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Bottles that are above and beyond the call for beauty!

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At the Romirasco vertical tasting, the 2016 vintage immediately took the lead. A rose petal jam note chimes from the get go, amplifies itself mid palate and concludes the long final. It presents fine grained tannins, a tightly knit structure, and a surprisingly caressing texture for its age, no doubt due in part to a generous but well integrated alcohol content. Normally this bottle should be quietly laying down in the cellar, but we were surprised that it shows well and is already pleasurable. A wine well worth searching for – Tasted on December 11th 2023

The Rinaldi Brunate 2013 is commanding respect from its coherent aromatics on the nose and palate. Soft tannins and a long finish are the backdrop to a sea of rose petals, oodles of red cherries and a touch of black tea. The wine is vibrant and elegant, no doubt a sensational bottle with a strong potential of evolution for years to come – Tasted on September 28th 2023

Imagine a rose garden adjacent to a mature forest filled with wild mushrooms. This is what your nose perceives before you get to the refined tactile sensation on the mid palate. With oodles of fruit, black tea notes and a persistent, long finish, one cannot help but to return to the glass thinking « was I dreaming or this is true »? It is! We kept coming back to admire how vibrant, coherent, integrated and complementary all these dimensions of fruit, structure and caressing texture are intertwined. Some people say that some wines have a transcendental dimension, others just revel in the pleasure of a good glass of wine. We agree with both – Tasted on February 16th 2024

Having unfortunately tossed aside the 1997 (oxidised), the 1995 captured our attention with its vibrancy, its soft tannins and the body and poise of a ballet dancer. Mid palate, surprise! The wine is still youthful, not showing the aromatics one would expect from a twenty-six years old bottle of wine. No doubt its life will further extend fora few decades. The 1993 paints an altogether different picture; first vintage of production of Giuseppe Mascarello’s Cà d’Morissio Monprivato, the wine imposes itself with an explosive nose of rosehip and concentrated aromas of red cherries, licorice, tobacco with a touch of sanguine and iron notes. This wine has reached its apogee. Drink now – Tasted on January 18th 2024

Undeniably, each of those three vintages shows a potential for ageing but the oldest one, the 2004, calls for our attention, showcasing the precision of its aromatic notes of prunes, maraschino cherries, tobacco, tar and a hint of iron. With refined tannins and moderate alcohol (13.5 ABV), this vibrant and sinewy wine stays focused until the end of its long finish – Tasted on January 26th 2024

1997 Sperss from Gaja is a surprising wine. At first contact, the nose reveals tertiary notes of underbrush and meat suggesting a wine long in the tooth. Tasting it, surprise! The curtain drops on tertiary aromatics and we get oodles of fresh dark cherries and bracing acidity. The mid palate is fruit forward and the long finish is enhanced by a twist of bitterness. No doubt this wine will gracefully continue to rise for a good ten years at minimum. Last but not least, the format (375ml) of the bottle! This is heresy to large format lovers…… At 27 years old , the wine seems to travel at its own pace, with serenity. This is fun! – Tasted on October 26th 2023

Some wines have a strong pull effect and the Burlotto Acclivi 2010 is certainly one of them. Is it due to those youthful red fruit (cherries, cranberries et al) and few green notes? Tasting it, how to not notice this perfumed flowery bed lined with fine grained and silky tannins? Or the pleasant finish with those liquorice notes? Regardless, this bottle has potential and is in its ascending phase. At present it should be left alone in the cellar if one wishes to reap the full pleasure dividend. A well thought out blend of the Monvigliero, Neirane, Rocche dell’Olmo and Boscatto terroirs, Acclivi is an homage to good craftsmanship  –Tasted on December 11th 2023

Richard Sagala and Stephen Spurrier, Barolo Castle July 14th, 2017