2011 Italy

Round, supple and succulent, the 2011 Costa Russi is laced with dark red cherry, plum, mocha, cloves and new leather. The classic Costa Russi personality comes through in a soft, gracious wine with tons of near and medium-term appeal. The Costa Russi captures an attractive middle ground between the ripe, pliant style of the year and the medium bodied grace of Nebbiolo. I expect the 2011 will offer a long and broad drinking window of pure pleasure. Although Costa Russi is often the most precocious of Gaja's single-vineyard wines, it is the last site to be picked.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous, October 2014

Renzo Cotarella’s favourite. Still very concentrated purple with lots of mineral notes. Very charming and fresh with extreme vitality. Great stuff! Wonderful completeness and energy. Fully ripe. Great combination of freshness and intensity.
Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - Apr 2015

The 2010 vintage was perhaps more famous, yet young Davide Rosso reckons he made better wines in 2011. His Serralunga d'Alba is a blend of five or six vineyards dotted along the calcareous ridge, that together articulate the intrinsic character and quality of the village's Baroli. But then Davide is one of them, his family owning vines there and formerly selling off fruit for a century until he stepped up after leaving Alba’s Umberto 1 Oenology School to bottle the fruit, rather than give it away. A brilliant cranberry-red colour, this 2011 version is focused, despite the August heat, with a cool head of cold tea and strawberry, redcurrant and rose aromas. It's refined, delightfully poised, with great Ferrari-like ‘lines’. Fabulous transparency, a glinting cassis-note, racy acidity, exquisite balance and this has a sense of strutting about it. Difficult not to enjoy now, this will improve in bottle for a decade or so.

Since first bottling his family’s Serralunga d’Alba fruit in the late 1990s, Davide has rightly gained a reputation as one of the region’s finest (Nebbiolo) winemakers. He may not have the name or history of some of his famous neighbours but perhaps as a result he’s further incited to prove himself. That he is surely doing with a range of peerless Serralunga Baroli, traditionally and expertly made using stainless steel, cement and French oak botti. Fortune came his and his mother Ester’s way in 2011, as they inherited a hectare of Vigna Rionda — one of Serralunga’s top vineyards — completing the range perfectly

Pale cherry-red, the nose swoons with delicate notes of camphor and fresh, wild Amarena cherry, along with a fragrant rose-water character. To taste, this glides: it’s so pretty, so effortless with gentle redcurrant fruit and tannins so finely curated that they’re invisible.

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A real triumph: this has elegant, cool, red fruit with notes of mint and coffee on the nose. It is sumptuous and mouth-filling, yet still retaining amazing elegance and coolness. Terrifically complex with notes of red summer fruits, grilled meats, smoke, chocolate and herbs among many others. The finish is long and fine. 

Delightful red and black Sangiovese fruit, good ripeness and depth on the nose. More of the same with the addition of crisp acidity and ripe tannins on the palate, it’s all about the Sangiovese grosso fruit here, with notes of cherry, grilled meats and red currants. Good length and a harmonious finish, another great Brunello from Costanti, this will be at its best from its tenth birthday, but could be drunk from 2017.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager

This is another great example of Valpolicella Superiore, as opposed to Valpolicella Ripasso. A wonderful, rich bouquet leaps from the glass with notes of red fruit and mocha. It’s just as good on the palate with rounded, plush fruit, great concentration and impeccable balance. Just the right weight, this is a delightful wine, as complex as many an Amarone, but more accessible than most.

Marion is one of the most beautiful estates, just north of Verona on the site of a splendid 15th-century villa in the valley of Marcellise, once owned by the Conte Marioni, subsequently bought by the Campedelli family in 1986. Together with his wife, Nicoletta Fornasa, and brother Marco, Stefano started bottling in 1995; now the property has 22 hectares. Since 2006 they’ve been assisted by the talented Damiano Peroni. The estate lies just outside the Classico zone on predominantly chalk soils.

One of Montalcino’s oldest estates, dating back to the time of the Medicis, Lisini is known more recently as one of the founding fathers of the Brunello di Montalcino Consorzio in the 1960s. The Clementi-Lisini family, at the 154-hectare property near Sant’Angelo in Colle (with 20 hectares are under vine), make a thoroughly traditional range that builds on ancient Eocene sand, clay and iron-rich soils; wines that were first bottled in 1967. Oenologist Filippo Paoletti stands guard over the estate’s pre-eminent position.

Lisini's Brunelli remain among our most traditional; in youth they are focused, quite serious, with crunchy-cool poise, and an almost Burgundian, herbal, cassis edge in 2011. Yet it opens up more on the palate, after 3.5 years’ oak-ageing after all, with juicy currants, gleaming cranberry-purity, cleansing acidity, red cherries, thick redcurrant-skins.

Emphatic, broad, darker, this has hints of liquorice, tamarind, clove and rose; even of animal. It brims with nuance, while the palate – for now – is dominated by kirsch cherry, a compôte of distilled stone-fruit, of mentholated, dried fruits. This needs time.

Manuel assumes charge of the defiantly traditional, 12-hectare Marcarini estate, along with his three children. Central to this historic, 19th-century cantina, based in central La Morra, with sweeping views over their vineyards below, are the two Barolo vineyards – La Serra and Brunate, of which they own fine plots.

Darker cherry and brambly in character, with plum ice-cream, the 2011 Cannubi has great power of fruit on the palate. It shares the E.Pira trait of being cool, with a certain hint of Italian summer herbs, full-bodied and tannic on the finish.

E.Pira was one of Barolo’s most historical producers until the Boschis family bought it in 1980, transforming it overnight into one of its most modern. Chiara Boschis is at the helm, producing fruit-forward wines that give you more of everything: more extract, colour, acidity, alcohol and oak. She mollycoddles her organic vineyards as if they’re her children. Recently joined by her brother, Giorgio, the estate has now grown to 8.5 hectares.

The 2011 vintage is the first release of the Minuto family’s Barbaresco Asili, from their tiny handkerchief square of vines (0.6 hectares), comprising 55-year-old vines. There is more sand in Asili, contributing a fine texture, along with mentholated, ripe, small, strawberry fruit. It's so pretty, so suave, with impeccable lines, and quasi-perfect balance; a joy, but still in its relative youth. It should age beautifully if you can wait. 

One of the oldest, and finest Barbaresco estates, Cascina Luisin is located close to the village itself, overlooking its prime vineyard of Rabajà. Son Roberto is gradually filling the shoes of his father Luigi Minuto: there has been a renovation of the large oak botti, with Austrian Stockinger oak, along with a new family reserves cellar for all those magnificent old bottles. Alongside the pretty Barbaresco Paolin and more structured Rabajà, this year we are offering the first release of their old-vine Asili.

The Cerretta vineyard is located behind the family winery in the hamlet of Baudana. Here, compared to that of the Serra vineyard beyond the castello, the soil is darker, richer in organic matter and iron, akin to the soils of Castiglione Falletto across the valley. Consequently Giovanni Rosso's Cerretta is fuller, fleshier, broader and more generous (than Serra), while its DNA is definitely that of Serralunga – with cranberry-focus and a hint of sandalwood. The palate is a stunning wrap of gleaming cranberry, Pinot-like fruit, with zip, pace, presence; uplifting, edge-of-yourseat material. I reckon it's Davide’s best Cerretta yet, and will be good for a decade at least.

Since first bottling his family’s Serralunga d’Alba fruit in the late 1990s, Davide has rightly gained a reputation as one of the region’s finest (Nebbiolo) winemakers. He may not have the name or history of some of his famous neighbours but perhaps as a result he’s further incited to prove himself. That he is surely doing with a range of peerless Serralunga Baroli, traditionally and expertly made using stainless steel, cement and French oak botti. Fortune came his and his mother Ester’s way in 2011, as they inherited a hectare of Vigna Rionda — one of Serralunga’s top vineyards — completing the range perfectly.

We are delighted to be able to offer Le Serre Nuove, a true ‘Second vin’ of Ornellaia.  First introduced with the 1997 vintage, 2011 is perhaps their finest vintage to date.

Since its inception in 1981 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia very quickly gained international recognition and established itself as a world-class producer.  Located in the medieval village of Bolgheri, made famous by the presence of the pioneering estate Tenuta San Guido, this coastal area of Tuscany had already established itself as a region whose finest vineyards were able to produce wine of the highest calibre.

It is, no doubt, a stunning landscape with towering cypress trees lining ancient Roman roads however in wine terms its proximity to the sea is key.  Not only are the finest vineyards spared the highest temperatures found further inland due to cooling sea breezes, grapes ripen earlier here, often before the arrival of autumn rains, bringing a degree of consistency across vintages that should not be overlooked.

Today the wines of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia may rival those of Tenuta San Guido, notably Sassicaia, however many feel that its wines offer a more ‘international’ expression of the terroir of Bolgheri.  As you would expect, the wine is produced primarily from the fruit of the estate’s younger vineyards, and aims to combine the pedigree of Ornellaia itself, with the intensity of outstanding terroir balanced by freshness and approachability.

This comes from the Falletto vineyard of Serralunga d’Alba, and from the estate of the same name that Bruno Giacosa bought in 1982. To the uninitiated. Serralunga d’Alba is responsible for Barolo’s finest, most sinewy Baroli, that derive their pedigree from the village’s white limestone soils, giving wines that benefit from time in bottle. Falletto is a top ‘Grand Cru’ vineyard, were such a classification to exist, lying in a natural conch-shaped site. The upper, whitest section is known as Le Rocche, released generally as a (red label) Riserva. This wine comes from the mid-slope belly of the vineyard lower down.
The 2011 vintage is regarded as giving fresh, fruity wines from a sunny and dry season – a cross between 2008 and 2009. In his first year at Giacosa, oenologist Francesco Versio recalls that the character and quality of 2011 was sealed by the cool September Serralunga nights at 15 degrees Celsius that followed hot days at 28 degrees. Still in its infancy, this vintage of Falletto, pale red garnet in colour, pings with white stony cranberry aromas; there’s a hint of coffee bean shells too. It’s precise, tight, cleansing, with again talc tannins and salty tight red berried fruit. This is the white label.
David Berry Green

Made famous, justly so, by the skill of Bruno Giacosa during the 1970s and 1980s, now new techniques in the vineyards have ensured that the Nebbiolo grapes are picked slightly earlier than previously and at optimum ripeness. Maceration times have been reduced from around 50 days to nearer 30, as a consequence of having physiologically ripe fruit from the vineyards. The fashionable, new, French 225-litre barriques are not for Giacosa: all his wine is aged in large 5,000-litre botti, though these are now French rather than Slavonian. Bruno’s wines are marvellously perfumed on the nose, and meaty and full-bodied on the palate.

The 2011 Sorì San Lorenzo boasts massive depth, intensity and power. Black fruit, smoke, tar, licorice, savory herbs and leather are some of the many notes that emerge from the glass. Regardless of the year, the personality of Sorì San Lorenzo always comes through, which is why this is one of the great sites in Barbaresco, Piedmont and Italy. In 2011 the contours are a bit softer, which gives the wine a level of accessibility that is quite rare in Sorì San Lorenzos when the wines are young. Why is Sorì San Lorenzo one of the world's most profound vineyards? Because its personality simply can't be denied.
Antonio Galloni – Vinous – October 2014

Il Poggione is one of the stars of Brunello di Montalcino, perfectly combining lovely modern-style fruit with freshness and verve. Lovely and fleshy on the nose with that quintessential, tell-tale Sangiovese meatiness, underpinned with notes of redcurrants.

Supple and fleshy on the palate too, spicy red and black fruit notes, mouth-watering acidity and fine, well-integrated tannins. Very good and tempting to drink now, but it will repay a few years in the cellar with more harmony and roundness. Drink 2018-2023.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager

Ornellaia is predominantly a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot adding the seasoning to the wine. It is one of the two signature wines of Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia, the other being the 100 percent Merlot: Masseto. Winemaker Axel Heinz’s use of this Bordeaux blend grown on the Tuscan coast has made this wine a highly-anticipated favourite amongst wine lovers. This vintage has been described by the winemakers as of a quality similar to the great 2001, but even more sophisticated. It is a wine with a rich plum core, polished and intriguing with tobacco and liquorice adding further complexity to the perfectly composed palate.
Matthew Tipping - Private Account Manager