Costco has these for $90 and change. Looks interesting and fairly priced, butI know nothing about it. Any help would be appreciated.
If you like 200% oak, go for it.
I recall tasting Starderi in an earlier vintage at the small wine festival in Barbaresco. TBH I quite enjoyed it, but it rather stuck out as being a different beast from the other wines at the tasting and some distance from my usual tastes. IMO a very good wine, in a different (full-on) style (yes plus oak), and priced about 20-30 euro too high for my palate.
If you’re feeling adventurous, then grab a singleton and (looks for Travis… can’t see him… thinks it’s safe) open it, as the fruit had an intensity that could keep it open. The price seems good - perhaps still more than I would pay, but I reckon it might be worth it to ask the question of your palate… “Do I enjoy this style?”
Approximately 400 months in new French oak. Or thereabouts. But wait!, if you act now, you can also have fruit picked 3 weeks after everyone else!! ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
I like Giorgio; his wines are truly a guilty pleasure.
I haven’t had this vintage. I like his wines but as was said, they have a lot of oak. It does integrate with time IMO and at $90, I would be a buyer. IIRC, its up to $160 in this market now.
This ^ is no joke.
One of the most delightful winemakers in the world, but over-oaks his nebbiolos like nobody else.
Central coast Nebbiolo.
Thanks for all the input. I am not oak adverse, but I don’t think I want that much from Piedmont.
I recall a bottle from a tasting you ran in Snooth’s first office, circa 2008, that had a boatload of VA, too – a big, swampy mess. Do you recall that? It was comically bad.
That was this horror show: La Spinetta Rivetti Langhe Nebbiolo Starderi 2004.
Lots of wood induced sweetness here but also plenty of raw, even green wood. This has the distressing aromas of water-based paint with plenty of baking spices, powdered ginger and green cardamom to make this a real mess. Opens up with intense fleshy, slightly jammy red raspberry fruit too. A bit dull in the mouth, soft tannins up front, sweet red fruits on the mid-palate, round yet hollow like cheap Grenache and finishing with drying tannins. Pretty fruity with lots of wild dark cherry, and spice, tones but neither natural feeling nor particularly varietal. Tannins are splintery and really clamp down on the finish, which is short if quite lifesaver cherried. An extracted, modern, anonymous wine that smells bad. 75pts
A failure on all levels.
I was generous in my youth.
But memorably so.
Nice.
Sorry, did we deter you from buying it, Bill?
Kinda sorta.
The Wine Advisor gave it a 96.
I just had a 1997 this evening…I think it was the Starderi (last wine of the evening). It was delicious. You could tell that the winemaker used a lot of oak, but it had integrated seamlessly into the wine, and it had a beautiful perfume and a delightfully silky texture. If the winemaking remained the same and you’re willing to be patient, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
Edit: apparently I had the Gallina last night. Not for the first time, I have proved myself to be an idiot. That said, it absolutely was crazy delicious.
I had a 1997 last night (the Gallina) which was showing very well. One of my fellow diners who is in the business and generally opposed to Rivetti wines was duly impressed (and really wanted to not like the wine). I’ve owned this wine, as well as the 1999 Starderi and the 2001 Valeirano since release. I recall not caring for them much for a long time, but as they have gotten older they have become much more appealing.