Posted from CellarTracker
I bought a case of this from Thatcher’s last month. Looking forward to trying it!
Had the 19 with Roberto last fall. Was incredibly good.
Are they worth the stepup in price?
Nervi Gattinaras were such a value only a few years ago, so I wonder if it’s simply getting rid of the discount, or paying up for the proverbial Conterno piper.
He built this huge, fancy new Nervi winery. Gotta pay for it somehow. Also, they have greatly improved everything since Roberto took over, at least that’s what I hear from those who have visited.
At current prices, the wines remain bargains. I’ve never had one that wasn’t beautiful. CT and critic notes are superb and consistently so. For my taste they have the level of quality (if not concentration and depth) as Conterno’s Baroli. My bigger concern isn’t that they are expensive now; it’s what they might cost a few years from now.
@Jeremy_Holmes Thanks for posting the note. Have you tried 2019 to offer any comparative perspective?
Worth every cent.
I thought the '20 was a little more savoury and the '19 a touch riper, with more flesh. Both terrific.
cheers
Jeremy
The other weird thing is as the release price has ramped up, the price for the earlier vintages has stayed pretty flat. You can still buy the 2017 for $55 from an actual in-stock retailer with no pre-arrival or six bottle minimum. The cheapest you can get the 2020 for (under those conditions) is $74.
I have three bottles each of the 16 and 17. I expect they drink well today – the thing I wonder is if they’re going somewhere better with time or not. I mean, nebbiolo from a good producer ought to, but from reading CT notes, the pre-Conterno ones didn’t really blossom into anything special.
This. Before the Conterno era the basic Nervi Gattinaras drank like ethereal Langhe Nebbiolos and the single vineyards felt like delicate Barbarescos. And were priced as such (15-20€ for Gattinara, 25-40€ for Valferana and Molsino).
Now they are triple the price (and were already when the name just changed, even if the wines were straight from the Nervi cellars and had nothing to do with Conterno, apart from the name in the label). I really don’t buy the hype and can happily leave the wines for people who are willing to pay such prices. If I can get great Lange Nebbiolos for less than 20€ and solid Barbarescos for 30-35€, why should I pay 50€ for a regular Gattinara or even more for single vineyard expressions?
The old Nervis were excellent already, the addition of Conterno name didn’t change the wines magically into something profoundly better. To me, they are still the same wines - only with new price tags.
Have you tasted any Nervi Gattinara from 2018 forward? Given Conterno’s reputation as a Barolo producer, it is hard to imagine he didn’t evaluate every aspect of the operation with a microscope and fine tune all kinds of things. Magic or not, there must be numerous changes that make them not “the same wines.” For example, I would think they would be far more powerful given his style rather than “ethereal” or “delicate.”
The Nervi-Conterno wines are definitely not “ethereal” anymore. I found them quite dense, powerful, and concentrated (especially for a wine from the Alto Piemonte).
Whether that is an improvement is a different question.
That is what I would have expected. And perhaps that is not an improvement if you enjoy Alto Piemonte for its unique attributes vs. the Langhe. I am not excited by the price increase either.
Alas, I have not. However, I have quite extensive first-hand experience on Nervi wines going back to 1950, so I do know how the wines were before the ownership change - and I considered Nervi to be the best producer in Gattinara. From what I’ve heard and understood, the style change might not be an improvement from my perspective. But it’s true that it’s impossible to say anything before I’ve tasted them myself. However, I must admit that I’m highly sceptical.
Thankfully, we’ll always have Carema (at least until the entire commune get bought out by Gaja)
Lovely note, @Jeremy_Holmes
I visited Conterno last week and Roberto poured Valferano 2020 between Francia 2020 and Monfortino 2019. I thought is was super-ace-good.
Great energy, depth and finesse. A bit more thrust than the Barolo Francia - bolder and spicier in profile. This is a bit more lively, with wild raspberry fruit and black pepper - maybe displaying the volcanic origins in Gattinara. Long, vibrant and dark-toned.
94/100
For me, the Nervi was a couple of points ahead of the Francia. Monfo 2019 is going to be a stunner.
Will definitely make the trip up to Nervi next time.
Cheers,
Matthew
“Oh wait I haven’t tasted them. But I’m sure the price increases aren’t worth it, dammit!”
I’m assuming you mean Valferana?
Amended - thanks. Valserrano was a Rioja i used to work with back in the day!
Thankfully, we’ll aways have Cantalupo Ghemme.