The Chambolle of Italy - 132 Bottles Total, Carema - Superstar Young Winemaker (Very Limited)

 Our Young Superstar in Carema (Alto Piemonte)
 - The 2016 Was Great (First Vintage)
 - The 2017 Is Stunning
 - The 2018 Is the Stuff of Legend
 - Made 100 Cases Total (in 2018)

These Wines Have the Elegance, the Softness of Bartolo Mascarello
 - Nebbiolo Lovers Need to Buy Them

Carema
 - Only 5 Producers 
 - The Chambolle of Italy
 - Haunting Elegance, All Star Aromatics 
 - The Filigree and the Refinement
 - The Next Big Thing

2018 Monte Maletto Carema "Sole e Roccia"
 - Only 96 Bottles
 - 92-94 Points (Antonio Galloni) 
 - 94 for the 2017 (Antonio Galloni)
 - The Easiest 9.5 I've Ever Given on Pop and Pour
 - Nose: One Sniff and You Are in Heaven
 - So Classic and Earthy
 - Perfectly Ripe Cherries
 - Some Elite Barbaresco Strawberry Hints 
 - So Elegant
 - Diamond Edge Fruit Clarity and Purity
 - Haunting - Chambolle-Like

2019 Monte Maletto Erbaluce di Caluso "Vecchie Tonneaux"
 - Micro Production
 - Only 36 Bottles
 - Terrific Density for a Mountain White 
 - Incredible Citrus Fruit
 - Terrific Erbaluce Acidity
 - A Very Serious White Wine
 - A Potential Top 10 Italian White

 - Think If Gilles Berlioz Made White Wine from Erbaluce 

A New Young Star That Is Going to Be Famous

When you get 94 points from Antonio Galloni in your second vintage, that means something.  Most winemakers are just figuring things out at that point.  Gian Marco Viani is most certainly an established young star.  He was a former top sommelier and knows exactly what he wants to do.  His style is that elegant Burgundian style like Bartolo Mascarello.  And I don't use that comparison lightly.  

To make wines this good with this little experience as a winemaker is unheard of. 

The Style

The Style here is updated traditionalism.  The winemaking is traditional, but Gian Marco is tweaking things like using whole clusters to create wines that have some of the best vivacity on the palate of any red wines I've ever had. When you take a sip, you instantly get hit on the palate almost like an electric shock.  There is also this Burgundian softness that is very much the style of Bartolo Mascarello.

Carema

Carema is one of the oddest little areas in Italy. We talk about Alto Piemonte but Carema is way out to the west of say Boca. It is the middle of God's country at the foot of the Alps.  There are only 800 people living in the town.  It's absolutely some of the most gorgeous, rural land in Italy or anywhere else. There were until recently only two producers in Carema.  Ferrando and the cooperative. Ferrando is, of course, great. And the cooperative is... a cooperative. But there are now three new producers in Carema, all friends, who are working their tails off to make wine and grow the region.  

The Chambolle Musigny of Alto Piemonte

If there is one thing about Alto Piemonte that no one has done yet, and I'll do it some day is to compare
each appellation to Burgundy. For example I see Bramaterra as Nuits St. Georges as it's usually bigger and more structured. I see Lessona as Volnay as it's very elegant, super aromatic but it has a mineral spine. If I had to do one for Carema, which is the smallest appellation in Alto Piemonte, I'd say it is Chambolle Musigny. It's got the haunting elegance, all star aromatics plus the filigree and the refinement. It's why the wines of Carema are also more expensive than any other Alto Piemonte appellation. They have the magic. Just refined silkiness and Nebbiolo magic. I adore Carema. It's very small and very treacherous. There are, I believe, only 5 producers and Fass Selections now has 2. The issue is is that it's tiny and there is no wine amongst the smaller new producers. But to get a new producer of Carema is special. It's a gift. And when they are this good? It's truly magic. 

The Wines

The first wine is the 2018 Monte Maletto Carema "Sole e Roccia" for $47.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This was the easiest 9.5 I've ever given on pop and pour.

The nose: One sniff and you are in heaven. So bright and lifting but also so classic and earthy. Bright, perfectly ripe cherries that are so st

unning one just stops and thinks, "have I ever really smelled a cherry before?" It has that strawberry also that one gets in elite Barbaresco. so deeply floral as to be beyond belief. Crushed violets that are so vivid that it seems like they were hand crushed and the glass was wiped with them, like lemon peel on a cocktail. So deep. Also some classic Nebbiolo licorice, cherries and wafting spice. Just elite aromas. So elegant. Magic. Just magic. If any aromas are elegant it's these. 

Palate: The palate has come to play! And play it does. Wow this is elegant. It truly floats like a butterfly but does not sting, just soaks fruit that is so pure, so velvety and so succulent one cannot believe. Masterful balance and purity. This would be $100 in the Langhe. The palate has such incredibly vivid sweet cherry fruit and that Maletto vivacity.  Stunning inner mouth aromas and the classicism is off the charts. Those aromatics on the nose positively soar on the palate. Almost an overload. Crazy. Haunting, ethereal and elegant, with superb structure, sap and depth. God this is so pretty. A lovely well knit structure as well. As it airs the structure becomes more prominent and hints of a long life. The finish is incredibly long with licorice, spice and persists so nicely. It's calming. Truly a genius wine and worth every penny.

On day 2 - this is even better.  This wine is going to age masterfully.Wow - the elegance is off the charts.

"The 2018 Carema Sole e Roccia is gracious and lifted in its first impression. A spine of tannin gives this mid-weight, lithe Carema terrific energy, while bright acids perk up the flavors nicely. Translucent and classy to the core, the 2018 is so expressive today. It is a bit less opulent than the 2017, which gives it a touch more classicism. What a gorgeous wine it is. Tasted from barrel." - 92-94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous

The second wine is the 2019 Monte Maletto Erbaluce di Caluso "Vecchie Tonneaux" for $25.99 a bottle on a two pack. This is a stunning bottle of Italian white wine.  Just exactly what a wine made at the foot of the Alps by a great winemaker should be.  It has terrific density and stunning citrus fruit but ripping acidic balance and freshness.  Great minerality as well. Make no mistake - this is a big, big dense wine but it comes across as incredibly fresh because of the skill of the winemaker. Terrific palate vivacity as well. Long, long finish as well. Wow. This was also a barrel sample when I tasted it and I'm guessing that it is even better now with some age.  If it is, it's a top 10 Italian white wine.  This has a small bit of skin contact (5 days) on 20% of the grapes to give it a bit more density.

The Winemaker

If I could create a fictional character of someone who is working to create something new in a relatively unknown region, it would be Gian Marco Viano.  

1) He graduated with a technical degree so he has the discipline and scientific background to understand the scientific aspects of making wine. 

2) He worked as a sommelier in Michelin starred restaurants where he got to taste a wide range of wines to create his own style.  

3) He is incredibly smart and hard working and 

4) has a "force of nature" personality which one needs to have to survive the difficulties of starting a business in a remote area like this.  It's not all awful, of course, the views are absolutely spectacular.  

Giano Marco learned the nuts and bolts of winemaking by working in the vineyards and cellars at several local wineries.  

I've met a lot of winemakers in my years as an importer. These wines are wines to buy as much of as you can. Alas, given the small production at this point, it isn't much.

2018 Monte Maletto Carema "Sole e Roccia" - $49.99 ($191.96 4-Pack) 

2019 Monte Malleto Erbaluce di Caluso "Vecchie Tonneux" - $27.99

 ($77.97 3-pack)