Luca Sandrone describes 2007 as one of the finest vintages he and his brother Luciano have ever seen. The fruit came in perfectly – no problems with rot or mold. The vintage was not too hot, had sufficient temperature differential between night and day, and the rains came exactly when needed, giving the vines just enough moisture to keep from stressing out completely. 2007 will be a great, great year. Though harvest was 15-20 days early, so was bud break – so the season was the right length for full maturation. The only difficulty is the elevated sugar levels – their Barbera came in at potential 15.8% alcohol – and though the Nebbiolo was high as well, it wasn’t off-the-charts like that.
In contrast, he’s not nearly as happy with the 2003, just released. Too hot, he says, the vines stressed, and the growing season was compressed – while the skins and flesh had gotten to full ripeness the pips had not, and the defining characteristic, for him, is astringency in the tannins. The fruit is delicious, though, and if the winery managed the tannin extraction properly, they made good wines. Sandrone has crafted two of my favorite wines of the vintage.
At Cortese, the sentiments about 2007 are echoed – Tiziana Cortese describes her father and brother as ecstatic about the vintage – perfect fruit, tremendous growing season, classic vintage. The 2007s should rival the best wines of 1989, 1996, 2001 and 2004 – all classic, long-lived years.
Dante Scaglione, the oenologist at Bruno Giacosa, calls 2007 the vintage for which one waits a lifetime. Bud break at the Falletto vineyard in Serralunga was 3 weeks early, in the second half of March, but the harvest began almost equally early, affording the plants a full slate of growing days – a near-perfect season. The winter had been dry and warm, so many were worried about vine stress, but rains came just before the plants shut down from lack of water. Dante asserts that the vines use half of their water requirements in the last month of maturation, so the rain that deposited 120mm of moisture on their vineyards on August 5-6 was perfectly timed, as the Nebbiolo harvest began the second week of September. The wines have mostly finished their alcoholic fermentation and are into the malolactic, and all look incredibly good – easy fermentations, no problems whatsoever, gorgeous color and extract. He’s visibly excited by the wines they will make.
2003 Sandrone Barolo “Le Vigne”
Intense sweet cherry nose, with black plums, spices, vanilla and chocolate. On the palate, incredibly pure, ripe fruit, with seemingly lower acids than normal, but very delicious. There are no burn or scorch problems apparent in the bottle. Long and very velvety. Luciano has crafted this one for less ageing – and his use of tonneaux instead of barrique makes his wines less aggressively oaky. There is a lovely integration of the wood and the wine, and none of the bitter tannic aftertaste that some 2003s display. One of the best of the vintage. Drink 2009-2016. Impressive. 4.5-
2003 Sandrone Barolo “Cannubi Boschis”
Typical for Sandrone is the deep cherry fruit he extracts from his vines. The nose also has a good floral aspect, but none of the tarryness we get from Cannubi in great years. This is a delicious wine, reflective of the vintage and its difficulties, but nicely rendered and well-delineated. The palate has a touch of cranberries and the tannins are bigger and a bit rougher at this point than the Le Vigne bottling. Still delicious, and a triumph given the vintage. Drink 2009-2015. 4.0+
2007 Cortese, Chardonnay Langhe, tank sample.
Intensely pure fruit, layers of apples and green pears. This is one of my favorite chards in the world (!!) because they have the good sense to keep it in steel and make it fresh and lively. This one shows a very minerally side that I associate with great Chablis. Cortese’s Cahrd is simple, joyous and fun. Drink at release – in about 4 months, though none comes to the US, they only sell it at the winery. Ready to drink now – amazing, only 45 days old, and delicious. 3.0+
2006 Cortese, Dolcetto d’Alba “Trifolera”
Grapey nose – truly the “Beaujolais” of Langhe – though not that crap nouveau, this is more like cru. With the plums and minerals, good structure and presence. Smoky. Soft in the mouth – well-structured tannins. Drink 2008-2011. 2.5+
2004 Cortese Barbera “Morasina”
16 months in barrel, 30% new, and the wine is made from the oldest Barbera vines. The color is forbiddingly dark, and the nose has layers of vanilla, plums, berries and cassis. The flavors are similar, with appealing minerality and plenty of structure. Drink 2009-2015. Lovely. 3.5
2004 Cortese, Nebbiolo Langhe
Made from younger vines in less-good positions on the Rabaja (the Corteses only own vineyard land directly below their home above the Rabaja vineyard – an enviable position). Interesting nose of Rainier Cherries, red plums, cassis, smoke and earth. Though the palate is very closed and tight, plenty of cherry fruit and violets come through. The whole thing is held together by huge ripe tannins and plenty of acid which keeps the whole thing hard as nails. Drink 2012-2017. 3.5-
2004 Cortese, Barbaresco Rabaja
Powerful. The Corteses are traditional winemakers – no barriques touch their Barbaresco. This one is closed tight, but still shows up violets and black cherry- a very classic young Barbaresco nose. On the palate, this is a pure, big wine – reflecting both the vintage and the way this wine is made: without compromises that make the process easier or more consistent. The Corteses do it the same way it has been done for generations, and every vintage they craft is unique and individual in ways modernist winemakers can only dream of. Tremendous extraction, dry, slightly chalky tannins, pure fruit and a finish that goes on and on … wow. There’s no use in opening one up a this point, though – maybe try one in 2012 to see how it’s coming along. I suspect it will be best from 2019-2029. 4.5. Amazing value as well.
2003 Cortese, Barbaresco Rabaja
The nose shows sweet berries and rose petals, a bit one-dimensional but very nice. On the palate, this wine is still a touch tight and shows the slightly astringent tannins so characteristic of the vintage, though this only comes out after a few minutes of holding the wine in your mouth. The flavors are really nice – berries, tea rose, licorice, red fruits and loamy soil. The structure is surprisingly good. Delicious, but not extraordinary. Drink 2010-2016. 3.5+
2001 Cortese, Barbaresco Riserva Rabaja, bottled sample, not yet released
Amazing what even few months can do for a wine that was forbiddingly tight from tank sample even 6 months ago (I tasted this from tank in both March 2006 and 2007). Now, this is becoming compellingly gorgeous – an incredibly elegant nose of black cherry, violets, cola and dark fruits. On the palate, loads of minerality and cherries, with anise, rose, earth and stone. Amazingly well-put together at such a young age. Drink 2013-2026. 4.5-
1999 Cortese, Barbaresco Riserva Rabaja
Supremely refined and elegant nose, harmonious and balanced – like Audrey Hepburn in a bottle. Layers of violets and dark stone fruit, with crushed pepper, licorice, cola and hints of smoky berries. Still closed, but complex and layered, with the fruit and acid in good balance. Needs time. Drink 2012-2024. 4.5-
2001 Giacosa, Barolo Riserva, Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba
Loads of pure raspberry and rose petal, with minerals, licorice and violets. The nose is among the most harmonious that I have ever smelled. On the palate, it is tight, but still offers up layers of fruit, acid and tannins, gorgeous structure … light as air and solid as steel. Crafting a wine that is both elegant and powerful is among the most difficult of the winemaker’s tasks – and Dante has succeeded again, brilliantly. Drink 2013-2031. 5.0-
2004 Giacosa, Barolo Riserva, Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba (just bottled in August, not yet released)
A treat, to say the least. Classic Barolo nose of black cherry, violets, rose petals, licorice and black raspberry. This is young, crazy closed, but still rocks with intensely pure fruit and extraction. Though closed, it drinks well now. It is amazingly well balanced for such a young wine – and embodies, for me, the sense that great Nebbiolo makes wines of both power and elegance when reared correctly – the “iron fist in a velvet glove.” It is almost impossible to tell just how big and brooding this wine is, as it is so perfectly calibrated in the balance of its elements. This is intensely pleasurable – it will be hard to resist drinking these wines on release. Drink 2014-2029. Amazing achievement. 5.0
Day 2 I hit the ground running, meeting Carlo and Enzo Revello at their winery. We taste through the lineup, discuss the vintage and look at the vines. Their winery looks over the Gattera vineyard (always recognizable for the huge Lebanese Cedar that grows at the top of the hill). The vines, picked clean, are lovely, and just beginning to change color. I find a few stray bunches of Nebbiolo. Wow – these are delicious! Three weeks after the harvest, they are super-sweet, but still with bright acids. By the time I get back to the winery, my hands are sticky from grape juice.
2006 Revello Dolcetto
I arrive in Monforte d’Alba late afternoon on Monday. It is a beautiful day, sunny, wispy clouds, much cooler than Rome. I pass Nino (my landlord while I’m here) just in front of his family’s restaurant – he’s about to show some other guests their apartment in a building his family owns a hundred yards up in the village. I settle down on a bench next to the church to wait for him. When he says 5 minutes, I know he means 20. I catch up on some calls and enjoy the late afternoon sun.
Back at the apartment, I play with making time exposures of the full moon.
I’ve been back to that little enoteca several times since that first visit – it is essentially a wine store that serves lunch. I stopped in on Friday (10.19.07) midday. It is two rooms with floor-to-ceiling wine bins, and scattered tables. You go through a line to a glass cold case, point at the amazing-looking antipasti you want, they put a plate together for you, and you return to your table to enjoy. Order up a few bottles, and you’re pretty much guaranteed that it will be a most excellent day indeed. Just don’t be surprised if you need a nap later. S’all good, babe.

And a few I haven’t visited recently but would recommend wholeheartedly:
1998 Pingus, Ribera Del Duero, Spain
2005 Waters, Syrah, Columbia Valley
Dinner with C & C, and H &T last Friday. I hit the supermarket 55 minutes before everyone arrives and put the menu together. Pork chops marinated in rosemary, olive oil and garlic, seared spinach, and grilled shitakes. I prepare a nice dressing for a mâche salad as well, but forget about it when I serve the meal – typical for me – I find the greens and dressing in the fridge after everyone’s left and I’m cleaning the kitchen. D’oh! C & C bring over some lettuce wraps with avocado and seaweed, which go amazingly well with rosé Champagne. We finish off with a selection of cheese that T has brought over – he is known locally the Cheeseman. As in, “The Cheeseman Cometh.” And boy did he ever. A whole bunch of fine cheeses, all from the
1988 Bruno Giacosa, Barbaresco Riserva, “Santo Stefano di Nieve,” from magnum