a tasty Sunday night pizza treat and a happy surprise. Sure, it’s still dense and rich but there’s a swell of sweet cherry chocolate fruit to mitigate the dry cocoa tannin. Notice the producer is based in Serralunga and this certainly does nothing to diminish the village’s reputation for thunder and weight. Perhaps it’s another case of recent imports benefiting from a bit of a rest? There’s a few more tempting a bid. Decent Piemonte for $18.

14% alcohol and it shows a bit. Diam, nice. $18 at auction.

92 points.

2019 G D Vajra Langhe Rosso

Each year this gets better. No longer do Vajra list varieties on the back label but I’d guess it’s the same Nebbiolo dominant blend with bits of Dolcetto, Barbera, Freisa and something else as past vintages. The ability to taste well enough to say for sure would be good though. Starts with a lift of that dirty, dusty old road Langhe Nebbiolo thing but it’s no more than a savoury seasoning like some of those better low sulphur natural brews. At its core is a panoply of red summer fruits, rose petals and the most mouthwatering of acidities and fresh tannin. It sparkles with life. That dirty road becomes calm and macadamed in time. Improved over three days. Probably rather drink this than more bulky aspirations of extraction. In a word, delicious, burp.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. $30 at best, normally $35 but still a relative bargain the way Barolo prices are going.

94 points influenced by sheer pleasure.

2015 Piero Benevelli Barolo Ravera di Monforte

A weekend treat, well I think it was Saturday, the only way to tell was more than usual walkers, cyclists and dogs on the footpath getting their permitted two hours of exercise. A treat that nearly didn’t as a 2010 version was horribly corked. Thanks to fine customer service from the importer and retailer that’s Boccaccio Cellars this was nobly offered as a replacement. Wish some other importers did that with corked Burgundies. Did I mention I hate corks? What a serious bit of Monforte grunt it is too. Faded, dusty old pot pourri, a bitumen and tarry depth, a haze of lift to lighten the dark with mashed up cherries and spice. Not the most polished of winemaking with that lift adding a jangly feel to the thunder of Monforte tannin but add food and tickle me pink. Thanks to some good potatoes, the gnocchi held soft and clung to mushrooms and truffle and the qualms disappeared. The Barolo just soared with the sweetest of cherry essence and profound earthy seasonings. Ripe and sweet. Think this is how Monforte is supposed to be. What a bottle rescued from the inequities of annoying tree bark.

14.5% alcohol with the tannin and acidity to cope. Cork. A bargain for Barolo around $80.

94 points.

2018 Bricco Maiolica Langhe Nebbiolo

Our neighbours are suffering building renovations and have been kind if not a little anxious in their forewarnings of chaos but we were all a bit startled as the builders have enthusiastically taken up the offer of a bit of our backyard for storage. A bottle of Nebbiolo was very gratefully received to smooth things along. Due to the recurring lockdown, I didn’t even have to share. A very suave version of Langhe Nebbiolo it is too. Over a couple of days it showed sweet, ripe cherries, scented with roses and pot pourri. Clean as a nonna’s kitchen. Sparkle of mineral acidity and firm black tea tannin. 2018 may not be the darkest or most powerful of vintages but the perfumes and crisp drinkabilty are very appealing at the moment. Good to get on with the neighbours. Maybe the builders could take some more liberties if drinks like this are forthcoming.

13.5% alcohol. Diam. Thanks kind neighbours.

92 points.