Don’t send to me, send it to the people who sell you wine!
Have the 2013 Brovia single vineyards garnered huge scores from critics?
Yes
I think they already have over the past several years, since about the time of the 2010 releases.
Just got an offer this morning. Garblet Sue at $74, the rest at $85 apiece with 10% off case purchase.
Having bought Monvigliero and Bartolo Mascarello w/o expecting to, I think I may be done with the 2013s – I have certainly burst through my barolo budget for the year. I may just pick up some of the Brovia normale ($48).
You always seem to get the best pricing for every wine you buy. Perhaps you could offer up a buy-share program for the rest of us? Kidding, but it would be nice.
Is that truly a great price? I have no frame of reference for this vintage.
Hmmph. Think you might want to talk to jbray23 instead who, over on the “what did you buy lately” thread reports that he picked up bottle each of the 2013 Moniv and Cannubi for $57 apiece. Now that is a good price.
Those Brovia prices are available at Some Good Wines in NYC.
I think those Brovia single vineyard prices are decent, not great. K and L here in CA (who are usually high priced on Italian wines) wanted $90 for the Brovia single vineyards, with no case discount (and are sold out). The price quoted to me for the normale is slightly on the higher end I think-- could probably find it cheaper than $48 if I rummaged around.
I have never been to Piedmont- are the prices really that different for these wines? (is it purely the importers taking huge profits-or do the wineries charge more for wines headed overseas?)
Hi Julian
Yes, though there is typically a ‘ripple back’ effect, where Italian prices may not catch up, but will start to reflect the reduced supply if much is siphoned off to another country (to be sold at increasingly high prices). The producers aren’t blind to what the wines sell for abroad.
The Italians don’t necessarily get excited about the same wines that a US, Canadian, Aussie, Danish etc. market does. Indeed I’m often left shaking my head that the Italians have more respect for international leaning wines / other produce, when I’m enthralled by what has stood the test of time there. If this forum is anything to go by, there are plenty in the US who feel the same way as me.
I don’t get the impression the US market is being fleeced on Italian wines in general, however certain wines have definitely attained cult status (ironically this often being fiercely traditional wines, rather than our normal view of cult being oaked to the gills and with bold/lush fruit to match). It’s these wines where the differences have grown dramatically between Italian prices and those that you see in the shops / retail websites.
Regards
Ian
No, most wineries and certainly several which have been mentioned here, haven’t changed their prices, if not by a minimal amount.
Some people are indeed making huge profits on some of these wines.
It depends. If you’re looking for Giacosa or Conterno Monfortino, the prices aren’t that different; it’s a global market for the trophy wines and most of those you can only buy in shops there, not from the producers.
The differential on the next tier or two of wines is much less than it was 15-20 years ago, when the cellar door price there was typically half the US retail price. But where you can buy directly from the producer, it’s typically cheaper than in the shops there (unlike the US market, where wineries don’t want to undercut their distributors and retailers by selling below retail). So there are some deals to be had on some wines. Be sure to have the Wine-Searcher app on your phone, though, so you don’t go to a lot of trouble to save $5 or $7 a bottle and have to deal with shipping or schlepping. I lugged back some Marcarini six years ago only to find it for roughly the same price at Zachy’s.
actually what you found seems like a great price, and even K&L wasn’t so bad. Winehouse in LA has the '13 Brovia single vineyards for $99 each (a bit less for the Garblet sue), and still in stock, understandably so. Hi Time in the OC has the '13 Normale for $45.
In a separate thread, I’ve posted (sketchy) notes on a big tasting of '13s that Chambers Street ran with Jancis Robinson tonight.
My takeaway: Overall the wines are more balanced than I thought they would be based on the descriptions of the vintage I heard on a visit last year at this time. But there were some wines that seemed a bit hot.
The tasting did not include the Burlotto Monvigliero or either Mascarello or either Conterno, or Giacosa or Vietti or the like. Of the wines discussed here, I found the Brovia Villero so tightly wound that it was hard to get a read on at this stage, but young Barolo are hard to assess – particularly when you’re tasting more than 40 at one go. I quite liked the Cogno Ravera.
My nomination for post of the year!
Just the 2 mascarellos for me so far … anyone taste the 13 elio grassos yet?
As a senior member of the “Baby Boomers,” I don’t plan on making any significant purchases of 2013 Barolo (or upcoming vintages of Brunello, for that matter). I’ll just drink the vintages that I have.
Just got in a case of the 2013 Fenocchio Cannubi at around $45/btl. Overpaid -drastically- for two bottles of Burlotto Monvigliero and now regret it.
Bought a few 2013 Giacosa Rocche, playing the odds that Dante being back in the saddle would lead to a special wine. Also a few Mascarello Monprivato for what seemed a reasonable price, and a few Brovias. I will probably try to find a case of Vajra Bricco de Viole and a bottle of Bartolo Mascarello and call it quits. This is a -very- big set of purchases for me. Will likely not buy any more Barolo before the 2016 vintage comes out.
Any thoughts on the Fratelli Alessandria Monvigliero?
TN: 2013 Fenocchio Barolo Cannubi:
I don’t drink a lot of young Barolo, but felt compelled to open one of these for science. Has all of the beautiful notes I love in Barolo - roses, candied red fruit, flower petals and spice - with firm and grippy tannins, a long round finish, and an overall lightness. Will be fascinating to follow this for a few decades…