- Ermido Di Betta - Wealthy, Retired
- Returned to the Land of His Roots
- Doesn't Need the Money, Doesn't Care About Quantity
- 100.00% Focused on Making the Best Nebbiolo Possible
- Micro Production (120 Cases Per Year)
- Organic Farming
- Perfect Soils for Ridiculously Perfumed Wines
- Some of the Most Aromatic Wines We Sell from Anywhere
2016 La Badina Lessona
- Please Listen to the Aria to Really Understand the Note
- One of the Most Perfumed Wines I've Ever Had from Italy
- 95 Points Antonio Galloni for the 2013
- 2016 Is a Better Vintage
- Incredibly Seductive Swirl
- Intense Cherry Flower, Licorice Flower
- Remarkable Elegance
- Palate: Incredibly Intense
- Literally Perfect Fresh Cherry Juice
- Echoes of Cherry Liquor Soak the Palate
- Elite Levels of Silky Elegance
- Floral Notes Sing Like the Queen of the Night Over the Fruit
- Texture Like Silk
- Palate Impact of a High Pressure Hose
- Hints of Chocolate, Sweet Savoriness As It Aerates
- Acidic Balance and Structure to Age for Decades
- Remarkable Flavor Integration and Balance
"The 2013 Nebbiolo Lessona is powerful and deep in the glass, with superb depth and more approachability than many wines offer in this vintage. There is perhaps a hint of new oak today, but time in bottle should help that note dissipate. This is an especially succulent, inviting 2013." - 95 Points, Antonio Galloni (2013 Vintage)
The Queen of the Night
My favorite aria of all time, bar none, is the "Queen of the Night" in Mozart's The Magic Flute. I include the link here so that you can listen to it and I encourage you to do so that so that you can really understand this wine. At 40 seconds here, the singer hits this peak and it's really indescribably beautiful. Her voice just hangs like magic over the music. I've heard it hundreds of times and each time I'm simply amazed that this is a product of man and not God.
La Badina
La Badina has burst on to the scene in Piedmont with scores that are normally only given to the elite
winemakers in the Langhe. Ermido Di Betta is a brilliant and wealthy retiree who has decided to return to his roots. His aspiration is to make wines that compete with the finest Nebbiolos on earth. And after only a few years, he is giving the Langhe a run for its money.
winemakers in the Langhe. Ermido Di Betta is a brilliant and wealthy retiree who has decided to return to his roots. His aspiration is to make wines that compete with the finest Nebbiolos on earth. And after only a few years, he is giving the Langhe a run for its money.
The entire estate is absolutely teeny (1.5 hectares) and they are making a tiny amount of wine with an intense focus on quality. Winemaking is organic (almost certified) and traditional. The high pH of the soil makes the wines incredibly perfumed. These wines are remarkable. As good as very, very good Langhe wines ($60-$100). A remarkable level of terroir and vintage transparency. Truly unique expressions of Nebbiolo. This is pedal to the metal cool climate Nebbiolo as one can get.
The Wines
I'm thrilled to offer the 2016 La Badina Lessona for $37.99 a bottle on a 4 pack purchase. This is the most gorgeously elegant yet dense of the La Badina wines we've sold. I ranked it ahead of the 2013 that got 95 points - it's more dense and powerful but retains the elegance and balance that is the house style.
The nose on this wine is pure Nebbiolo magic. It starts off just sweet and beautiful and then evolves into the intense cherry flower and licorice flower that is simply incredible. Gorgeous nose. Chestnut, flowers, tar, very, very aromatic. Awesome spice flower and forest right after a rainfall on the nose. A hint of this dried dusty cherry flower melange (in a good way). Just swirling and complex. Keeps changing and adding layers and nuance. In 5 years this will be a knockout. It's a knockout now but in ten years it is Foreman over Holyfield with one punch.
The palate is perfect, bright cherry fruit and so, so juicy. Terrific acidic balance that just screams Fassy juiciness. Elite juiciness. Just absolutely gorgeous like a classic old school pre global warming Barolo. The fruit is more early season cherry than the 2015. Really great juiciness that balances the power of the fruit.
This wine is so clean, so pure, so juicy and so complex yet super old school. Massive palate soak - almost a fire hose effect. As it aerates, hints of chocolate. As it opens up you get a wonderful savory quality. A kiss of salinity rounds it out. The acidity is so so wonderful. After an hour, this becomes a total freak show on the palate. Not the fruit, but the internal aromatics.
As noted, you get that Queen of the Night floral aromatic explosion over the top of the fruit. It's almost a sensory perfume overload - one of those wines that is so intense that your brain almost has to overclock to comprehend what's happening. The level of flavor integration is incredible. There's so much material but nothing sticks out. You rally have to focus to taste everything. This wine needs an hour decant to get going. It was amazing even then. It has the balance and tannic structure to age for 20+ years and it should evolve into something even more gorgeous than it is today as it evolves and opens up. For this price, or even 2 times this price, you can't find wines with this level of aromatics anywhere.
2016 La Badina Lessona - $39.99 ($151.96 4-Pack)
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