Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
I've tried a couple of these wines recently, trying different Nebbiolo-based wines, looking for something with a bit less abv than the Piemont powerhouses.
Rosso 2012
The wine was very delicious: pure-tasting, slightly tart fruit, thin on the palate (as opposed to viscous), with just enough fine, sandy tannins to create a pleasing textural contrast. The last glass was the best, several days after opening the bottle: the tannins had smoothed nicely, the wine exchanging textural contrast for limpidity (albeit without a ton of complexity).
I'm better with textures than with flavor-aroma descriptors: I'd say the dark side of cherry, not quite into the tar spectrum. 'Fresh' - the descriptor you read everywhere about these wines - is apt. At 13% abv, it kicks the brain around at a more gradual pace than do many southern-Piemont wines.
The Ar Pe Pe site calls this bottle a daily drinker; at $28, for me, not so much. But it's a step up from even the very good Nebbiolo de Langhes I've tried so far, which seem to start near $25, so the value is fair.
Sasella Stella Retica 2006?
Directly from the bottle, for the first evening, this was - again - relatively thin, a wrangly mess of tough tannins and sour acidity - the basic Rosso seemed preferable. I poured 1/2 of the bottle into a clean 375 and refrigerated it for several days. This batch, the second day after uncorking it anew, was very much improved, showing ample fruit to carry the structural elements with some class. Now the wine's relatively thin texture and lean body (13% abv) were assets, elegantly framing a substantial, concentrated pouch of brothy fruit. This is the first wine that's helped me make sense of Nebbiolo-Burgundy comparisons.
After the second trial, at < $50, this bottle seemed pretty good value, in today's market, for a wine of this cast and quality.
Rosso 2012
The wine was very delicious: pure-tasting, slightly tart fruit, thin on the palate (as opposed to viscous), with just enough fine, sandy tannins to create a pleasing textural contrast. The last glass was the best, several days after opening the bottle: the tannins had smoothed nicely, the wine exchanging textural contrast for limpidity (albeit without a ton of complexity).
I'm better with textures than with flavor-aroma descriptors: I'd say the dark side of cherry, not quite into the tar spectrum. 'Fresh' - the descriptor you read everywhere about these wines - is apt. At 13% abv, it kicks the brain around at a more gradual pace than do many southern-Piemont wines.
The Ar Pe Pe site calls this bottle a daily drinker; at $28, for me, not so much. But it's a step up from even the very good Nebbiolo de Langhes I've tried so far, which seem to start near $25, so the value is fair.
Sasella Stella Retica 2006?
Directly from the bottle, for the first evening, this was - again - relatively thin, a wrangly mess of tough tannins and sour acidity - the basic Rosso seemed preferable. I poured 1/2 of the bottle into a clean 375 and refrigerated it for several days. This batch, the second day after uncorking it anew, was very much improved, showing ample fruit to carry the structural elements with some class. Now the wine's relatively thin texture and lean body (13% abv) were assets, elegantly framing a substantial, concentrated pouch of brothy fruit. This is the first wine that's helped me make sense of Nebbiolo-Burgundy comparisons.
After the second trial, at < $50, this bottle seemed pretty good value, in today's market, for a wine of this cast and quality.
