Yesterday I met Bettina Rogosky in Berlin and she had a 05 IL CABERLOT in her luggage…
Bottled exclusively in magnum.
Il Caberlot and its fascinating story*doesn’t end with its scarcity and desirability. It, and its second label Carnasciale, are the only wines in the world made from a mysterious clone discovered four decades ago near Verona. Named “Caberlot,” the grape has characteristics of both Cabernet and Merlot—hence its name.
„Caberlot’s discoverer—agronomist Remigio Bordini— hasallowed the vine to be planted just one place outside his nursery: at Wolf and BettinaRogosky’s Tuscan estate, IlCarnasciale. The vineyard lies atop arocky, south-facing bluff that towers above Tuscany’s Arno river. Famedenologist Vittorio Fiore discovered this providential site in 1986.
To limit yields, Fiore advised the Rogoskys to plant at a then-revolutionary 10,000 vines per hectare and to prune to a mere five clusters per plant. As if to presage Il Caberlot’s future, theRogoskys buried a bottle of Sassicaia under the first vine.
From the first vintage, 1988, Il Caberlot has been a huge cult wine in Europe, its scarcity driven by nature and the vineyard’s size of less than an acre. Wolf Rogosky passed away in 1996, but Bettina hascarried on the work with her winemaker, Peter Schilling. With time, more vines have been planted, but production remains miniscule. Thewine is still bottled by hand, and is held for two years before release.Bettina Rogosky hand-numbers each label. A second wine, made from younger vines and named “Carnasciale,” wasintroduced in 2000.“ Rare Wine&Co
“Il Carnasciale’s home vineyard measures just one-third of a hectare. The vines are planted at a high density of 10,000 plants per hectare, a practice that was revolutionary twenty years ago. The vineyard sits at 420 meters above sea-level, which experience suggests is the upper limit for Caberlot…The wines are made under the direction of Schilling and consulting oenologist Vittorio Fiore. Yields per plant are kept quite low, which is facilitated by the Caberlot clone’s naturally low vigor. Fermentation lasts about a week after which the wine is racked into a combination of stainless steel and barriques for the malolactic fermentation. The wine then spends 18 months in 100% new medium-toast barriques (50% Allier, 50% Vosges) prior to being bottled exclusively in magnum.” A. Galloni/WA
2005 Il Carnasciale “Il Caberlot”, Tuscany
A beauty!
Bewitching perfume of raspberry and red currant. Impressive elegant with clarity&precision and flavors of raspberry&red currant&herbs on the palate. A real temptation with a fascinating depth&balance. Not a wine which jumps on your palate rather a wine for finesse&elegance drinker. A friend who likes to drink Blockbuster wines was not impressed and said „I miss power“.
Of course it is a baby right now, but as I tasted a terrific and fresh `92 version 1-2 years ago I predict a good future.
92-93+
Bettina Rogosky