Piedmont (Piemonte)

This is 100% Nebbiolo from Piemonte in Italy.  Organic.  Pale ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with sour cherries, slight strawberries, and a hint of rose petals.  With air, some chalky dustiness comes out.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  A nice backbone of acidity.  On the palate, flavors of sour cherries and black cherries with a touch of spice.  Moderate finish.  This wine really needs food.  Pizza would work but it can handle pasta with a (spicy) meat sauce.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

I am a big fan of these wines.  They are great at the end of a meal.  Sweet with some effervescence and low alcohol (5%abv).  Pale golden in color with a nice froth to it.  The nose is nice with some apples, baked peaches and a bit of a floral note.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is sweet but not cloying.  The bubbles, the acidity and the sugar all dance together on the tongue.  Nice finish.  This is lovely on its own and works well with a less sweet (plain) cookie or cake.  Drink now.  

This is a very nice Barolo that is reasonably priced.  Light ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, some sour cherries, char and spice.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this has some depth.  It seems to be drinking well now though and about at peak.  Flavors of cherries with some spice and char.  It really needs food to show its best (what a shock for a Barolo).  Good finish.  This will be great with braised meats but also a nice mushroom pizza.  Drink over the next eight to twelve years.  

From Magnum.  Nice showing at age 25.  Brick red in color but no browning, clear and bright.  The nose is great with cherries, dust, dried flowers and a hint of anise.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  Nice acidity.  On the palate, this has depth and some complexity.  Flavors of cherries with some anise and light char.  There is some oak showing but it seems mostly integrated.  Good finish.  This needs food to shine (duh).  It would be great with a plate of pasta with a mushroom cream sauce.  In regular 750ml format, it probably should be consumed in the next five years or so.  

One of my favorite white wines, this is made from the Arneis grape in the Roero district of Piemonte, Italy.  Light gold in color with green hues, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with lemons, a touch of pineapple and nice minerality.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this has nice minerality with peach, apples and citrus.  A hint of almonds on the finish.  This is nice on its own but even better with food.  It worked with with a plate of pasta, butter and mushrooms.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

Also referred to as the Black Label.  It is made from 100% Cortese grape.  Light golden in colo, clear and bright.  The nose is expressive with lemons, and a floral note and a bit of minerality.  Medium bodied.  Nice texture.  Great backbone of acidity.  On the palate, the lemons and  minerals come thru along with a slight almond note especially on the finish.  While this can be drunk on its own, it works better with acidity.  It worked well with a plate of pasta and mushrooms in an Aioli sauce.  Drink over the next couple of years.  

This bottle (bought on release) was allowed to breathe for 6 hours, then decanted for four more before being double decanted back into the original bottle.  It needed every bit of that as it was still a bit on the young side.  Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  Great nose with cherries, slight menthol, slight dark chocolate, fresh asphalt and dried flowers.  Firm tannins.  Medium to full bodied.  Great acidity and balance.  On the palate, juicy cherries with some tar and dried earth.  Deep and complex.  Long finish.  This needs food to really shine and it went quite well with mus