Wine Reviews

The Petite Moussiere is crafted from all estate fruit, biodynamically farmed, and rarely distributed in the US. There’s a beautiful earthiness to these wines, and here it’s very expressive and focused, like fine apple skin, slightly bruised, with an earthy redwood bark richness, while the palate is surprisingly energetic, teeming with saline-acid tension, gentle tannins nicely integrated, medium-bodied with a long, fruit-driven finish redolent of baked cherries, raspberries, and dried apricot, underscored by a dusty mineral backbone.

This is an eye-opener Champagne. The first whiff reveals an intriguing and complex array of citrus and orchard fruit, like just-picked Gala apples with a squeeze of lemon or lime, and nearby, a bunch of aromatic jasmine. Immediately round, soft, and creamy, with wet stone minerality, sea salt, more lime and lime zest, and a lengthy, mouthwatering finish.

From 20 acres of organically farmed vines in Monforte d’Alba, coming from Bricco, San Pietro, San Giovanni, and Ginestra. Each plot is vinified separately and blended later. Ferments are native. Aged in Stockinger casks and cement. This is a profoundly structured red, with sinewy tannins and notes of cherry, dark chocolate, rose, and warm, baked earth, finishing with sagebrush, mint, and salinity.

This Extra Brut carries the mineral brightness of a cold river stone, with crisp orchard and stone-fruit and white-truffle nuances, and a salty mineral thread running from the bouquet to the long, mineral-laced finish. It’s medium- to full-bodied with the loveliest texture and energy. So refined and polished.

Gratius is the estate’s wine, and arguably Gran Selezione quality, crafted in one large Botti, aged for a year, and exceptional. Readers will recall this wine’s former labels: black, with a statue of a woman and a man, and the word “Gratius” on it. In 2018, the winery began an artist label series, and this 2022 bottling bears a striking label (tree, vine, earth) designed by Valentino Monticello, named ‘Wine as Art.’ It’s brooding, bursting with dark rose petal and cherry fruit, tar, and anise, further enhanced by impressive concentration and power, and finishing with dark berry fruit, redwood spices, and more mineral accents on the full-bodied and expressive finish. A blend of 90% Sangiovese, 5% each of Colorino and Canaiolo.

This Blanc de Noirs from the 2009 vintage is in the perfect place for those of you who love Champagne sitting in that expressive, secondary and tertiary phase of life. There’s a rich nuttiness, like toasted hazelnuts, caramel, and brioche that is very enticing. The palate embodies those qualities in spades, with an enveloping creamy, salty decadence, supported by ultra-bright acid tension. The finish is bone dry, long, and expressive, and layered with saturating baked orchard and stone fruits, culminating with the scent of just-shaved black truffles over zesty pasta. Talk about rich!

Wow—this is something else. Poised exquisitely between tertiary complexity and youthful freshness, it unfurls aromas of white and black truffle, black cherry and spiced plum, mingling with pulverised river stone and toasted hazelnut. The mousse is voluminous yet exceptionally fine, resolving into bracing acid tension alive with zesty, flamed grapefruit-peel brightness. Full-bodied, saline and refreshing through the long finish, this masterful 2012 is crafted entirely from Pinot Noir.

Positively invigorating. Polished, refined, beautifully textured with the mineral elegance of the finest Champagnes in the world. A whole host of enticing mineral accents, like white truffle, wet slate, graphite, and iron. On the attack, the mousse is focused at first, then builds into an enveloping expansiveness. From that effervescent, expressive mousse comes a chalky mineral character that fuels the lengthy, bone-dry, acid-driven, layered finish. One of the most exceptional Champagnes you will taste this decade.