Lately, I’ve had a hankering for some mature Italian Nebbiolo and want to try something different. In the past, my luck has been pretty good with older bottles of Barolo and Barbaresco. Can anyone recommend good older producers of other Nebbiolo-based wines…Gattinara, Ghemme, Spanna, etc.?
So far, the results of my random sampling have been mixed at best. Of course, one issue may be that the wines do not age as well as Barolo. I have the feeling, though, that my lack of familiarity with producers of these wines from the 50s and 60s and lack of knowledge about the qualities of different vintages in areas such as Alba and Valtellina also plays a large part.
Thanks for the advice! It’s been years since I’ve tried and Antoniolo wine…will have to revisit. And, Keith, of your recommendations I’ve only had Vallana…now I have some new wines to keep an eye out for.
Antoniolo is great too but I think their golden age may be a slightly later era than for Monsecco and even Travaglini. You want the ones from when they started designating the vineyards, not the basic Gattinara which is best consumed on release. The '82 Osso San Grato was one of the all-time great nebbiolos I’ve had.
I drank a stash of 83 and 85 Cantalupo Ghemmes from about 1998 to 2006 or so that were amazingly good, especially the crus “Collis Carellae” and “Collis Breclemae”.
Actually Gattinara ages better than Barolo! Try some of the old Monseccos or reserve-level Travaglinis if you can find any.
Well, not sure about that!
Some Gattinara may age better than some Barolo, but I’d say an average Barolo will age better than an average Gattinara.
Dessilani is one of the grand old producers of Ghemme and Gattinara. Still have some of their 1974 Gattinara Riserva and it was hard as nails for years but is drinking quite well now.
Valtellina wines, when well done, can age for decades. If you could find Pelizzati Perego, especially Sassella Rocce Rosse or Vigna Regina, they could easily age for 30+ years. PP releases their top wines after 7-10 years cellaring. Triacca is also another very reliable name for their Sforzato and Prestigio. Nino Negri Sforzato 5 Stelle is also good, but a touch too oaky for my taste.
Wow, I got quite the steal on the '01 Buon Consiglio purchasing direct from their cellar . . . . and based on Chambers Street’s pricing it’s one of my more valuable bottles based on replacement/market price.
It is very nice now, elegant and ethereal showing a balance of bottle aromas and primary freshness.
rare wine co and chambers st. trust the people at these two organizations to help you with you purchase. really. they are class acts and both know their nebbiolo like no other.
I bought a bunch of older nebbiolo from Chambers this past winter from these non-B&B appellations like Sizzano, Ghemme, Gattinara, and Spanna. Only tried one so far, from Berteletti, a '69 Sizzano that was lovely. Looking forward to trying others. All lesser known or unknown producers. Wasserman has some to say about a few of them but I’ll drink through and post notes, so at least there will be there.