There Are Wines That Are Great. There Are Wines That Are Distinctive. And There Are Wines That Are Both.

Two Wines that Are the Product of an Absolute Genius
 - Ridiculous Levels of Transparency
A Gattinara That Will Utterly Blow Your Mind
 - Totally Different from Every Other Gattinara I've Had
 - Remarkable Cherry Fruit and Crazy Levels of Spice
And a Spanna That Is Delicious But Also a Freak Show
 - Some of the Most Complex Aromatics of Any Wine in the Portfolio
 - A Fascinating Geek Wine


The first time that I had the wines of Stefano Dorelli's Cantina DelSignore, it was a previous vintage.

The wines were brilliant. Totally unorthodox and unlike any wines I'd had from Piedmont. I tasted them for several hours and really, really wanted to offer them. But they were not quite well made enough to be Fass Selections wines. A touch too angular. A bit too much bitterness and not enough fruit.  My note with three stars next to it said, "TRY AGAIN NEXT YEAR." When I tried them this year, they retained all of the brilliance and distinctiveness but the wines were also incredibly balanced and well made. I am really thrilled to add them to our portfolio.

What makes these wines special is what usually makes wines special, at least for me.  Stefano is trying to do just as much as needed in the vineyard and as little as possible in the  cellar.  And his vineyard work is designed to create enough fruit to make the wines taste like... well, wine but not so much to overwhelm the secondary flavors that come from the grape and specific terroir.  That's why these wines are so special and so different.

The first wine is the standard bearer of the estate. The Cantina DelSignore Gattinara "Il Putto" 2013 for $32.99 a bottle on a 4 pack purchase. Wow, wow, wow this blew me away. Awesome spice and a hint of smoke on the nose. The palate is just about the most intense cherry fruit with the most spice I've seen in a wine. Just ridiculous levels of spice with fantastic violets intermingled. There is a faint hint of bitterness that just integrates so well with the other elements.  Really great juiciness that balances the power of the fruit.  On a very simple level, you can drink this off of it's fruit, there is a serious, serious fruit soak.  But there is another level to this wine when the secondary flavors kick in.  Wine geeks will really appreciate the balance and texture but also the way that the fruit sets the table for the secondary flavors to shine through.  Just a remarkable wine and a very different Gattinara from everything I've ever had including Il Chiosso, which I love. The tannic structure is there and will allow this wine to age for medium term consumption.  This is 100% nebbiolo aged for 2 years in barrels and 1 year in bottle.

The second wine is truly fascinating. The Cantina DelSignore La Crotta Coste della Sesia Spanna 2014 for $22.99 per bottle on a 4 pack. Most of the wines that we sell at this price point are more on the delicious side. And this wine is certainly one that, on one level, you can enjoy with abandon. It's utterly, delicious, but more importantly for a wine geek like me, Just one of the most interesting wines I've had this year. Don't let the price fool you. the Spanna is one of the more interesting wines in the portfolio. The nose is really unusual. Plummy notes, perfumed fruit, flowers and a faint hint of fresh zucchini (in a really good, interesting way, trust me) The palate is really nice plum fruits with some good balancing acidity and a swirling range of spices. Super interesting.  This is another wine that you can enjoy off of the delicious balanced fruit.  But the aromatics are really what the game is about.  This is a very cerebral wine which is very unusual for a wine at this price point.  This is aged 6 months in barrel and 6 in bottle. This is 100% nebbiolo (Spanna is the local name for nebbiolo).


Stefano Dorelli is the grandson of the winery's founder, Attilio Delsignore.  They bottled their first wines in 1960.   Stefano took over  winemaking in 2001, and installed modern winemaking equipment.  There are a good number of vines that are still 50-70 years old. Vineyard work is aggressive to control yields and cellar intervention minimal.

2013 Cantina DelSignore Gattinara "Il Putto" - $34.99 ($131.96 4-pack) 
2014 Cantina DelSignore La Crotta Coste Della Sesia Spanna - $24.99 ($91.96 4-pack)