As the first wines releases start to hit La Place de Bordeaux, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay gives his verdict on the Italian and Spanish reds wines rolling out in the September campaign.
Dawn in Tuscany, Siena Province, Italy
A note on the tasting notes:
As regular readers will know, I am the Bordeaux and La Place de Bordeaux correspondent of The Drinks Business. My specialism is Bordeaux, in particular, and northern Europe (especially Piedmont and Tuscany), secondarily. This should perhaps be born in mind when it comes to my tasting notes for other regions with which I am less familiar and which I encounter primarily through la place. My notes, as ever, are those of an enthusiast and a wine-lover and, for these regions above all, they are best read as such. All of the following wines were tasted either in Bordeaux at the offices of the courtiers or négociants bringing these wines to the international market, at trade tastings in London, at the property itself, or in Paris, from samples sent directly from the property – and, in many cases, multiple times.
NYT – not yet tasted (with tasting notes to appear in a later article).
Giovanni Rosso Etna Rosso 2022 (Etna Rosso DOC; 100% Nerello Mascalese; 13% alcohol). Bright and crunchy in its red berried freshness. Wild mountain herbs. A little hint of white pepper to go with the crushed red fruits. Black tea leaf. This is pure, refined and quite glassy in texture. Just as one starts to sense a certain mid-palate creaminess, the acidity picks up and takes the fruit in charge rendering this linear and precise on the finish. Very fresh. 93.
Giovanni Rosso Cerretta Barolo 2021 (Barolo DOCG; 100% Nebbiolo; 14% alcohol). Aromatically quite delicate and a little introvert. Classy, quite elegant. Crushed raspberry and loganberry fruit, a little redcurrant too. Green tea leaf and toasted rice. A little earthiness. Limpid and lithe, with a sinuous mid-palate. Very pure and elegant in this vintage with a lovely gathered fresh sapidity on the finish. 94+.
Barolo Riserva Bussia Vigna Munie (Parusso) 2016 (Barolo Riserva; 100% Nebbiolo; 14.5% alcohol). A superb wine from a top terroir in a top vintage, this is Parusso at its very best. Much more youthful than the 2015 vintage of this wine tasted a year ago. Succulent, lithe, quite plump and seductive yet subtle and a little held-back at the same time. There’s considerable power here but it’s very nicely disguised and one has the very distinct sensation that this is a wine with massive aging potential that, despite its obvious poise and harmony, is really only revealing an iota of its full potential at this stage. That said, there’s a lot to love here already – with a wonderfully succulent and glistening mid-palate crystallinity. I adore, too, the lavender and rose petal notes that gather towards the finish. Quite simply the best single wine I’ve tasted from Parusso. 97.
Galatrona Petrolo 2023 (Val d’Arno di Sopra; 100% Merlot; spontaneous vinification in glazed concrete vats; malolactic and aging in French oak tonneaux and barriques for 18 months, a third of them new; 14% alcohol; certified organic). Further evidence, if any were needed (alongside that of Masseto and Giorgio Primo), that even in a context of accelerating global climate change, single-vineyard monocépage Merlot from Tuscany is, at its best, world-leading. A wine famously referred to as Tuscany’s Le Pin – and you can see why. This is open and highly expressive aromatically, but it’s much tighter and tauter on the palate with the considerable fruit intensity seemingly amplified by the narrow frame and pronounced linear spine to which the fruit seems constantly drawn. Incredibly sapid and juicy on the finish, this is one of the rare wines in this year’s autumn collection that almost seems to pulse on the finish with wave after wave of fresh fruit released with the bite and grip of the ultra-fine grained tannins. 98.
Concerto di Fonterutoli 2023 (Toscana IGT; 80% Sangiovese; 20% Cabernet Sauvignon; Mazzei; 14% alcohol). A pleasing natural sweetness. Dark and redder cherry notes, a little sweet spice. Plump and plush on the attack, with a beautiful crystalline mid-palate, very fine-grain tannins and structural freshness. Vivid and energetic. Very nicely done. Pulsatingly fresh on the quite lifted and aerial finish. 95.
Caiarossa 2022 (Toscana IGT Rosso; 26% Syrah; 32% Cabernet Franc; 17% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 7% Sangiovese; 1% Grenache; 14% alcohol). Quite serious. Intense and yet also just a little closed at first. Quite spicy, but these are dry rather than sweet spices. Wild sage. Bay leaf. Mace. White pepper. This is beguilingly soft on the attack with a vivid plummy fruit. Damson. Brambles too. The fruit profile is quite autumnal in a way. Impressive density, pleasing layering and a precision that is even more evident in this vintage than in other recent ones. The best yet from Caiarossa. 96.
Orma 2023 (IGT Toscana Rosso; 50% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Cabernet Franc; 14.5% alcohol). Plump. Dense and compact. Spherical in form in the mouth. Sapid, crystalline, pure and focussed. There’s almost a kaolin clay note to the earthy minerality. Quite saline and ferrous too. This has great mid-palate clarity and very soft and refined tannins. Every bit as good as the 2022. 97.
Oreno 2023 (IGT Toscana Rosso; 45% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Cabernet Franc; 5% Petit Verdot; 14.5% alcohol). There’s a little more Cabernet Franc this year and this is perhaps a little bulbier in its florality for that. Gladioli and hyacinth. Shiny red cherries. A touch of sweet spice, but never in a dominant way. Harmonious. Big and bold, spherical in form and dark, rich and concentrated but with plenty of sapidity too. 95+.
Giorgio Primo (Tenuta La Massa) 2021 (Toscana IGT; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 35% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; aged for 20 months in 50% new oak; pH 3.65; aged for 18 months in French oak, 50% of it new; 14.5% alcohol; around 12,500 bottles produced). Sweet scented and spicy immediately, with a dark berry and plum fruit. Very gentle and refined on the attack, quite ample in frame and with both ultra-fine grained but tactile tannins and lots of layering. Very classical, very composed, rather fine and elegant. Noble and with the considerable aging potential very evident from the long and gently tapering finish. 97.
Siepi (Mazzei) 2023 (Toscana IGT; 50% Merlot; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; from the designated Siepi vineyard in Siepi Castellina in Chianti at an altitude of 260 metres; 14.5% alcohol; around 30,000 bottles produced). Candlewax. A little sweet spice. Back Tea. Bay leaf and a subtle hint of elderberry alongside the darker stone and berry fruits. This is quite saline in its minerality and very ‘Italian’. Aromatically one could almost be forgiven for thinking there’s a little Sangiovese here. Gracious and plump on the entry. And glossy, soft and quite succulent through the mid-palate. Long and tapering on the finish with a distinct touch of black liquorice. Impressive if not quite at the level of the 2022. 97.
Sette (Tenuta Sette Ponti) 2022 (Toscana IGT; selected from 3 of the 7 Mazzei Merlot vineyards – Nocetta I, Poggio Sinistro and Sorbaccio; 100% Merlot; 15.5% alcohol). This is both big, punchy, bold and substantial yet, and at the same time, lifted, aerial and almost delicate in its extremely herbal and floral-accented dark berry fruit aromatic profile. Wild thyme and rosemary – and a little lavender too – accompany the brambles, black berries, mulberries and a little black raspberry. Creamy on the entry and deep, dark, dense and compact at the core from the outset, this is extremely impressive. For despite its power, it is crystalline and also very finely structured by tactile, beady yet ultra-fine grained tannins. Salted black liquorice on the finish and those wild herbal notes again. Every bit as good as the fabulous 2021 before it and cut very much from the same cloth if with even more power and concentration. 97.
Il Pino di Biserno 2023 (IGT Toscana; a blend of, predominantly, Cabernet Franc, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a little Petit Verdot; pH 3.63; 14.5% alcohol; released first in March but still available). Smokey, peppery and spicy with a lovely hint of the scratched leather notes that will come through with more bottle age. Dark stone fruits – predominantly slightly wilted plums and damson skins. But there are fresher more herbal notes too and a bloody, iron-rich minerality. A nice introduction to the grand vin. 91.
Biserno 2022 (IGT Toscana; sourced from a terroir of clay and Bolgheri conglomerate; composed of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Petit Verdot; pH 3.73; 14.5% alcohol; released first in March but still available). Finer, more subtle, refined and elegant, more poised and delicate in a way than the richer, spicier, more punchy and more direct Il Pino. This is gracious, harmonious and relaxed and its exudes class but in a disguised and yet confident way. As I noted when I tasted this last, this has much of the succulence of a fine warm-vintage St Emilion. I love the rose petal and fresh herbal notes that accompany the dark berry fruits here – with Cabernet Franc the star of the show, but each varietal playing its role. This feels more ample on the attack than it actually is and that tauter frame gives this an again disguised puissance that is impressive and even a little surprising. There are considerable tannins here, though very finely-grained, that will guarantee a long life. 96.
Massetino 2023 (Toscana IGT; 91% Merlot; 9% Cabernet Franc; 15% alcohol). The Cabernet Franc is less evident aromatically than in the 2022, though there’s only a fraction less. Elegant, harmonious, rather poised and classy. Slightly introvert at first. Creamy. With aeration this becomes more floral, with Iily and lilac notes the most evident . Wondrously fine-grained and incredibly deep, dark and rich at its sumptuous core. Very classical with a gracious evolution over the palate. Tapering towards the finish, but that is disrupted by the squeeze and grip of the tannins that form a delightful fantail. 95.
Masseto 2022 (Toscana IGT; 100% Merlot; 15% alcohol). Candlewax, incense, a little hint of cordite, damsons and other dark stone fruits, brambles and mulberries. A little rose petal. Beautifully pixilated and very detailed. A hint of the cedar that will suffuse this in time. Aromatically quite floral, as is the new signature of Masseto. There is considerable tannin still to resolve and this is, in every sense, a vin de garde. But what structure, class and poise. Gorgeous today; monumental in prospect. 98.
Solaia 2022 (Toscana IGT Rosso; 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Sangiovese; 10% Cabernet Franc; the fruit is sourced from a vineyard, part of the Tenuta Tignanello estate, of around 20 hectares at between 350 and 400 metres of altitude with a south-western exposition on calcareous rocky soils rich in Alberese and Galestro; malolactic fermentation and aging in new French oak barrels for 15 months; 13.5% alcohol; tasted with Stefano Carpaneto and Francesco Visani over an internet link). From an initially very hot and dry vintage (with 2 months without rain). It was saved in a way by the final part of the ripening period with the return of much needed rainfall and a slower, cooler and wetter finish to the season. This is rich, spicy and rather classical with generous sweet spices accompanying the dark berry and stone fruits. There’s a pleasing delicate dried florality and additional freshness from the Cabernet France, bringing hints of patchouli and violet. I love the authentically Italian saline note to this too and an iron-tinged slightly bloody richness to the mid-palate that tells you instantly where this comes from and that we are not solely in the presence of Bordeaux varietals. A hint of balsam and eucalyptus too. The tannins are gorgeously tactile and dynamic – soft and spherical and difficult at first to detect, but increasingly present in their growing granularity as they engage and seem to take in charge the evolution of the fruit over the mid-palate and onto a far-off vanishing point on a long distant horizon. Deeply impressive and very expressive of the vintage. This is a very ‘solaire’ edition of Solaia – and a wine that feels very comfortable with that, above all at ‘just’ 13.5% alcohol (the first vintage in the last decade that is below 14%). 98.
Bibi Graetz Testamatta 2023 (Toscana IGT Rosso; 100% Sangiovese; 14% alcohol). Black tea and ripe red cherries, fleshly plucked. Very pure and quite radiant in personality. A few pink rose petals. Glassily textured, very refined and crystalline in the mid-palate. Sumptuous in a way, but delicate too. There’s a lovely balance and harmony here. The impressive tannic density on the finish hints at the more significant aging potential than at first seems likely. Really impressive. 95+.
Bibi Graetz Colore 2023 (Toscana IGT Rosso; 100% Sangiovese; 13.5% alcohol). An extremely fine and elegant Colore sourced in this vintage entirely from Bibi Graetz’s Lamole and Olmo vineyards. Floral, with lovely detailed pink and white rose petal notes alongside the wild herbs, black tea, red cherry and slight earthy mineral notes. Patchouli. A hint of candlewax. A touch of salinity. Gracious and gorgeously textured, soft and gentle. Enticing and then enveloping. Relaxed and very harmonious, yet lithe and sinuous, energetic and dynamic. A great success. One of the best recent vintages of this wine. 98.
Allegrini Fieramonte 2018 (Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva; 16.5% alcohol). Plump and plush, intense and hyper-concentrated. High cocoa solid content single estate dark chocolate, dried red cherries, cocktail cherries, kirsch, cherry brandy, pot pourri, crushed dried peony petals, lavender and assorted wild herbal notes. Tomato ketchup. Warm buttered toast. Rendered beef fat dropping onto an open oak fire. In short, there’s a lot of complexity here! Colossal; monumental; deeply impressive, if not perhaps for every palate. Very intense and perhaps the most dense and compact wine in the entire September offering. 97.
Spain
Dolio (F. Alguiera) 2021 (Ribeira Sacro DO; a blend of Mencia, Brancellao, Merenzau, Caiño and Sousón, with no Garnacha Tintorera this year as in 2020; foot-trodden and 100 per cent whole bunch fermented in a single troncoconic oak vat with indigenous yeasts; matured in 225-liter barrels and 2,000-litre foudres for 24 months; 13% alcohol; tasted twice, first at the Joanne press tasting and then in Paris from a sample sent by the property). Like its sister wine Cornamús, this comes from two separate vineyards, both steeply-sloping and terraced at 200 and 600 metres. Smokey. Dark plump berry fruits. Wild plums, Mirabelle and goji berries. Wild garrigue herbs. The tannins are soft and delicate and that gives this a lovely quite sensuous velvety texture in the mouth. It simply glides over the palate. Very classy and elegant. Beautifully refined and very well managed. 95.
Matallana 2022 (Ribera Del Duero DO; from a blend of Tinto Fino, Navarro, Valenciano, Albillo and other varietals sourced from the best sites in Sotillo de la Ribera, Roas, Fuentecén, Fuentemolinos and Pardilla; fermented in oak vats and tanks with indigenous yeasts; aged for 14 months in French oak barrels; 14.5% alcohol). Much more closed aromatically than Dolio at first. Introvert. Very soft and gentle with an incredibly sensuous and pixilated raspberry and loganberry fruit; a little mulberry and black berry with aeration in the mouth. Plump, substantial and, above all, spherical in form in the mouth. The soft tannins caress the palate all the way to a distant horizon. Lovely. 97+.
La Fleur VivaltuS 2020 (Ribera Del Duero DO; 98% Tempranillo; 2% Merlot; a selection from parcels all at high altitudes of between 750 and 1000 metres on poor clay, sandy and limestone soils; pH 3.67; 14% alcohol). Jean Claude Berrouet and Montxo Martinez are the wine-makers here. One knows immediately from the aromatics that this comes from significant altitude. Lifted, aerial, with lovely dried floral and herbal notes alongside the increasingly fresh and vibrant red and darker stone and berry fruits. Quite subtle and delicate, with a lithe and crystalline mid-palate disrupted only by the gently grip of the sculpting tannins. Not as dense of compact as the grand vin but a fine introduction to it that reveals the same values. 92+.
VivaltuS 2020 (Ribera Del Duero DO; 97% Tempranillo; 3% Merlot; the old-vine fruit was sourced predominantly from the Fuentenebro and La Aguilera vineyards at, respectively, 900-1000 and 850-900 metres of altitude; aged in a combination of French oak barrels and amphorae; pH 3.67; 14% alcohol; a partnership between Jean-Claude Berrouet and Montxo Martínez). The fifth release of this wine. There’s a little less Tempranillo and a little more Merlot than in last year’s 2019 release and this is perhaps a little more ample in frame and a little more soft and relaxed in personality as a consequence, the dusty, earthy almost iron-inflected minerality more than ever present. It exudes, as ever, the same immediate sense of altitude – and the cool kind of precision that comes from that. But in the 2020 edition this is a little more closed aromatically at this very early stage, with fewer of the floral notes of the 2019. It’s also slow to engage and to unfold over the palate. But the effect is rather lovely, like watching the complexity of a work of art appear either brushstroke by brushstroke or even shade by shade. This is soft, gracious, elegant and beguiling with a visceral presence of wild herbal and heathery notes and sculpting but also beady, spherical and hence delicate tannins. 96.
Tapias de Marqués de Riscal 2022 (Rioja DOC; 100% Tempranillo sourced entirely from one of Marqués de Riscal’s best vineyard plots, the Finca Las Tapias; 15% alcohol). Gloriously inviting aromatically, with radiant herb-tinged dark berry fruits and an almost wild mountain heathery note combining so well with the mixed dry spices and black and rose peppercorns. There’s a little plum stone too and walnut shell. The tannins are incredibly gracious on the entry, but they gain in granularity as the wine evolves over the palate. There’s a lot of wine in this bottle! Indeed, it’s something of a baby monster with incredible aging potential. It really needs to be found its place in the coolest, darkest corner of the cellar and left for at least a couple of decades to reveal all of its glories. It’s going to be extraordinary but I don’t think I’ll be around to see it at its best. 98.
Yjar 2021 (Rioja DOC; a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Granegro and Rojal; 14.5% alcohol). Very authentic and true to its sense of place, if perhaps a little burly tasted after Matallana – but I rather like that sense of contrast. Black tea and freshly plucked and pounded dark berry fruits – raspberry and mulberry, brambles too. Autumnal, with a sensation of dried leaves too. Some garrigue herbs. A little candlewax. There’s impressive weight, density and concentration here and the oak is already very well integrated. Very long and reassuringly substantial. 96.
Real de Asúa Carromaza (C.V.N.E.) 2022 (Rioja Alta; 100% Tempranillo; pH 3.60; aged for 12 months in new and second-use French oak barrels; 14% alcohol). Baked and fresh plums, fresh dark berry fruits with a little wild blueberry. The oak is reasonably prominent but will be fully-integrated in time. Clove and sweet spice. A lovely purity on the second half of the palate where the wine seems to find its shape more after a more disrupted and less well formed opening. Chewy and quite tannic at this stage on the finish. 94.
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