Our Italian portfolio resulted from tastings of a ton of Barolo and Barbaresco. And you know what you learn? While those wines can be great, the wines from the Northeast of Piedmont (e.g. Boca, Bramaterra, Carema, Ghemme and the flagship Gattinara) are, at their best, pretty darned close in quality (and often much better) at a fraction of the price. Fortunately, Fass Selections has found a young, incredibly talented producer, Marco Arlunno at Il Chiosso, who is fanatical about quality and holds back his wines until they are ready to drink.The first wine today, the Il Chiosso Gattinara Riserva 2008 for $39.99 each on a 4 pack (compare the regular '08 Gattinara for $27-$39) is one of those wines that is like a punch in the face (in a good way). You are tasting wine after Piedmont wine after Piedmont wine and some are good, some bad. And then you put this in your mouth and you are like "what the heck is that?" First the nose. It's as if there was a garden full of all kinds of berries on a hot day when the aromatics are swirling all over and your head is in the middle of all of this with all of these berry fruits swirling around your nose. It's truly exquisite. The palate is explosive berry fruit, but juicy, the way we like it at Fass Selections. Very, very concentrated berry fruits with great acidity. This wine is good to go. It would cost $50+ 3 tier so it is not imported by the people who import the regular Gattinara. Please do not be misled by the price - this is a premium wine. There is the level of terrific concentration that you expect from a top wine from the Northern Rhone or even Burgundy (and Barolo as well, of course). If you like wines with a solid amount of fruit, this is one to really stock up on. This is not a modern, jammy fruit wine (it is well balanced with secondary flavors) but for a traditionally made wine, it has awesome fruit. 2008 was an insane vintage for this winery and they are running out of this bottling. This is at the beginning of its drinking window and has the structure and acidity to last for 5-10 years.
The second wine is the 2010 Il Chiosso Nebbiolo for $24.99 per bottle on a 4 pack. This wine is another stunning Fass aged Italian stunning bargain. It's a really juicy wine with great berry fruit but it is a bit full and has a bit of roundness. I call it "salivating" because it's so juicy, you sort of salivate when you drink it. It's perfectly balanced with some nice spice as well. A really well made wine that is perfectly aged. The grapes are from the Ghemme area and this wine is partially aged in barrique and the rest in large oak barrels (the oak is perfectly integrated). It's another one of these wines that is so good you can serve it to wine experts who will appreciate it for how delicious and well made it is. But, you can also serve it to wine novices who will go crazy over the fruit. Please contact me for case pricing, if you are interested.
Il Chiosso is a relatively recent partnership between two close friends. Marco Arlunno and Carlo Cambieri. Carlo handles the vineyard work and Marco makes the wines. Marco is the son of a winemaker and has a degree in oenology and it shows. The wines combine terrific terroir and care in the vineyards with excellent, careful and but minimal work in the cellar. Marco is a truly wonderful person who has a deep knowledge of the area and it's traditions and is trying to show the world that wines from this region can compete with the best that Piedmont has to offer.
2008 Il Chiosso Gattinara Riserva - $41.99 ($159.96 4-pack)
(VERY LIMITED)
2010 Il Chiosso Nebbiolo - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)
No comments:
Post a Comment