Quality, Individuality, Value

QUALITY THROUGH COOPERATION

QUALITY THROUGH COOPERATION
Probably nowhere in the world has the Cooperative movement played such an important role in the economy as in Italy. Enthusiastically embraced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was widely, and often brutally, suppressed by the Fascists in the 1920s and 1930s, only to re-emerge even stronger than before in the years following the Second World War. It now has a presence throughout the country in almost every sector of the economy. This is no less true in the field of wine production, where far from being hiding places for lazy and incompetent farmers and serving mainly to boost production figures, cooperatives are among the most important producers in their denominations and often lead the way in the search for excellence and innovation. The two wineries featured today are not only among the most highly regarded in their respective regions but world leaders in the styles of wine they produce.

Part 1.  Cantina Terlano – Year in, year out it produces some of Italy’s Finest white wines. 

Cantina Terlano was founded in 1893 and is set high up on terraces cut into the slopes of Mount Schöggel (near Bolzano) at altitudes of up to 1000 metres. The south-facing slopes, strewn with crystals and volcanic rock, give rise to wines of wonderful elegance, complexity and minerality, and chief winemaker Rudi Köfler is an absolute master at maximising varietal character in every wine. Elegant and stylish on release, the Cantina Terlano whites also have an enviable record for cellar ageing, very unusual for Italian aromatic varieties. Terlano is now part of the Wine Spectator magazine’s ‘Grand Tour’, a tasting event celebrating the world’s finest 200 wineries, and a regular star performer in the American Press, Gambero Rosso and many other Italian guides.

The 2023 Growing Season
A mild winter with little snow was followed by a very dry and mild spring. Fortunately, this was followed by a cool April and rainy May. Although it delayed flowering a little, the rainfall was welcomed as it replenished the water reserves. There was a little more rain than usual in an otherwise warm June and July, but August was hot until near the end of the month when it rained again and then conditions remained good until picking, which started on 4 September. The white wines are fragrant and balanced with slightly lower levels of alcohol – a very good vintage overall.

2022 Growing Season
A very dry and mild winter was followed by a cool spring and the vines were slightly behind in their development by the time a very welcome warm and sunny May arrived – flowering commenced mid-May and was complete on the higher-altitude vines by early June. Due to an exceptionally hot and dry summer, there were few problems with fungal attack, but the lack of rainfall started to stress the vines before rainfall and even thunderstorms at the end of July and beginning of August put an end to the lack of water, thus averting drought stress and related quality problems. Harvest started early on the 24^th August  – the grapes were fully ripe and healthy with slightly reduced acidity levels.

2022 Pinot Bianco Riserva “Vorberg” – £210 (magnums also available) The enigmatic Pinot Bianco grape absolutely thrives here and is capable of very long-term ageing. The grapes are carefully hand-selected before gentle whole cluster pressing followed by slow fermentation at a controlled temperature in big oak barrels (70 + 30 hl); malolactic fermentation and aging on the lees in traditional wooden barrels for 12 months. Sea and river fish, mature hard cheese, any excuse really.

2021 Growing Season
A cold, snowy winter was followed by a cool, dry spring resulting in late budding, which was lucky as there were frosts in April. Decent rainfall in May with flowering starting at the end of the month, about two weeks later than average. A hot June was followed by a wet July and early August but temperatures remained good, not too high, until harvest which started on 6 September.  It was a small but excellent vintage.

2021 Terlano Primo Grande Cuvee – £585 (also available in magnum) To answer the first and possibly most important question: yes, it is absolutely worth it. Primo has a depth of flavour, intensity and sustained finish that can only be compared to the finest of Grand Cru Burgundies. Sensational wine.
Intense and mineral from the start, the 2021 Terlaner I Primo Grande Cuvée opens with a beguiling blend of flint stones, camphor and white smoke, giving way to dried peaches and apricots. It sweeps across the palate, ripe in style yet refined, with silken textures, taking on a saline tinge as tart orchard fruits cascade throughout, complicated by a spicy hint of ginger. Long, long, long, the 2021 lingers on, youthfully tense and gently tannic, with a crunchy feel and sensation of liquid stone that remains under an air of pretty inner florals. The potential is off the charts. This is a I Primo for the ages. Reviews & Tasting Notes 96+ Drinking Window 2026 – 2038  From: Trentino-Alto Adige: Pushing the Limits (Mar 2024) – By Eric Guido on December 2023

Part 2. Produttori del Barbaresco – Leading the way with Nebbiolo
Barbaresco’s history is intimately linked with that of its co-ops. Although the uniqueness of its wines had long been recognised, it was not until the principal of the Royal Oenological School in Alba founded a co-operative in 1894 and marketed the wine under the name of Barbaresco, rather than Barolo, that the region was placed on the wine map. The co-op was forced to close by the Fascists in the 1920s, but its tradition was revived in 1958 when the parish priest invited nineteen local growers to come together to form the Produttori del Barbaresco with the aim of safeguarding and developing the reputation of Barbaresco wines, initially allowing them to make the wine in the crypt of the church, before a new winery was built across the road. Today, the Produttori comprises 51 growers, and under winemaker Gianni Testa has been consistently producing wines that rank among the very best that the Nebbiolo grape can deliver.

The secret of success lies not only in hard work and meticulous attention to detail, but especially in the variety of terroirs (a word they openly use to denote the unique combinations of soil, exposure and microlimate) of the clay and limestone marl on which their grapes are grown, and, in great years, they produce individually vinified Riservas from the nine best sites, or ‘crus’. Those from the northern hills (Ovello, Montefico and Montestefano) have a higher clay content and tend to produce wines of fuller body and firmer structure. To the south are Pajé and Moccagatta, with less clay, that produce very fine, elegant wines with tremendous depth of flavour. Further south lie Asili, Rabaja and Pora that at their best produce some of Italy’s most refined and complex wines. At the extreme south lies Rio Sordo, producing wines of great aging potential. A cross-section of the best that Barbaresco has to offer.

The 2023 Growing Season
A ‘rollercoaster ride’ is the best way to describe 2023. The growing season began with a mild but wet spring, but a late cold snap and sharp frosts damaged some of the vines. Early summer was wet, but once the rains stopped something of a heatwave followed – temperatures reached 40 degrees which stressed the vines and some started to shut down, but the upside was that these hot dry conditions prevented disease. Fortunately, late summer saw a drop in temperature, particularly at night, allowing the grapes to reach fully phenolic ripeness. The cooler night temperatures encouraged the grapes’ aromatics and preserved good acidity levels for freshness and balance.  Harvest was a little late but picking occurred mainly under good conditions. Although the growing season for Piedmont was not the smoothest, the wines are looking good at this stage.

2023 Langhe Nebbiolo – £159
Can one describe a wine as “pretty”? I’m going to here because of it’s recent bottling and the fact that it is full of ripe Nebbiolo fruit with good acidity and gentle tannins – just about medium weight it is a delightful glass of wine for pasta or any light meal or just on its own.

The 2021 Growing Season
A wet and snowy winter ensured the water table was in a healthy state by the time the vines started budding, albeit late. June onwards was dry (the dry spell actually lasted until spring 2023!). Early April saw some frost although damage was limited. July was relatively cool but early August and all of September saw higher temperatures and the harvest began and ended in near ideal conditions. The 2021 grapes were in excellent health and perfectly ripe. The resulting 2021 wines are very promising,

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano  –  £390

Plus.

Quality through Cooperation

QUALITY THROUGH COOPERATION

Probably nowhere in the world has the Cooperative movement played such an important role in the economy as in Italy. Enthusiastically embraced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was widely, and often brutally, suppressed by the Fascists in the 1920s and 1930s, only to re-emerge even stronger than before in the years following the Second World War. It now has a presence throughout the country in almost every sector of the economy. This is no less true in the field of wine production, where far from being hiding places for lazy and incompetent farmers and serving mainly to boost production figures, cooperatives are among the most important producers in their denominations and often lead the way in the search for excellence and innovation. The two wineries featured today are not only among the most highly regarded in their respective regions but world leaders in the styles of wine they produce.

The wines mentioned below are due to arrive late November or early December 2024

Cantina Terlano – Year in, year out it produces some of Italy’s Finest white wines. 
‘Terlano produces some of the greatest white wines in the world in terms of complexity and that crucially important factor, cellaring potential’, Gambero Rosso Italian Wine Guide

Cantina Terlano was founded in 1893 and is set high up on terraces cut into the slopes of Mount Schöggel (near Bolzano) at altitudes of up to 1000 metres. The south-facing slopes, strewn with crystals and volcanic rock, give rise to wines of wonderful elegance, complexity and minerality, and chief winemaker Rudi Köfler is an absolute master at maximising varietal character in every wine. Elegant and stylish on release, the Cantina Terlano whites also have an enviable record for cellar ageing, very unusual for Italian aromatic varieties. Terlano is now part of the Wine Spectator magazine’s ‘Grand Tour’, a tasting event celebrating the world’s finest 200 wineries, and a regular star performer in the American Press, Gambero Rosso and many other Italian guides.

The following wines are priced per 6 x 75cl inclusive of Vat.  Delivery is free (within England) for orders over £200 Usual terms apply 
10% Discount on orders of 2 cases or more.

The 2023 Growing Season
A mild winter with little snow was followed by a very dry and mild spring. Fortunately, this was followed by a cool April and rainy May. Although it delayed flowering a little, the rainfall was welcomed as it replenished the water reserves. There was a little more rain than usual in an otherwise warm June and July, but August was hot until near the end of the month when it rained again and then conditions remained good until picking, which started on 4 September. The white wines are fragrant and balanced with slightly lower levels of alcohol – a very good vintage overall.
2023 Terlaner Cuvée – £159 (half bottles and Magnums also available) A blend of 60% Pinot Bianco, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. I can’t remember when I first tried this wine, but it was an eye-opener then and remains a favourite today. It is extraordinary value and, in many ways, the perfect white wine to have in stock for just about any food-pairing or occasion. Manual harvest and selection of the grapes; pressing and clarification of the must by natural sedimentation; slow fermentation at a controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks, aging on the lees for 6 – 7 months partly in stainless steel tanks (80%) and partly in big wooden barrels (20%).

This is quite floral on the nose, white flower with a touch of peach/stone fruits and green apple. Lovely creamy texture on the palate, stone fruits, pear – balanced by a genuinely mineral acidity and medium-long, dry and balanced finish. In a word, delightful.

2023 Pinot Grigio Classico – £137.70 ‘Pinot Grigio’, like ‘mince’, can cover a multitude of sins, from utterly pointless watery rubbish to, well, something as good as this – Cantina Terlano’s crisp, dry, flavoursome Pinot Grigio comes from the steep mountainous vineyards of the Alto-Adige and when Pinot Grigio is like this even I find it very hard to resist. Pale Straw yellow with pear, white flower and lychee on the nose. Lovely balance in the mouth, quite complex with melon, soft fruits and citrus – frighteningly easy to like; balanced by good acidity, this finishes clean and dry.

For drinking on its own or with hors d’oeuvres such as smoked bacon, cured meats – even delicate fish.

2022 Growing Season
A very dry and mild winter was followed by a cool spring and the vines were slightly behind in their development by the time a very welcome warm and sunny May arrived – flowering commenced mid-May and was complete on the higher-altitude vines by early June. Due to an exceptionally hot and dry summer, there were few problems with fungal attack, but the lack of rainfall started to stress the vines before rainfall and even thunderstorms at the end of July and beginning of August put an end to the lack of water, thus averting drought stress and related quality problems. Harvest started early on the 24^th August  – the grapes were fully ripe and healthy with slightly reduced acidity levels.

2022 Terlaner Cuvée Riserva “Nova Domus” – £342 This magnificent wine is made from 60% Pinot Bianco, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon. Complex, layered and age-worthy, it’s every bit as fine a white wine as any I can think of within an even remotely similar price range. It’s still youthful, but if left to breathe awhile and enjoyed with some free-range poultry or something like grilled tuna, salmon or pork chops (often served with Fiorentina T-Bone steaks locally) it  is a joy now. White Burgundy of such quality and versatility cannot be found at this price. Manual harvest and selection of the grapes; gentle whole cluster pressing followed by a slow, temperature-controlled fermentation in big oak barrels, followed by a partial malolactic fermentation (Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay only) and then ageing on the lees for 12 months in big wooden barrels before blending three months before bottling.

The nose is slightly closed when first opened, hints of white flower, peach, ginger. This carries on onto the palate with ripe orchard fruits, citrus, good acidity – there is such depth mid-palate, so much going on the finish is long and balanced. Quite outstanding.

The following wine is priced per 6 x 75cl under bond and also available for delivery duty paid, inclusive of Vat, usual terms apply.  Offered subject to remaining available.

2022 Pinot Bianco Riserva “Vorberg” – £210 (magnums also available) The enigmatic Pinot Bianco grape absolutely thrives here and is capable of very long-term ageing. The grapes are carefully hand-selected before gentle whole cluster pressing followed by slow fermentation at a controlled temperature in big oak barrels (70 + 30 hl); malolactic fermentation and aging on the lees in traditional wooden barrels for 12 months. Sea and river fish, mature hard cheese, any excuse really.

Pale straw yellow, multi-layered aromas of ripe stone fruit, melon, peach, pear and green apple; this continues onto the palate where the combination of exotic ripe fruit, herbiness and floral notes in quite compelling and it’s held together and balanced by flinty, almost saline, acidity.  It is a fabulous wine that will be even better next year and onwards.

The following wine is priced per 3 x 75cl under bond and also available for delivery duty paid, inclusive of Vat, usual terms apply.  Offered subject to remaining available.

2021 Growing Season
A cold, snowy winter was followed by a cool, dry spring resulting in late budding, which was lucky as there were frosts in April. Decent rainfall in May with flowering starting at the end of the month, about two weeks later than average. A hot June was followed by a wet July and early August but temperatures remained good, not too high, until harvest which started on 6 September.  It was a small but excellent vintage.

2021 Terlano Primo Grande Cuvee – £585 (also available in magnum) To answer the first and possibly most important question: yes, it is absolutely worth it. Primo has a depth of flavour, intensity and sustained finish that can only be compared to the finest of Grand Cru Burgundies. Sensational wine.
Intense and mineral from the start, the 2021 Terlaner I Primo Grande Cuvée opens with a beguiling blend of flint stones, camphor and white smoke, giving way to dried peaches and apricots. It sweeps across the palate, ripe in style yet refined, with silken textures, taking on a saline tinge as tart orchard fruits cascade throughout, complicated by a spicy hint of ginger. Long, long, long, the 2021 lingers on, youthfully tense and gently tannic, with a crunchy feel and sensation of liquid stone that remains under an air of pretty inner florals. The potential is off the charts. This is a I Primo for the ages. Reviews & Tasting Notes 96+ Drinking Window 2026 – 2038  From: Trentino-Alto Adige: Pushing the Limits (Mar 2024) – By Eric Guido on December 2023

Produttori del Barbaresco – Leading the way with Nebbiolo
Barbaresco’s history is intimately linked with that of its co-ops. Although the uniqueness of its wines had long been recognised, it was not until the principal of the Royal Oenological School in Alba founded a co-operative in 1894 and marketed the wine under the name of Barbaresco, rather than Barolo, that the region was placed on the wine map. The co-op was forced to close by the Fascists in the 1920s, but its tradition was revived in 1958 when the parish priest invited nineteen local growers to come together to form the Produttori del Barbaresco with the aim of safeguarding and developing the reputation of Barbaresco wines, initially allowing them to make the wine in the crypt of the church, before a new winery was built across the road. Today, the Produttori comprises 51 growers, and under winemaker Gianni Testa has been consistently producing wines that rank among the very best that the Nebbiolo grape can deliver.

The secret of success lies not only in hard work and meticulous attention to detail, but especially in the variety of terroirs (a word they openly use to denote the unique combinations of soil, exposure and microlimate) of the clay and limestone marl on which their grapes are grown, and, in great years, they produce individually vinified Riservas from the nine best sites, or ‘crus’. Those from the northern hills (Ovello, Montefico and Montestefano) have a higher clay content and tend to produce wines of fuller body and firmer structure. To the south are Pajé and Moccagatta, with less clay, that produce very fine, elegant wines with tremendous depth of flavour. Further south lie Asili, Rabaja and Pora that at their best produce some of Italy’s most refined and complex wines. At the extreme south lies Rio Sordo, producing wines of great aging potential. A cross-section of the best that Barbaresco has to offer.
The following wine is priced per 6 x 75cl inclusive of Vat.  Delivery is free (within England) for orders over £200 Usual terms apply 
10% Discount on orders of 2 cases or more.

The 2023 Growing Season
A ‘rollercoaster ride’ is the best way to describe 2023. The growing season began with a mild but wet spring, but a late cold snap and sharp frosts damaged some of the vines. Early summer was wet, but once the rains stopped something of a heatwave followed – temperatures reached 40 degrees which stressed the vines and some started to shut down, but the upside was that these hot dry conditions prevented disease. Fortunately, late summer saw a drop in temperature, particularly at night, allowing the grapes to reach fully phenolic ripeness. The cooler night temperatures encouraged the grapes’ aromatics and preserved good acidity levels for freshness and balance.  Harvest was a little late but picking occurred mainly under good conditions. Although the growing season for Piedmont was not the smoothest, the wines are looking good at this stage.

2023 Langhe Nebbiolo – £159
Can one describe a wine as “pretty”? I’m going to here because of it’s recent bottling and the fact that it is full of ripe Nebbiolo fruit with good acidity and gentle tannins – just about medium weight it is a delightful glass of wine for pasta or any light meal or just on its own.
 

The following wines and are priced per 6 x 75cl under bond, and also available for delivery duty paid, inclusive of Vat, usual terms apply.  Offered subject to remaining available.

The 2021 Growing Season
A wet and snowy winter ensured the water table was in a healthy state by the time the vines started budding, albeit late. June onwards was dry (the dry spell actually lasted until spring 2023!). Early April saw some frost although damage was limited. July was relatively cool but early August and all of September saw higher temperatures and the harvest began and ended in near ideal conditions. The 2021 grapes were in excellent health and perfectly ripe. The resulting 2021 wines are very promising,
2021 Barbaresco –  £198
Thanks to certain events I’d not tasted this wine since the 2018 vintage and, to be honest, I’d missed it. It is, for me, a benchmark Barbaresco whilst remaining in reach pricewise. It is never less than good, usually very good to excellent and this 2021 leans towards the latter – not quite a 2016 but very, very good with the advantage to being quite forward in style. Bags of ripe fruit, velvety tannins and good depth – long, harmonious finish.  Bravo. I would be happy to open this now, even though it has years ahead of it. Let it breathe and enjoy best with rich and meaty dishes that feature earthy and smoky flavours such as braised short ribs, prime rib roast, pork or veal chops, duck and so on.

The 2021 Barbaresco is a gorgeous, deep wine. Although the aromatics are a bit closed, the 2021 shows gorgeous depth and a touch more palate presence than is typically the case for this bottling. Dark and enveloping, the 2021 will offer a number of years of very fine drinking. It is an impressive, classy wine from Produttori del Barbaresco.

** 93 Drinking Window 2024 – 2033  From: Barbaresco: The Stellar 2021s & Surprising 2022s (Oct 2024) – By Antonio Galloni on September 2024

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano  –  £390

One for the cellar in that it needs two or three years to come together when it will be quite a beguiling wine as so many of their previous bottlings have been. Fabulous.

The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is perhaps the most complete of the 2019 Riservas at this stage. It offers fine depth, plenty of tannin and nascent emerging inner sweetness to tie it all together. A wine of stature and textural depth, the Montestefano is my early favorite in this lineup. 95 Drinking Window: 2028 – 2039 Antonio Galloni, September 2023

Plus.

Produttori  del Barbaresco Collector Case Price is £525 Per Case (9 x 75cl) Under Bond (also available for home delivery.
This unique wooden case contains 1 bottle each of the 9 Barbaresco single-vineyard wines from the 2019 vintage
(listed below).

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano   95 Drinking Window: 2028 – 2039 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano is perhaps the most complete of the 2019 Riservas at this stage. It offers fine depth, plenty of tannin and nascent emerging inner sweetness to tie it all together. A wine of stature and textural depth, the Montestefano is my early favorite in this lineup.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello  94 Drinking Window: 2026 – 2041 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello is powerful, savory and intensely linear, in classico Ovello style, and yet it appears to have enough fruit behind its imposing tannins to develop well over the coming years. In this tasting, the Ovello feels pretty closed post bottling, but its inherent balance and qualities are there. Clean saline notes extend the finish in promising fashion.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà  94 Drinking Window: 2026 – 2044 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà  is redolent of dark fruit, crushed rocks, graphite, sage, menthol and lavender all race across the palate, supported by bracing, young Rabajà tannins that make themselves felt. This mid-weight, powerhouse Barbaresco packs quite a punch.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Asili  94 Drinking Window: 2026 – 2041 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Asili is a very pretty, silky wine that shows all the signatures of this site in its refined, mid-weight personality. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, cedar, mint and tobacco all grace this classy Barbaresco. The 2019 is classic Asili, with firm tannins from the year.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico   93+ Drinking Window: 2026 – 2044 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico is one of the most searingly tannic wines in the range. Readers will have to be patient with the 2019, as it is going to need time. As always, Montefico is a Barbaresco built on linear intensity more than size. In 2019, the qualities are quite accented. Time in the glass opens the bouquet nicely, but the 2019 remains quite closed.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota  93+ Drinking Window: 2026 – 2039 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota is shaping up to be gorgeous. The 2019 is marked by a very evident brightness that is not always present. Medium in body and gracious, with terrific balance, the Muncagota is very impressive in this early tasting of the 2019 Riservas. It could turn out to be one of the surprises in this range. Keep an eye on this.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pajè  93 Drinking Window: 2026 – 2039 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pajè is full of character. Strong mineral, savory and floral notes jump out of the glass, before veins of tannin make themselves felt on the palate. A powerful, young Barbaresco, the Pajè is going to need a number of years to come into its own. That said, all of its signatures are very much present.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo  93 Drinking Window: 2026 – 2041 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo is quite deep in this vintage, with notable depth in its dark-toned fruit. This is an especially powerful Rio Sordo that is still coming together. Its intensity is palpable, even if I see less of the finesse that I associate with wines from this site. Today, all of the wine’s energy is directed inwards.

2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pora  92 Drinking Window: 2026 – 2039 Antonio Galloni, September 2023 The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pora is a pretty tightly wound wine, certainly moreso than is typically the case for this Barbaresco, which is often much more engaging in the early going. Dried herbs, tobacco, cedar and earthiness lend notable savory nuance in this decidedly nervy, somber Pora. There’s good fruit intensity and plenty of character that makes me want to revisit this in a few months’ time