2010 Italy

Il Poggione is one of the stars of Brunello, despite this it is always incredibly reasonably priced. Every year we sell through our allocation quickly and 2010 I think it is a case of blink and you will miss it! Il Poggione is a wine that reflects the more modern end of the styles in Brunello, it always has rich, lush fruit and in 2010 it is perfectly held in check by a cool freshness. Alongside the lovely cherry fruit, there are floral characters and toasted spice a wine with a sensual character.

Made using mostly guyot-trellised fruit that’s been partially dried until the first week of December 2010, Marion’s Amarone is comprised of fresh dark brambly fruit, plus plenty of oak and coffee notes. Slender, fleshy, sapid and yet at the same time round red fruit (residual sugar level: 7), this dry wine is very one for main dishes.
David Berry Green

The 2010 vintage in Piedmont has produced somefabulous wines and is characterised by wines that are full-bodied, age-worthy and perfectly ripe.Conteisa is a Barolo-based wine and always has a small percentage of Barbera in it to provide acidityand freshness to the wine. Very complex, with lovelyfloral notes to compliment the deep-cherry and smokycharacteristics that begin to show on the finish. Thisis a powerful wine and will need six or seven years at least before drinking.
David Berry Green

Sperss is sourced from Serralunga, and therefore hasreal power and structure. The 2010 Sperss has more finesse than is usually seen, it is more refined withlovely red fruit, smoke and graphite characters. This has a big future ahead of it, certainly a wine with 20 or 25 years of development.
David Berry Green

Definitely more savoury, more mysterious, with a darker hue, earthier even, than the playful fruitiness of (baby sister) Villero. Tasted from barrel just prior to bottling in July 2014, Monprivato 2010 displays an intense spicy incense character; the palate suggests essential oils, together with exquisite balance and composure. Great.
David Berry Green

At only 1.83 hectares, the Roagna family's plot of Pajé still represents nearly 50 percent of the entire surface of this fine Barbaresco vineyard. Close to the Tanaro river flowing by, refreshing the vines with cooling air currents, the chalky character of Pajé’s soil is expressed through its soft, red colour, a dreamy nose of peachy, red fruit, of charmingly pure, effortless, firm but fine fruit tannins, and an enchanting scent throughout.

The father and son team of Alfredo and Luca Roagna are celebrating the completion of their new cantina in Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of La Pira vineyard, a prime location they’ve owned since 1989, but had bought fruit from since the 1950s. Both in their Barolo and Barbaresco estates (15 hectares in total), they pride themselves on their organic, grassed-over vineyards. They’re fortunate to have a wealth of oldvine fruit at their disposal which, of course, they vinify traditionally with extended maceration in large oak barrels.

This wine spends four years ageing in oak (three and a half years in Slavonian oak and half a year in chestnut). The vines are planted on volcanic soil, with a southern exposition, which gives a more exuberant style of Brunello, with a weightier body. The tannins are very firm, but there is a ripeness to them which is apparent on the finish.
Drink 2017-2027.

A wonderful contrast is provided by the Monforte vineyard of Santo Stefano in the hamlet of Perno, whose redder iron-rich clay soils give the Mascarello wine a more savoury and sage character. Indeed while the Castiglione Falletto wines are decidedly more perfumed and flirtatious , with rose petal prettiness, Santo Stefano is more reticent, shy even, preferring to come to life on the palate, where it builds and grows in stature. It’s broader, more tea leaf, mushroomy, seared meat, muscular, brawny even, with excellent development potential.
David Berry Green

Focussed, yet forever gentle and restrained, it’s a kernel of sage, dried rose, clove and loganberry; the fruit from his Castiglione Falletto vineyards of Valletti and Villero ensuring the noblest and silkiest of perfumes, complementing that of La Morra’s Gallinotto. On the palate sits elegantly briary bracken-like fruit; very suave, fluid, with plenty of nuance and savouriness. At its core a glint of red currant fruit. Very promising. A classic Barolo.
David Berry Green

Mario’s wines are always incredibly charming, supple and eloquent of the vintage; the 2010 is absolutely no different. This is very reminiscent of a Premier Cru Chambolle-Musigny, such is the purity and delicacy of the fruit and the finesse to the tannins. The palate has wonderfully sweet, pure fruit which has notes of almond and graphite. This is a hugely enjoyable wine and will drink surprisingly early, 2017 onwards, but I have no doubt that it will see many a year in the cellar.
Gary Owen - Private Account Manager

As soon as you pour the wine its remarkable nose immediately fills the air. Sweet cherry and raspberry dominate the lifted, beautifully fragrant nose. These are joined by crushed mint, sweet rose petals and just a very hint of graphite. The palate is wonderfully focussed, reassuringly tight, given the future this has ahead of it. The raspberry fruit is there again on the palate as are the rose notes, there is a fantastic intensity to the palate yet it remains wonderfully focussed. All this is rounded off with a lovely savoury garrigue-esque note. 2020-2040
Matthew Tipping, Fine Wine Sales Manager

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Annata was among my favourite Brunello releases earlier this year, so I had high hopes for the 2010 riserva. It’s always immensely satisfying when those expectations are met and in this case, exceeded. An immediate superiority to the Annata is obvious on the nose, with an extra layer or two of depth, complexity and focus. The notes of ripe red fruit, spices and grilled steak are compelling and implore you to taste it. It is of course still very young, but even at this stage the concentration and impeccable balance are stunning. All of the above notes are echoed on the palate and combine to create a delightful mouth-feel and a finish which goes on for over a minute. This is a very special wine and one that will make very old bones, if you can resist drinking it while it’s still young.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager
 

A hotly-awaited wine, the 2010 is Andrea’s first Riserva since the 2007 vintage. Only 8,000 bottles were made of this profound, deep-garnet beauty from the mythical 2010 vintage. Aged only in large botti, not barriques, the nose is rich with tamarind, kirsch, dark cherry, tobacco and loganberry. It's so finely detailed, yet flows effortlessly, a thread of dark, forest fruit, and white-stone minerality.

Local lad Andrea Mantengoli’s organic fruit, modern approach to winemaking and use of both large Slavonian barrels and small French barriques for ageing, provides a more contemporary expression of Brunello di Montalcino. Indeed so much so that we charged him with making our new own-label Brunello di Montalcino. The seven-hectare property is well located close to neighbours Cerbaiona, on the north-eastern shoulder of Montalcino, blessed with atypically white, tufo, limestone soils.

This is made with 55-year-old vine fruit from an exquisite site, right in the heart of a natural amphitheatre close to the village of Barbaresco itself, the soil rich in chalk. Blood-red colour, the nose seduces, as always, with gorgeous, sweet raspberry, kirsch cassis, a hedonistic, velvety texture – held tight with sinewy structure. The palate swells with sumptuous fruit, yet it is chalky and pure, sensational, with such detail – brimming with superlatives.

The father and son team of Alfredo and Luca Roagna are celebrating the completion of their new cantina in Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of La Pira vineyard, a prime location they’ve owned since 1989, but had bought fruit from since the 1950s. Both in their Barolo and Barbaresco estates (15 hectares in total), they pride themselves on their organic, grassed-over vineyards. They’re fortunate to have a wealth of oldvine fruit at their disposal which, of course, they vinify traditionally with extended maceration in large oak barrels.

Only 2,000 bottles of the old-vine La Pira, located under the castello di Castiglione Falletto, were made by the Roagna family in this excellent vintage; rather unsurprisingly given the oldest vine was planted in 1937. Compared to their normal La Pira, this oldvine version is super-suave, with velvety cassis-fruit, underpinned by a cool white-stone – almost marble – core and minerality. It's got that extra gear of fruit but also of purity and balance. This was particularly excellent in 2010; a wine to challenge Mascarello's Monprivato for purity and poise.

The father and son team of Alfredo and Luca Roagna are celebrating the completion of their new cantina in Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of La Pira vineyard, a prime location they’ve owned since 1989, but had bought fruit from since the 1950s. Both in their Barolo and Barbaresco estates (15 hectares in total), they pride themselves on their organic, grassed-over vineyards. They’re fortunate to have a wealth of oldvine fruit at their disposal which, of course, they vinify traditionally with extended maceration in large oak barrels.

Only about 1,500 bottles were made from Roagna's south-west-facing plot that adjoins that of Bruno Giacosa. The sandy talc element of the calcareous soil gives an intriguing clementine-skin character, along with rose-petal purity. Crunchy-cool poise, packed with harmonious detail, a glint of kirsch cassis and red cherry-stone, impeccably dressed; it sets the pulse racing.

The father and son team of Alfredo and Luca Roagna are celebrating the completion of their new cantina in Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of La Pira vineyard, a prime location they’ve owned since 1989, but had bought fruit from since the 1950s. Both in their Barolo and Barbaresco estates (15 hectares in total), they pride themselves on their organic, grassed-over vineyards. They’re fortunate to have a wealth of oldvine fruit at their disposal which, of course, they vinify traditionally with extended maceration in large oak barrels.

Also produced in tiny quantities, as all Roagna old-vine wines naturally are, the Pajé version remains true to the bright, cherry-red intensity of the denominazione (versus the paler colour for Barolo): it's open-hearted, engaging with joyful tea-leaf freshness, fabulous tension, fleet of foot, with ballerina poise and balance – a pearl of sweet red cassis.

The father and son team of Alfredo and Luca Roagna are celebrating the completion of their new cantina in Castiglione Falletto, in the heart of La Pira vineyard, a prime location they’ve owned since 1989, but had bought fruit from since the 1950s. Both in their Barolo and Barbaresco estates (15 hectares in total), they pride themselves on their organic, grassed-over vineyards. They’re fortunate to have a wealth of oldvine fruit at their disposal which, of course, they vinify traditionally with extended maceration in large oak barrels.

Right from the off this is clearly a serious wine, it has a deep brooding nose with spice, heaps of morello cherry and chocolate notes. The palate is beautifully dense, multi-layered, textured and beautifully done. The morello cherry is there again, this time accompanied by liquorice and smokey notes. The intensity is such that this has a long future ahead of it and long term it is a wine that is sure to enhance the 2010 vintage’s legacy. Drink 2020-2035
Matthew Tipping, Fine Wine Sales Manager

Could it be that in the 2010 vintage, the Monforte vineyard of Gramolere has ‘stolen the show’ from the fêted Verduno site of Monvigliero? This will please Vittore’s Mum (nata Manzoni), from whose family the plot came before being first vinified under the F.lli Alessandria label in 2001. Or maybe it’s just being 400 meters above sea level, with sandier, iron-rich soils and Gramolere’s 45-year-older vines that produce a wine that’s ‘faster off the blocks’? Either way, it’s gorgeously composed, with balsam oil, rich raspberry and wild mint (of which there’s masses in the vineyard); it’s serene, broad and generous in a Brunate-esque way, refreshed with notes of wild thyme, framed by molten tannins. Complete.
David Berry Green

Understated and, at times, frustratingly shy in its youth, the utterly compelling Alessandria wine from the heart of the Monvigliero vineyard seems to bask in the shadow of the more ebullient Gramolere; but then that’s what, in essence, sums up the difference between the Baroli of Verduno and Monforte. From slightly younger vines (35-years-old), the wine from this mid-slope, chalky white, if lower, vineyard is reticent, pale rose-red in colour. There is a distant whiff of delicate floral perfume, a hint of sandalwood, of rose petal, even of nose tingling white pepper that recalls local grape Pelaverga. It’s a silk thread in a glass, slowly unravelling. Patience will be rewarded.
David Berry Green

This is Gianluca’s first ever Barolo under his own label, having left the family business after 23 years of making Barolo. Despite the funky packaging it remains a traditionally made (static tanks, long maceration, long ageing in large oak) if contemporary blend of fruit from three vineyards from his village of Vergne, above that of Barolo: east facing young vine Bricco delle Viole, 70-year-old vines from San Ponzio, and 30-year-old Serradenari; harvested at between 48 and 52 hl/ha. Fermented in cement for 30 days, before being transferred to 50hl slavonian oak barrles, Gianluca has captured the village’s ‘terra rossa’, silty component: delightfully open and engaging, with soft with strawberry aromas, the palate follows with gentle juicy, strawberry incense and essential oil intensity, together with an earthy note that reminds us of Vergne location along the ridge from La Morra. Beguiling, and how exciting to know that the 2011 will include fruit from the notably fine Fossatti vineyard. Only 300 plus cases made.
David Berry Green

From one of the highest vineyards in Barolo, this is a perfect introduction to the region. A wine with crushed roses and violets blended beautifully with blackcurrant fruit. It has a lovely clarity to it, a sense of sweetness that is held perfectly in check by flavours of graphite and touches of coffee on the finish. 
Matthew Tipping - Private Account Manager