Umberto Gilodi
– The Father of the Bramaterra DOC
– Never Sold His Wines
– Didn’t Want to Compete with Other Growers
– Organic and Natural Ahead of His Time
These Are Direct from the Cellar and in Pristine Condition
Every Vintage Is Different
Aged Nebbiolo – A Totally Different Wine Drinking Experience
1994 Tenuta Monolo Gilodi Bramaterra Riserva
– Arguably the Best Aromatics of All the Vintages We’ve Sold & The Most Complete Wine
– Utterly Glorious Nose
– Dried Cherry and Dried Roses
– Hints of Mushroom Broth
– Cigar, Tobacco
– Fresh Mid Season Cherries
– Oolong Tea, Truffles
– Gorgeous Dried Roses
– Herbs and Licorice
– Saddle Leather
– Palate: Shockingly Fresh for a 30 Year Old Wine
– Elegant and Pure
– Gorgeous Cherry Fruit
– Hints of Savoriness
– Some Lovely Saltiness
– So Authentic – So Classically Aged Nebbiolo
The 1994
Usually these offers are two wines but today’s wine from 1994 is so special and so profound that it requires its own offer email.
One of the biggest lessons I learned in my early wine career is never, ever dismiss a vintage. I had a 1992 Quintarelli Valpolicella in around 1998 and it blew my mind and that was from a “bad” vintage but I quickly learned that great winemakers make great wines in even so called “bad” vintages. It just takes more work. 1994 is not bad and was considered average after 3 mediocre vintages in a row (91/92/93) and before the nice run of 95/96/97/98/99/00/01. It was relatively warm but not too warm which is something I adore as you get a particular type of fruit expression that is utterly profound. The fruit on this 1994 is wonderful. It’s luscious ripe and energetic.
Why 1994 produced that in Bramaterra? Honestly, I have no idea. It’s one of those proof is in the pudding things.
This 1994 is perhaps the most unique of all the older Gilodi Bramaterras that we have offered. It takes the luscious fruit of 99 and marries it with the finesse of 1991. But what really stands out are the astonishing aromas. It sings out of the gates.
We are offering the 1994 Tenuta Monolo Gilodi Bramaterra Riserva for $26.99 on 4 and $24.99 on a 12 bottle case. Glorious nose of fresh woodshop shavings, dried cherry and dried roses plus smoke and wet earth. Also tree bark. The full mature nebbiolo symphony in effect. Cigar, tobacco, and so much more. This is singing. Some fresh mid season cherries are emerging with some coaxing. Gorgeous loamy minerality. What a nose. 9.5 nose for now. Now with air the nose is getting layered and more complex. Earthy, dusty, oolong tea, red cherries, truffles and minerals. Just stunning. Amazing underbrush and a Piemonte sous-bois. Stunning. Everything one wants. The aromas after air are more towards truffle and earth with some gorgeous dried roses and cherries. Herbs and licorice also develop after some air. Big time saddle leather as well. After 24 hours the nose is riper but also has complex tertiary aromas that are very floral and loamy. Really so clear and vivid.
Juicy palate with high acidity and. blend of early season and sour cherries. Stunning purity and finesse. This is so so classy. This is a 9.6 now. Wow this is amazing. Palate is elegant and pure with gorgeous cherry fruit. Amazing supple texture but also bright acids and wonderfully fine tannins. So long, balanced, fresh and pure. So precise with crazy energy. Showing so well. So juicy and concentrated and has a youthful vigor despite being so old. Wonderful. So authentic. The fruit is so classic and beautiful. Haunting inner mouth aromatics and stunning freshness. It has the most delicate tannins. My god they are beautiful. The freshness of this wine is beguiling. It is hauntingly elegant, stunningly fresh and super duper aromatic. To have a wine this beautiful and this old is something to behold. 1994 is not the best vintage but I’ve had some great Piedmont wines from the Langhe, notably some great 1994 Conterno Cascina Francia. I loved the 1994 Conterno for the same reason I love the 1994 Gilooo. It’s a superb wine from a less heralded vintage. The finesse is top notch and the fruit is youthening up as it airs. Benjamin Button wine! Velvety tannins and sweet and sour cherry fruit. Complexity explosion on the finish. Simply stunning. So juicy and clean and wonderful finesse and unreal fruit. Maybe the best fruit out of all of these vintages. 9.5 to 9.6 overnight.
A Brief Note on Tasting Older Nebbiolos and Why We Don’t Offer Credits
The original prices on these wines were in the $50s. We negotiated a great deal to sell the rest and passed on all of the savings because we wanted everyone to have the opportunity to taste older nebbiolos without having to cellar them for 2+ decades. These are about as far from pop and pour wines as you can buy.
– Sometimes, you need to air them for 2-4 hours.
– Sometimes, they are much better on day 2.
– Some of these have a pine element on the nose which can be similar to corked aromas; this blows off after an hour or 2. I’ve had dozens of bottles and only 1 was corked.
I should also point out that older wines are like faces. With age, people’s faces often develop much more character. But minor features can become more prominent. A sharp chin. A long nose. It can be the same with wine. So some bottles will be unusual. and remember that these are sealed with cork which is a natural product. So with the same vintage of the same wine, you will have bottles that are completely different after 20-30 years.
That’s another great thing about these offers. We’ve gotten the price so low that you are not eating $50-$100 if a weird cork makes a bottle suboptimal. But we’ve cut our margins on these to allow everyone to buy them and can’t afford to do refunds or credits for the above reasons. We hope that you understand.
The Back Story
Today is a very special offer that came about because of happenstance. During the early part of the pandemic in 2020, our friends in Italy were hit very hard. I happened to be scrolling through Instagram and came across a post where a winery in Bramaterra I had never heard of would be selling some of their library wines with the proceeds going to pandemic relief. I was very impressed not only by the act of charity but also the breadth of vintages that were being offered. So of course I wrote the estate and little did I know I had stumbled across some history. The estate of Tenuta Monolo no longer produces wines and never sold wine when they were producing wine.
We have offered these wines before but the owner of the wines does not even live in Bramaterra and the wines are sitting in a cold cellar languishing. The owner of the wines is not that into wine and wants them gone. So we made a deal. The fruits of the that deal are now being realized.
The Fascinating Story of Umberto Gilodi
Umberto Gilodi was an impresario of a man and had many interests. The Tenuta Monolo used to be part of a villa that contained endless volumes of books on philosophy, tons of manuscripts and classical music with an emphasis on Baroque and Renaissance music. The villa was surrounded by a vineyard that was three quarters of a hectare. Umberto Gilodi, the eccentric/impresario lived there with his life long friend, Orlando Cremonini who also was the cellarmaster, painter and an engraver. They lived a simple life similar to Louis Sozet in Cornas.
The farming at the estate was all organic and there are documents that attest to this. No herbicides or pesticides were ever used which is before organic was even a word or a thing. The wines are fermented in large wooden botti and fermented with native yeasts. The vineyards were planted with 60% Nebbiolo, 20% Croatina, 10% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara. Umberto was so passionate about the wines and the area that he was the driving force behind creating the Bramaterra appellation which was finalized in 1979. He was affectionately referred to as the “Padre Di Bramaterra.”
The reason Umberto decided to not sell the wines was because since he was the driving force behind creating the appellation, he thought it would be a conflict of interest with the other producers in the area.
The 1994 is a geeky wine with fruit. It rocks. It is the more Fassy compared to 1999. for sure. It’s got higher acidity and is in tertiary city right now. It also needs time (2-3 hours of air) to show its delights. .
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your first order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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