On the Lists at the World's Best Restaurant NOMA, Albert Adria (Ferran's brother), Babbo,This Will Be the Next Puffeney, Berlioz, Germain, Weltner...
I REALLY did not want to sell an Italian Merlot. But this wine is Unbelievably Good.
Where Else Can You Affordable 11 Year Old Merlot?
A ton of you bought the first Tenuta Grillo offer. And you will not be disappointed. He is truly a great winemaker tucked away in a lesser known corner of Piedmont. I've found that great winemakers make great wine. Tenuta Grilllo sells most of its grapes to pay the bills and releases the wines when they feel like it. They also only keep great grapes for their own bottlings. The winemaker calls his merlot "figli illegittimi" ma incredibilmente con un forte carattere territoriale ("illegitimate son" but with a powerful terroir character).
The 2005 Tenuta Grillo Tornalsole (100% Merlot) is an incredibly complex bottle of wine. I am not going to mention the price until the end because I don't want to bias you into thinking that it is a wine that tastes on a par with its pricetag (it's way, way better). Think of incredible $50-$100 (on original release) traditionally made Bordeaux with an Italian flair. What is it like? Honestly, I would buy this wine just to smell the aromatics. The aromatics are just stunningly complex. It's another one of these Fass Selections wines where you can smell it for hours and keep discovering new things. The palate is delicious. Juicy cherry fruit but with a lovely bit of spice that makes it great to drink. The wine has the acidity that keeps it fresh - you would not guess blind that this is an 11 year old wine it is so juicy and fresh. No noticeable wood. The finish is incredible and long. Honestly, this is one of those wines where you realize that we don't know jack about which grapes can be grown effectively where. And because these guys are still behind the marketing recognition curve, the wine is $24.99 on a 4 pack. The wine is super complex enough for you to drink it over an evening while reading Proust. But it also has that great fruit and juiciness that make it great with food. I mean really great. You can have it with pizza, please just don't tell me that you did.
I am also re-offering the 2009 Tenuta Grillo Baccabianca ($27.99 for a 4 pack). It's genius wine and a unique work of art along the lines of the wines of Puffeney, Berlioz, Thierry Germain, Weltner and other "unicorn"/ cult wine producers. Describing this wine is almost impossible as, like other great works of art, it's unique. Spend an hour with it and try and write a tasting note. I dare you. It's impossible, much like describing the Mona Lisa by first describing her ear and then her nose, etc. The overall effect of the painting is what matters and that is very hard to describe. So here it goes. First, the color which is borderline gold and faded tangerine. The nose is just crazy. The aromatics are off the hook. Nutty. Creamy. They change every five minutes. The palate is really hard to describe. Hints of passion fruit, but not overly fruity. Creamy. Some nut overtones. Tea notes flit in and out. Some soft tannins. There is stunning juiciness that is unique in that it hits all over the inside of your mouth like a juicy explosion. There is also awesome balance with wonderful mineral notes. It's one of those wines that is so well made and integrated you have to concentrate to pick out flavor elements, almost like the wines of Laible. The finish is long, long, long, complex and mineral. It leaves you speechless at the end as your brain tries to comprehend this new experience. This is, like Laible, a wine of contemplation. It's awesome with food so if you get a lot of it, you'll love it with food. If you just get a bottle or two, it's the greatest aperitif wine in the world because of its complexity. Please drink it by itself if you only get a bottle - it's an experience that deserves your full attention. The wine is 100% Cortese and has 2 months of skin contact, aged in stainless steel and then in bottles.
Guido Zampaglione lives with his wife and children about an hour Northeast of Barolo in a little town called Gamalero. He has an absolutely beautiful farm with lots of gorgeous furniture from his family in Calabria. His grandmother made wine and he bought the farm about a decade ago and works it with one assistant. He has 17 hectares but sells most of the fruit so he can focus on the 5-6 hectares that produce really special fruit. I assume that the cash from selling the grapes allows him to hold back his wines until they are ready to drink, often a decade after they are bottled. He is 100% natural and organic. The white is unfiltered because he feels that this creates a natural preservative which enables him to limit the use of added sulfur. Like Ferdinando Principiano (our first Piedmont offer, e-mail us for us details), he's also a quality and approach zealot but in a much more understated almost professorial way. He and his wife are really incredibly, incredibly nice people. Oh, his wines are also served at Turin's coolest natural wine bar, Banco, as well as its sister restaurant.
2005 Tenuta Grillo "Tornalsole" - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack)
(VERY LIMITED)
2009 Tenuta Grillo "Baccabianca" - $29.99 ($111.96 4 pack)
(VERY LIMITED)
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