2022 ChevernyDomaine du Salvard
France | Loire
$22
Producers
The cru of Mazzön, which stretches along an imposing limestone ridge above the town of Ora in northeastern Italy, has produced top-notch Pinot Nero for nearly two hundred years. The Carlottos’ bottling, which evokes black cherries and blood orange, is one of Italy’s most refined and age-worthy red wines made from this grape.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Pinot Nero |
Appellation: | Vigneti delle Dolomiti |
Country: | Italy |
Region: | Alto Adige |
Producer: | Ferruccio Carlotto |
Winemaker: | Ferruccio Carlotto |
Vineyard: | Planted in 2000, 2010, 2012, 2014, & 2015; 3 ha |
Soil: | Sand, clay, chalk, limestone |
Aging: | 20% of wine aged in 22h: barrels and 80% aged in 225L barrels for 12 months |
Farming: | Sustainable |
Alcohol: | 14% |
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige | Vigneti delle Dolomiti
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Feruccio Carlotto and his daughter Michela farm a tiny estate of several hectares in the Alto-Adige town of Ora, south of Bolzano. The special of this village is Lagrein, a red grape that is native to the region. They chose to produce only one Lagrein Riserva that is aged in large oak casks. They also make a small amount of Pinot Nero that is made in a very fine, elegant style, with a feathery touch. We were pleasantly surprised when we were able to talk the Carlottos into selling us a pallet for the United States. Unfortunately there are not much of these finely crafted beauties to go around but if you can get your hands on a few cases, you will be experiencing some of the best of what Alto Adige has to offer the wine world.
In the heart of the Dolomites, Alto Adige is Italy’s northernmost wine region. Having changed hands multiples times in its history between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (it shares a border with Austria), it boasts strong Germanic influence on its culture, language, cuisine, as well as its wines.
The mountainous geography is the principal determinant of local winemaking styles, with the high-altitude vineyards and cool Alpine climate favoring primarily crisp, racy, aromatic whites from varieties like Kerner, Sauvignon, Müller Thurgau, and Grüner Veltliner. A Mediterranean influence on climate is channeled north up the valley until Bolzano, permitting the cultivation of certain reds as well, among which Schiava, Lagrein, Pinot Nero, and Merlot fare best.
Small growers who once sold fruit to the area’s multiple co-ops are now increasingly bottling their own wines. The arrival of many quality-oriented artisans on the scene caught our eye years ago, and we now count three estates from Südtirol, as it is also known, in our portfolio. These high-acid mountain wines make for a beautifully invigorating aperitivo with thinly sliced speck, a local specialty.
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Ferruccio Carlotto Italy | Alto Adige | Vigneti delle Dolomiti
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Manni Nössing Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige – Valle Isarco
Peter Dipoli Italy | Alto Adige | Alto Adige
Vigne Rada Italy | Sardinia | Vermentino di Sardegna
Giovanni Montisci Italy | Sardinia | Vino Rosso
Guido Porro Italy | Piedmont | Barolo
Let the brett nerds retire into protective bubbles, and whenever they thirst for wine it can be passed in to them through a sterile filter. Those of us on the outside can continue to enjoy complex, natural, living wines.
Inspiring Thirst, page 236
Drinking distilled spirits, beer, coolers, wine and other alcoholic beverages may increase cancer risk, and, during pregnancy, can cause birth defects. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/alcohol
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