There are approximately 1,000 producers in Barolo and Barbaresco. Most of them are not very good.Any many of the good ones are small and have no marketing budget. You taste a lot of mediocre wines and then all of a sudden you are plastered in the face with something that is so incredibly stunning that all of the swill becomes worth it. Rattalino is a small (4,000 cases) producer in the Langhe that makes incredible, incredible wine. I was turned on to them by one of the top US-based writers about Italian wine, Tom Hyland, who is a fan.The first wine today is a wine that if you love Barbaresco it is something you need to try. We are offering the 2010 Massimo Rattalino Barbaresco Quarantacinque (45) Riserva for $59.99 each on a 3 pack. This wine is simply incredible. The nose is gorgeous with stunning pretty licorice and flowers. It really has that lovely tarry, rose-like thing and is super expansive. The palate is the apogee of Langhe fruit. Fresh, full red and even some dark fruits. Incredible power and concentration but so perfectly balanced with acidity (this is a Fass selections wine, after all). Really, really juicy. The tannins are firm but soft. The finish has lingering cherry fruit intertwined with licorice. This is a wine of staggering power and complexity. You can certainly drink it with meat but it's sort of like listening to a beautiful opera while playing a video game. Please at least have a glass by itself so that you can truly appreciate it. It will change your mood if you had a bad day and enhance just about anything, but don't, drink it outside on a 100 degree day watching polo. That probably won't work.
The 2007 Selection 42 is available elsewhere for $54.97 and this is a better vintage of a wine that costs 50% more (it is a riserva). The "45" should cost $80-$90 through standard 3 tier. I've had many a bottle of Produttori di Barbaresco, which I like very much. This bottle blows away their mid tier offerings (in this price range). Oh, and 2010 is considered one of the top vintages (along with 2008) of the past decade.
The 45 is aged for 36 months in 2,000 litre Slavonian oak casks followed by 12 months in tonneau and 6 months in bottle. You can pop and pour this wine if you like but it obviously gains in complexity as it ages.
The second wine is the 2013 Massimo Rattalino Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC Ventisette (27) for $24.99 each on a 4 pack. I really love this wine, especially at this price; the vineyards are located in Barbaresco. If that was the Grand Cru, this is the overachieving village wine. The nose has lovely cherry aromatics with a bit of spice. It's all vibrant, silky and fresh cherry fruit on the palate with super silky tannins. The finish was a bit tight so while you can pop and pour it, it is better with either an hour decant or 6-12 more months of age. Compare the 2008 bottling of this wine (the 27) at $36 (the 26 a lesser bottling). The value cannot be beat.
It is aged for 10 months in large casks and 5 in stainless steel. Think a really well made village wine (if it were made from nebbiolo). Just a great, great delicious everyday wine with some nice complexity. Definitely a consideration for a case purchase if you like Nebbiolo.
Massimo Rattalino purchased the estate and produced his first wines in 2002. When speaking to his employees, there is the combination of incredible respect and trepidation. This is a man who wants everything from the vineyard work to the vinification to the position of the labels to the temperature of the wine at tasting to be exactly what he wants. He has that attention to detail that is common at all of our great wineries. Rattalino is a new star in the Langhe and I am thrilled to be offering these wines.
2010 Rattalino Barbaresco Riserva Sel. 45 - $63.99 ($179.97 3-pack)
2013 Rattalino Nebbiolo d'Alba - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack)
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