Tag Archives: nebbiolo

A Gaja Barbaresco Vertical (of sorts) 2006 2010 2013

Posted on January 23, 2017 by

Last week, I braved an ice-capped Portland armed with Barbaresco. I just wanted to show two vintages. But to be safe, I requested two samples in case one ended up corked. However, our warehouse accidentally picked 2006, 2010, and 2013. Each run about $230 a bottle. I decanted them that morning, put on my boots, and slid slowly to my first appointment. Continue reading →

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Paso Robles 7: Lone Madrone

Posted on February 29, 2016 by

Last Monday’s post visited Firestone Walker Brewery. Also found twenty years ago in 1996, our stop today is Lone Madrone Winery. The nineties clearly provided busy times for Paso.

Our pickup heads west from Paso Robles on Adelaida Road. The world turns a sandy sable and olive shrub. Hills mount each other, as we climb and wheel round them. Soon, orderly vines draped in mesh add militant structure to this wild place. Continue reading →

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Thirsty Thursday: Gaja, Dagromis, Barolo DOCG Italy 2007

Posted on June 12, 2014 by

So…Gaja. Angelo Gaja has pushed the Piedmont into the modern age. Considered one of the world’s greatest winemakers, he brought small French barrique and international varieties to the trapped-in-tradition Piedmont. He’s also pushed prices into the stratosphere. His basic Barbaresco runs $210 a bottle. So this Thirsty Thursday, we touch the hem of Gaja’s divine robe with: Dagromis, Barolo DOCG Italy 2007: a mere $70. Continue reading →

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Thirsty Thursday: Nebbiolo, Nino Negri, Quadrio, Valtellina Superiore DOCG, Italy 2010

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

Think Nebbiolo and hopefully your heart flies to Barbaresco or Barolo: famed homes devoted to the grape. Their wines range from light yet tannic, austere yet floral, to rich, dark, and chewy. They are usually complex and deservedly expensive.

But unknown to a world before DNA, Nebbiolo spread its fingers up valleys, reaching into the Italian Alps. It crept into land-locked Lombardy, rooting in the canyon valley of Valtellina. Continue reading →

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Nebbiolo, Monte Degli Angeli, Barolo DOCG Italy 2005

Posted on June 6, 2011 by

I’ve committed infanticide. Opening a Barolo five years after harvest is child sacrifice to traditionalists. Why? For the last century and a half this small commune in northwestern Italy has made wines that usually soften into something drinkable after a … Continue reading →

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