Our Alto Piemonte Portfolio Is Starting to Gain Recognition
– The Badina Lessona Got 95 Point
– Noe DelSignore Has Gotten 96
– We Have a Group of Producers at That Level
– Today’s Producer May Be the Leader of Our Gang of 5
Stefano Dorelli
– He is Mascarello-ish (Bartolo of Alto Piemonte!)
– An Incredible Winemaker
– Ridiculous Levels of Transparency
– His Wines Express The Naked Soul of Nebbiolo
– Old School, But Perfectly Made Every Year
– A Legend in the Making – I Mean This Literally
2018 Cantina Delsignore Gattinara Borgofranco Riserva
– 96 Points Antonio Galloni
“The 2018 Gattinara Riserva Borgofranco is superb. Black cherry, leather, spice, menthol, licorice, mocha and dried herbs are beautifully amplified. Layered and expansive on the palate, with striking textural resonance, the 2018 is seriously impressive. It is another exceptional wine in this range from Cantina Delsignore. -96 Points Antonio Galloni, Vinous
– Normally One of the Great Elegant Wines in My Book
– In 2018 It Retains that Elegance and Marries It with the Density of 2017
– Normally the Elegant Side of 1er Cru Volnay or Village Chambolle
– In 2018 They are Much Much Better – Crazy Elegance
– The Good Version of a Black Swan
– Nose: Elite Nebbiolo Aromatic Balance
– Cherry Flower, Cherry, Spice, Tobacco, Tar, Roses
– Lilacs, Candied Lilacs
– So Sensual in 2018
– Palate: Elite Density but Not over the Top
– Perfect Cherries with Acidic Balance, Spice, Licorice
– Psychotic Internal Aromatics
– Perfect Balance
– Jaw Dropping Texture – So Silky, Great Grip
– Lilac Juice on the Finish
– Structure to Age for Decades
– Case Pricing
– The Only Reason There Is Any Left Is Because of the Depressed Wine Market in Italy
2022 Cantina DelSignore Rosè Metodo Classico Extra Dry Millesimato
– The Champagne Geeks Are Loving Alto Piemonte Sparklers
– Top Class Precision and Elite Levels of Finesse
– Remarkable Persistence
– Nose: Incredibly Floral
– Roses, Savory, Stunning Elegance
– Extremely Fine Bubbles
– Palate: So Pure – Rainwater Infused Cherries
– Incredible Small Berry Fruits
– Great Juiciness
– A Kiss of Mint, Hint of Savoriness
– Lovely Balancing Acidity
– Saline, Some Plum Skin
– Insane Persistence
– Unreal Texture. Pure Spider Silk
– Terrific Vibrancy
– Under $30 Drinks like $75+ Rose Champagne
– Maybe the Best Sparkling Wine Value We’ve Ever Sold
– $32.99 On A Case – Insane Value
– If You Love Champagne, This Is a Wine That You Need to Own
Our Alto Piemonte Portfolio
We’ve been pushing on Alto PIemonte hard since we started our Italy portfolio. We have a firm conviction that with higher temperatures, this will be the center of modern nebbiolo that has the profile of the great Baroli of yesteryear. We have looked under every rock and found small producers that didn’t make enough wine for the big guys. And we have wines that are as good as anything made in Alto Piemonte. And we have them in every sub region.
And it is starting to pay off.
– La Badina Lessona 2013 got 95 points from Vinous (Antonio Galloni).
– Now Stefano Dorelli has gotten 96 points for his 2018 Gattinara Riserva.
-Other producers have gotten high scores as well from America’s most recognized Italian critic.
I’m writing this not to brag (ok maybe a little) but to let you know that you really need to try these wines.
The Cantina Delsignore Style
The wines of Stefano Dorelli can normally be described as some of the most elegant, aromatically-driven Italian wines in my book. Dorelli creates wines of supreme elegance and finesse. These are wines that I can sit with over an evening and just marvel at his winemaking skills. Having said that, they are wines that appeal to consumers who enjoy appreciate more elegant/aromatic wines.
The Wines
Up first is the 2018 Cantina Del Signore Gattinara “Borgofranco” Riserva for $49.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack, which is just a ridiculous wine. Wow, wow, wow this blew me away. This is a super brilliant wine that got 96 points from Antonio Galloni of Vinous.
“The 2018 Gattinara Riserva Borgofranco is superb. Black cherry, leather, spice, menthol, licorice, mocha and dried herbs are beautifully amplified. Layered and expansive on the palate, with striking textural resonance, the 2018 is seriously impressive. It is another exceptional wine in this range from Cantina Delsignore. -96 Points Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Nose is so fresh. Just the freshest cherries that smell like you just crushed them in your hand and jammed your nose into it. As the wine opens, you get some game and the cherry becomes more dense. You get some blackberry. Some intense spice. Some elegant library book. The wine totally changes from 0-30 minutes. The nose, after 30 minutes, is a perfect cornucopia of elegant aromatics. Spice, licorice, cherry flower, rose, hints of tobacco. It’s at the same time dense, compact and also balanced with terrific individuality. You can focus on the whole or each element as you choose. You can only say that about wines with perfect balance. My recent bottle had lilacs and like a candied lilac sensation. Very Volnay-like and very sensual in 2017.
Palate has insane fruit saturation and concentration but also remarkable detail. On open you get that fresh cherry juice. A hint of cherry licorice. Intense density. Almost sticks to the lips. Very mineral. Silky tanins. Talk about palate staining. Insane acidity, freshness but man what length. It just clings onto your palate with such unreal intensity and never lets go. The fruit is just absolutely perfect cherries. The fruit is clean and pure but you can feel the depth as you taste it. After 1 hour, the palate ups the game. You first notice dense, dense, but not overpowering cherry fruit. More the kind of fruit that you can intellectually feel the weight but not the kind that blasts your palate. Insane balance – the dense cherry fruit is on a line with the acidity. Incredibly juicy. This is the kind of palate density aligned with perfect balance is rare in all but the top wines in the world. Internal aromatics aerate the palate with gorgeous cherry flower, chocolate, tar and tobacco.
After 2 hours this crossed the crucial 9.5 Delectable barrier for me as the fruit is just unconscious but framed but absolutely sick minerality and tannins have velvetized. Awesome. Really great juiciness that balances the power of the fruit. It becomes VERY intense as it opens. Spice. Concentrated fruit. Cinnamon. Clove. The finish is long; the understatement of the year. You could pay your taxes before it’s finished, A river of perfect cherry fruit leaves in its wake an almost shocking aftertaste of fine chocolate, cherry flower, cherry and spice. Last sensation on earth good.
The wine has the perfect structure of all Dorelli wines. At this point, the tannins are smooth and perfectly integrated but you can taste the structure on the palate. Terrific palate liveliness and energy. There is a linearity that is something special.
On a very simple level, you can drink this off of it’s fruit, there is a serious, serious fruit soak. But there is another level to this wine when the secondary flavors kick in. Wine geeks will really appreciate the balance and texture but also the way that the fruit sets the table for the secondary flavors to shine through. This is more a typically Gattianra made by Dorelli than previous vintages which I found more Dorelli wines that happened to be made in Gattinara. But make no mistake – this wine is a an abolsutely stunning hedonistic wine that is also incredibly well made.
The Rose Sparkler
The second wine needs a massive rant by me as it’s the most surprising wine of the last 18 months at least for me. I was not prepared. When I tasted it in Italy, it was very good but I didn’t recognize the intrinsic brilliance of the wine as I did not sit with it, drink it with other wine heads, and be able to examine it and contemplate it. It’s surprisingly hard to get a good read on a wine besides knowing if it’s good wine or bad wine if you only spend a minute or so with it. But I drank a bottle recently with some friends and it was mind blowing Alt-Champagne
Of course, I love Champagne. I’ve always wondered why they had almost a monopoly on top tier sparkling wines. There are a lot of grapes grown all over and the Champagne technique is well known. I sell very few non-Champagne sparklers but the ones grown in Alto Piemonte are fantastic and amongst the top values. Definitely Champagne level quality but different because they obviously have different terroir and use different grapes. Nebbiolo is called the Pinot Noir of Italy; we know that Pinot has not done a disservice to the Champenoise and sparkling Nebbiolo can be just as wonderful a base grape for sparkling wine as Pinot Noir is. I just have mad love for Rose made from Nebbiolo. And this wine is just sickly well made. Mind numbingly great. You know the type of bottle that is so good that all conversation gets pushed aside so you can all gush about the bottle and how brilliant it is. We all agreed that it blew away most Rose Champagnes that were 2-3-4-5 times the price. It was incredible. It tasted expensive. So silky and precise with just the finest mousse you can imagine. Like the mousse from a tete de cuvee Champagne. We were all in awe. That’s why this wine is being featured in this offer. It represents the best sparkling wine value we have ever sold. It is laughable how high the quality is for this wine.
The outrageous 2022 Cantina DelSignore Rosè Metodo Classico Millesimato Extra Dry can be had for $34.99 per bottle on a 4 pack and $32.99 on a 12 bottle case. This is 100% Nebbiolo.
Nose is just incredible spice and flowers. But also a chestnut Nebbiolo feeling and floral; it has incredible precision. Gorgeous mid season cherry fruit and some leather top notes as well. Stunning roses. The level of precision and detail on the nose belies its humble price and origin. Really really pretty and heartbreakingly elegant.
The palate is high level genius. So well made. Just such tight, precise tiny berry fruit. The finest mousse on any non champagne sparkling wine I can remember. It’s $100 mousse. Easy. So so juicy and with an amazing silken and satin-like texture. The wine tastes so expensive like how caviar or a super fine and rare oyster tastes expensive. I kept repeating myself how great this wine is and how expensive it tastes and this is not normal. So beautifully balanced and brilliantly integrated with beguiling Nebbiolo spice which gives it its unique twist. Amazing acidic balance and so, so juicy and fresh on the palate. The fruit is so fresh, you can’t believe it. You’ve never tasted Nebbiolo fruit like this before. Insane persistence. Just really blasts the palate and lingers there for minutes with that wonderful, lingering almost savory/mineral taste. Wow. This blew me away like few wines have blown me away.
This is a wine you need in your cellar if you like Champagne. You know you want to brown bag it and bring it blind to a Champagne tasting. It will shock everyone.
Midjourney
As you know, we believe that strict recitations of tasting notes is only part of the story of a wine. We’ve always tried to include metaphors to try to give our readers a better understanding of how wines impact us. These metaphors have included architecture, painting, music and poetry.
We’re trying something new to help create visual metaphors using Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence program that is by far the best image gneratour out there. I’ve messed around with a bunch and this is by far the best. We look forward to hearing your feedback.
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 with your 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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Word about Fass Selections and Social MediaA
I am big into certain social media and I want people to take pictures of the wines they have received or will receive and tag me in them and share their thoughts. I a am on Instagram. Please tag me there. I also am on Delectable which I love a lot. It is Iphone/Ipad only, but it’s like Instagram meets Facebook for wine. Tag me there and find me there as well. I want to know if you liked the wine, were not moved by the wine, hated the wine or the wine gave you a religious experience. I want to know it all. Feedback is key and I will answer all feedback e-mails as quickly as I can.
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