If you were guessing I’m a wee bit stoked for this Friday’s tasting, you would be 100% correct! If ever there were wines smack in my wheelhouse these are the ones. I try my best to make sure your Friday evenings are time and money well spent each time we do these, but as in other aspects of our lives sometime maybe you just try a little harder. So it is tomorrow with the following flight of wines from what has become my favorite drinking destination. It took a while, I admit. At first it was all “France, France, France”. Then I had a two or three year dalliance in Tuscany. Then the more Piedmontese wines I had, particularly the fabulous Barberas from the towns of Alba and Asti which have become my go-to bottles at home, the more I became hooked. Plus when you go there the landscape with the dramatic peaks of the Alps always looming to the north, the hilltop towns surrounded by rolling vineyard, and the soul satisfying food….well, they got me!
So, yeah, tomorrow I have some pretty awesome treats in store for you and can promise your attendance will be well rewarded! Andiamo…
~ 2022 LUIGI BAUDANA “Dragon” Bianco …$20.95
~ 2022 ENZO BARTOLI Piemonte Dolcetto …$14.95
~ 2022TENUTA OLIM BAUDA barbera d’Asti “La Villa” …$17.95
~ 2022 GD VAJRA Dolcetto d’Alba “Costa and Fossati” …$25.95
~ 2019 AZIENDA AGRICOLA RONCHI Barbera d’Alba “Terle” …$21.95
And to take it fully next level, bonus delights await…
Bonus #1- 2022 CIGLIUTI Langhe Nebbiolo …$29.95
>> 92 pts- Vinous: “The 2022 is one of the best nebbiolos I’ve tasted in this vintage….positively stellar.”
Bonus #2- 2019 GIOVANNI PAITIN Barbaresco “Serraboella” …$53.95
>> 94 pts- Wine Advocate: “Reaches a perfect pitch between fruit ripeness and acidity…a beautiful drinking experience.”
>> 93 pts- Vinous: “The 2019 is super impressive today.”
>> 95 pts- Wine Enthusiast: “Showing structure and finesse…loaded with nervous energy.”
Bonus #3- 2019 MONTEZEMOLO Barolo “Monfalletto” …$52.95
I tasted this drop dead gorgeous classic nebbiolo again just yesterday and once again find myself in awe! It has 100% of everything I could ask from a Barolo. Really a stunning wine that for the money will blow almost any other similarly priced wine in the world out of the water! If you’re paying fifty bucks or more for any northwest wine, you need to have your eyes and palate opened!
>> 95 pts- Wine Advocate: “The organic 2019 Monfalletto shows grit, density, and rich texture. This is the estate’s most representative Barolo.”
>> 92 pts- Vinous: “A dense, powerful wine, I don’t remember a vintage of Monfalletto with this much sheer concentration. Undoubtedly a very fine Barolo.”
>> 94 pts- Wine Spectator: “A plump, cherry-, raspberry- and tar-flavored red, showing accents of mineral, tobacco and eucalyptus. Balanced and long.”
So if you need to get your head in a “la dolce vita” sort of place, all you have to do is show up any time tomorrow between 4:30-8:00. The flight is just twelve dollars for the first five. And your discretionary income will be very well spent exploring the bonus pours. Of course bring along some snacks, because, you know, Italian wine! Ci vediamo domani!
