As an aside, why did Cogno jump so much in pricing? Increase at the winery or the importer?
All oldschool traditional producers! Thats the fashion!
I think Brovia og Massolino will slowly but steady rise in price.
In regards to Sandrone’s Le Vigne, then it sells for 100 EURO in Denmark, and wines are not cheap here. The 2016 got some real hype so it sold out quickly, but you can still buy older vintages for that price - so i don’t see the price spike that much.
That said i like Sandrone, it was my first wine love. I had good Barolo’s but nothing extraordinary from them. But their Nebbiolo Valmaggiore can really shine as a QPR if you wait a few years. Last year i tasted 2012-2015 with some friends. Awesome wines.
yeah I agree that espically Brovia seems extremely popular. I also think Vajra produces amazing wine, even though it is also starting to go up in price. Another estate that also produces amazing wine is F. Alessandria, which also benefit from the fame of Monvigliero from Burlotto. Others will probably put E. Grasso and Cogno in this group as well, but with the 2016 vintage I think the prices of these have risen to much for my taste at least. But overall I think these producers will only go up in prices.
And then there are some other estates that maybe don’t produce wine at the same level as the above ones, but are still a bargain IMO:
- F. Rinaldi
- La Ca Nova (Yeah it is Barbaresco, but extremely well made and way to cheap)
- Trediberri
- Luigi Pira
It seems that while 2017 is better than expected there is no “great” vintages in the horizon in Barolo, which hopefully can keep the prices steady.
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This thread seems to have split in two directions, one identifying new, rising stars, the other identifying high quality producers at affordable prices. For AndreasB, thank you for identifying Luigi Pira. He has some great vineyard plots, Vigna Rionda, Margheria, and Marenca. In particular, I really like his Margheria.
Personal preference, mostly. I rarely tire of exploring these wines. And they have a fairly long window of enjoyment. And, as covered in this thread, I’m confident that these wines I love will likely not go down in price in coming years.
Same here! Mostly Northern Rhone Syrah, but also some Barolo. Prices will probably rise on both so i am stocking up for the future now as i am not rich hehe. It is wine that works so well with food, but i can also enjoy them on their own after a few years in the cellar.
In terms of value, I targetted the normale of Vietti (punches above its weight imo), Massolino, Luigi Pira mainly, a bit of Grosso as well.
Does anyone have experience with Ettore Germano and Cavallotto ? Just got 2 offers raving about them with low priced Barolo and Nebbiolos… haven’t seen them mentionned here yet.
Cavalotto is first class traditional elegant
Barolo. Unfortunatelig the price is going up
but Bricco Boschis is about 90$. Good value, the wines are a little bit under the radar still.
Cavallotto haven’t been mentioned as many would consider them stars already. Super wines.
In the US there are a number of offers for 2016 Bricco Boschis in the $60s-$70s. Their prices have gone up, been still very fairly priced IMO
Cavallotto is certainly in the category of a high quality producer that is somewhat unheralded. And Bricco Boschis was one of the the greatest values among cru Barolo (Marcarini’s Brunate comes to mind too), and may still be, although the market is catching on.
I visited Ettore Germano back in 2015. Wonderful and impressive wines made in very old school style. To my understanding they experimented a bit with smaller / newer oak barrels in the 00’s, so there were a few vintages with some modern leanings, but they didn’t enjoy the style and came back quite quickly.
Their Lazzarrito is a superb Cru Barolo. They make also terrific wines from other varieties than Nebbiolo as well. All in all, I can vouch for Ettore Germano.
Yes, Germano’s riesling is excellent, as is his sparkling wine from nebbiolo.
Berserker Oliver McCrum imports them on the West Coast; Moore Bros. in the NJ/NY area.
Oliver also bring in Cavallotto and Oddero, which have been mentioned by others, and Brezza, which deserves a mention – another very traditional producer that has been making excellent wine for a long time but hasn’t been widely recognized.
Is Germano particularly traditional? My one experience with those wines was that I felt a fair bit of oak, but I also recall having drunk a bit that day already…
I agree on Brezza - every time I’ve had those wines they have been very solid, if not quite at the highest levels. At a Chambers tasting a few years back I recall it was one of my favorite bottles.
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John, I recently drank Brezza’s 2007 Sarmassa and found it to be, although quite well made, on the rich and polished side. Is that a function of the warm vintage or the winemaking?
Germano uses long macerations and large botti (I think 25HL), except for its Cerretta, which, for some reason, they utilize barrique. Whether used or new, I do not know.
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I haven’t had their 07s, but that sounds like the vintage. Polished is not a word I would normally use for Brezza’s wines.
I thought their 99s, 04s and 06s were terrific, though I haven’t opened any in quite a while. I was less keen on their ‘12s relative to other producers’ when I visited in 2016 (I quite like the '12 vintage). But maybe they were just at an awkward point.
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Huh, maybe I had the Ceretta. Thanks!
I’ve been drinking Germano off and on since the early 2000’s. For my money, Lazzarito is really special wine - very complete, sexy and integral Barolo. I really like his Prapo cru - very classic Serralunga. Forceful, spicy, densely packed. I haven’t had Cerretta in a while but never really enjoyed that one. In addition to the other notes here, I like his inexpensive Langhe Chardonnay very much and his sparkling wines can be quite good, too.
Not sure if I’d call him a rising star, but Guido Porro’s wines are very affordable and I’ve always enjoyed them. Not to the level of Cavallatto and other producers mentioned above, but one that I’d definitely give a shot if you are looking to try something else.
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