Excellent list. Sadly, also among the five most expensive producers. Savvy shoppers look elsewhere.
Try ome of the Langhe wines, often Nebbiolo blends…
While I live in Maine, I drive regularly to New York and often stop with friends in central MA. I could also be interested in a CT offline… if this pesky virus will let up.
Dan Kravitz
Thanks for all the responses everyone. This is exactly what I was looking for! I couple specific thoughts below:
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve always wanted to try Bruno Giacosa, but as you point out, the price of entry is a non-starter for me. Brovia is a great producer to look out for though!
Very good suggestions. I’ve had several of these type of northern appelations- Gattinara, Ghemme, Lessona, Inferno. All were good, not great. Definitely the style that I’m looking for, and enjoyable, but I never found anything particularly profound. Not saying it doesn’t exist, just that I haven’t experienced it yet personally. I’ve been curious about the Ferrando Carema White and Black label bottlings, which I’ve read good things about. Haven’t tried it yet though.
Ah yes, I read that post and tracked down the 2002 at a shop about an hour away from me. I ended up driving there after work through the TORRENTIAL rainstorm left-over from Ida that flooded out huge swaths of NJ, NY, and CT. Not a smart move on my part… I risked life and limb for that bottle. Hope it’s worth it!
I don’t think any of these are obtainable at reasonable prices, unfortunately.
And finally…Gregory, Tom, Mark- I’d love to meet up!
I guess it depends on what you are looking for but I have a hunch that if you haven’t fallen in love with northern appellations, I doubt you’ll love Carema either. They are wonderfully perfumed and delicate wines, but in a style quite similar to a Gattinara or Valtellina - but in a style that’s even slightly lighter. The Carema co-op wines are terrific and often dirt-cheap, but they are a bit foursquare, whereas Ferrandos show more finesse and depth, but can be quite unobtainium. Both producers’ wines might feel like light and delicate wines that need to be drunk within their first 10 years, but they are laughably long-lived (I’ve drunk lots of Carema co-op and Ferrando wines from the 1980’s, 70’s and 60’s, always down to co-op Carema 1964 and Ferrando Black Label 1962).
As for great Nebbiolos at reasonable prices, I always suggest Alto Piemonte/Valtellina/Carema/Donnaz sector, but if one is looking for stuff made in the Langhe region, some noteworthy names are:
- Produttori del Barbaresco (duh)
- Burzi
- Cascina Fontana
- Cascina Roccalini
- Cristian Boffa
- Crissante Alessandria
- Ettore Germano
- Giuseppe Cortese
- Olek Bondonio
- Poderi Colla
- Rivella Serafino
All of these are very traditionalist in style. Long maceration times, only old, large botti casks. Structure before fruit, just as it should be.
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I will try to taste a Val d’Aoste Donnas (never heard before).
I only tasted, a long time ago, a rustic Val d’Aoste les Granges 2005 (fumin) and a Ottin 2010 (pinot noir).
The Ferrando Carema wines are very interesting, specially the elegant arachnid etichetta biancha.
Wow. Never seen this. Are you absolutely positive this was made?
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At least to me this looked and tasted like the real deal.
What a coincidence! You’ve been drinking the exact same wines as I!
Thanks for the response, Otto. Any idea how these Ferrando wines drink in their youth? Also, how do the white and black labels compare in terms of drinking experience? I’ve come across both white and black labels from time to time in shops, and almost bought them, but balked because they were young. As I said in my original post, at this point I’m not interested in buying bottles to age for the long haul. Worth picking up and drinking at <10 years old?
Etichetta Bianca great four years after :
Carema Ferrando Etichetta Bianca 2011 : 17/20 – 24/12/2015
Habit pâle. On retrouve de nouveau la délicatesse de cette cuvée, exprimant les fleurs, l’écorce d’orange, les fraises poivrées (pour faire penser au grenache), la cerise (pour évoquer le pinot). Bouche fine, fraîche, légèrement tannique, longue.
Carema Ferrando Etichetta bianca 2011 : 17,5/20 – 1/7/2015
Couleur claire. Un vin net, lumineux, exprimant avec distinction des notes de fleurs, d’épices, de fruits (fraise, cerise). On peut se sentir transporté du côté de chez Rayas (pour les parfums) ou à Chambolle-Musigny (pour la fraîcheur et l’élégance). L’expression est aérienne, très délicate (et le vin résiste très bien au réchauffement dans le verre). Une sorte d’évidence de style.
October 2012 - Horizontale Haut-Piémont - report by Philippe Ricard
_25. Italie : Carema - Ferrando « Etichetta bianca » 2008
(Seul domaine à produire hors de la cave coopérative, culture en Pergola sur sols morainiques, fermentation en cuve inox, macération de dix jours, élevage de 30 mois en grands foudres)
A l’ouverture : DS17,5+ - PC18 - PR17 - MS17,5 - NH16.
Robe surprenante, diaphane, très peu colorée, orangée, cuivrée même… Nez tout aussi surprenant, et captivant ! très éthéré, aérien, épicé, camphré, bois précieux, encens : une sorte de quintessence de bouquet fané, de pot-pourri, de sacristie. La matière, quoique évanescente, se montre étonnamment ferme et vivante, véhiculant de troublantes saveurs de viande fumée, toujours ce pot-pourri et même des fruits exotiques. Finesse insigne et caractère inoubliable, ce vin possède en outre, pour qui le découvre, le grand mérite de bousculer les référentiels de la dégustation.
Après 5 heures d’aération : DS17,5 - LG17 - MF17,5+.
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Italie : Carema - Ferrando « Etichetta nera » 2007
(Élaboré dans les meilleurs millésimes à partir des meilleurs raisins, élevage de deux ans en barriques puis une année en bouteille)
A l’ouverture : DSED? - PC(ED) - PR(15) - MS(ED) - NHED?
Teinte très claire, cuivrée, comme celle du vin précédent, l’influence de l’élevage en fût se fait sentir, mêlant malheureusement l’orange sanguine, le clou de girofle et le petit-lait à des notes intrusives moins acceptables (moisi, liège, TCA ?).
Après 5 heures d’aération : DS16 - LG16 - MF15._
→ Etichetta negra to be tasted again …
Lucky buggers. Only had the Bianca, but that wasn’t shabby either 
Just a bit out of left field. Every time one of these Nebbiolo threads kind of trying to steer the conversation away from B&B come around… might be I’m just not around often enough to notice, but why does no one ever seem to talk about Cantalupo? Just being curious.
But I just did: https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3237069#p3237069
Also just bought a bottle of the 2004 Signore di Bayard.
Ecco… bravissimo! I was probably cutting class that day 
. Whole line-up sounds a bit like something that might have come from my cellar, except I don’t really bother with the Langhe Nebbiolo category: for every decent Langhe Nebbiolo, there are dozens of Coste della Sesia or Colline Novaresi that are as good and probably much better
Great note on the Bayard. You familiar with their other wines as well?
Sorry, I am ADD-ing a little bit these days, just back from holiday . I now realise what you wrote in your introduction, which I originally skipped in order to check the Cantalupo TN (a mistake, as I invariably find your posts worth reading in their entirety ).
Point being: Cantalupo is great and most of their range is worth exploring. Their three top cuvees normally age at a glacial pace (but tend to remain satisfyingly drinkable throughout, depending on one’s preferences, of course). The '91 and '96 Carellae from my cellar are probably not even fully mature yet. The Abate de Cluny tends to develop faster, the '07 is fully mature now. The straight Ghemme (Primo Anno since, I think, 2005) is a bit like the single vineyards, perhaps a little softer, but, even so, as good a wine as I’ll ever need: the '99 in wonderful shape right now, the '04 still a tad on the young side for me.
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I have indeed noticed that you seem to have preferences similar to mine and maybe 100x the experience - something like a more consonant-heavy version of Otto 
Otto too (repeatedly) brings up his dislike of the Langhe Nebbiolo category with arguments similar to what you make here. I don’t disagree but I still continue to be interested in the LNs of producers that appear to be to my liking. I do buy a lot more Barolo than LN but as my cellar is still young I am waiting for my Baroli to mature.
I haven’t tried others from Cantalupo but do have a bottle of the 2010 Anno Primo. I reckon its best days are still to come?
Well thanks for confirming my assumption that this is a producer to focus more on! I’ll definitely look to try more of their bottlings of various ages as the style seems to be right up my alley.
By the way I meant to write that I just bought a bottle of the 2004 Collis Breclemae, a bottling I’m not familiar with.
In a very strong range, the Breclemae is the one that marks the sweet spot for me. They smashed it out of the park in both 2003 (a little more open-knit) and 2004 (a little cooler and tighter, more of an Ice Queen feel to it ). Young, at least from my stash, but also kind of irresistible already.