2017 Le Pianelle Bramaterra Piedmont Italy
$59.99 USD
Importer Notes
The wine: Cristiano Garella is a leading winemaker in this area with a number of vintages under his belt. His style is clean but transparent, his goal being to maximize the native character and flavors from this very distinctive Nebbiolo terroir. This Bramaterra shows some of the wiry structure typical of the appellation, but also a broad range of generous flavors (tobacco-leaf, sandalwood, red fruits); it is ripe but also very fresh in acidity, a hallmark of this region, ageworthy but drinkable when young too. If you love Nebbiolo you should try it. Lovers of Barolo/Barbaresco will have noticed that Bramaterra is typically blended with Vespolina and Croatina, whereas B/B are always 100% Nebbiolo. Croatina gives deeply colored, fairly tannic wines with tea-leaf and red berry notes; Vespolina is medium to dark red in color, and shows very distinctive bright berry and herbal notes. Ian d’Agata describes Vespolina as ‘one of Italy’s best grape varieties,’ high praise from this expert. Vespolina has great promise as a varietal wine in its own right. Cristiano says that he does blending trials of these wines with and without the Vespolina and Croatina, and always prefers the traditional blend. This Bramaterra is a bottling of only the best barrels from their vineyard.
Details: 80% Nebbiolo, 10% Vespolina, 10% Croatina
The wine: Cristiano Garella is a leading winemaker in this area with a number of vintages under his belt. His style is clean but transparent, his goal being to maximize the native character and flavors from this very distinctive Nebbiolo terroir. This Bramaterra shows some of the wiry structure typical of the appellation, but also a broad range of generous flavors (tobacco-leaf, sandalwood, red fruits); it is ripe but also very fresh in acidity, a hallmark of this region, ageworthy but drinkable when young too. If you love Nebbiolo you should try it. Lovers of Barolo/Barbaresco will have noticed that Bramaterra is typically blended with Vespolina and Croatina, whereas B/B are always 100% Nebbiolo. Croatina gives deeply colored, fairly tannic wines with tea-leaf and red berry notes; Vespolina is medium to dark red in color, and shows very distinctive bright berry and herbal notes. Ian d’Agata describes Vespolina as ‘one of Italy’s best grape varieties,’ high praise from this expert. Vespolina has great promise as a varietal wine in its own right. Cristiano says that he does blending trials of these wines with and without the Vespolina and Croatina, and always prefers the traditional blend. This Bramaterra is a bottling of only the best barrels from their vineyard.
Details: 80% Nebbiolo, 10% Vespolina, 10% Croatina