2007 Marcarini Brunate Barolo - Decanted in the hotel room, showing tons of mushroom and leather, sour cherry…at dinner the wine EXPLODED with pure classic Barolo! Mushroom and leather waned…Wonderful red fruit of wild berries and cherries…dry red licorice extract, tannins are saliva sucking in a good way…polished and floraled with dried roses and orange peel. Wild and rustic, yet an aged polish sheen to it…this thing gained and gained throughout dinner…SO tasty, and SO Barolo! Loved it! 95pts
Easier for me to just cut and paste this:
Azienda Agricola 499 was born from the friendship between and complimentary skills of Gabriele Saffirio and Mario Andrion to create a new and ambitious artisanal grape growing and winemaking estate focused on the hyper-regional Piedmont varieties of Freisa and Moscato.
Andrion is also winemaker at the esteemed Barolo and Barbaresco estate Castello di Verduno. Saffirio previously worked at one of Barolo’s best, Fratelli Brovia. Together, for this very personal project, they are pioneering the rebirth of single site Freisa and Moscato in the steep, limestone rich hills 20 km to the east of Alba. The winery name comes from the elevation of Camo (499m), where the estate is located. This is a village at the top of one of the highest hills of the Langhe region. These cool climate, high altitude conditions allow 499 to achieve the perfect phenolic and aromatic ripeness and ideal natural acidity.
I have had the Freisa in the past and enjoyed it. They have added a Nebbiolo to their production. Unfortunately, it left me rather unengaged as it was neither interesting nor inspiring. Well-made, proper, and mundane. Try it if you see it on a wine list, but don’t work hard to seek it out.
Thanks for the note Mr Buzz. I really like these wines. Have some 06 and 07 of this . Colour on this looks great for 19yo wine.
Brovia Barolo 2021
The 2021s continue to surprise me for how open they are on release, this will excel through mid-term cellaring but it’s no crime to open one today. Primarily red fruited with some darker fruit tones lurking in the background, loads of alpine herbs and flowers, violet, camphor, licorice, and dried mint. Beautifully integrated high tannins, high acid, and medium body with great persistence.
Some mixed luck the past two weeks. We had guests for pizza the weekend before last and then opened three bottles on Friday to get one that was sound and drinking well.
2023 Ca di Press Nebbiolo Langhe finally showed what others have been saying about this wine, with vibrant strawberries on the nose and palate. This was grabbed after our first wine was corked and another too young to really show anything.
2012 Ca’ Nova Montefico was, sadly, corked. Seemed like a lovely wine underneath.
2019 Cascina Vano Canova was also corked. Ugh.
2019 Cantina Del Signore Gattinara showed lovely red fruit and rose but the palate was hard as nails. Didn’t come around at all until day 3 and by then it seemed to be tiring as quickly as it was opening up. Should be very good but just needs a lot more time.
2021 Guiseppe Cortese Barbaresco and 2019 Langhe Rosso both showed excellent, both are improving.
Not nebbiolo, but the 2024 Sottimano Mate is such a fun wine. Just loads and loads of fresh strawberry and raspberry fruit.
2016 Vajra Albe showed better than my last couple of bottles, more like earlier bottles, but probably still best to hold off on these for a few years.
2016 Fennochio Bussia is an absolute bruiser, muscular and dark but with plenty of complexity, and the acids and tannin make it feel refreshing despite its power. Way too young but still enjoyable as it opened up.
The 2020 Vallana Cuvee Bernardo Spanna is excellent. It shows the same kind of forward, open character as Langhe '20s but with a bit of Alto Piemonte restraint. Very, very good and ridiculous value.
Vallana for the win!
For sure. This was my first '20 from them and it was very, very good. In the past I’ve found the Spanna firmer than the CR, and the Bernardo firmer than the regular Spanna. This, on the other hand, is quite open and generous.
Had a couple that were more advanced and darker than I generally prefer. I suspect vintage characteristics given profile of both producers
Posted from CellarTracker
I’m surprised by the note on the 2004 Brovia. That should be a very strong vintage, with plenty of aging potential. I’ve consumed no Brovia younger than 2001 and never had a tired bottle.
Yes, me too. It was an auction bottle from 2020 or so. But color looked correct and cork was pristine.
I’ve had multiple oxidized Brovia’s over the years but never a more advanced one like this. Profile was similar to the Produttori which I purchased on release which is sorta interesting and why I posted.
I look back over my notes and I had forgotten I had a bottle of ‘04 Brovia Barolo Ca’mia in 2021 was freak’n awesome and nothing like this wine.
I saw some very exciting news today via Kerin O’Keefe - Cavallotto has purchased parcels in Rocche and Villero and will be releasing the 2022 renditions in April.
I like the Cavallotto wines so it will be fantastic to have another version of these to explore.
Does anyone know who sold the their new parcels?
Whoa!! That is big news. I have the same immediate question.
Pure Creative Speculation:
There are so many quirky potential relationships in there, lol. Roccheviberti, the only other person bottling a Bricco Boschis? Do they trade some Rocche di Castiglione for some Bricco Boschis? 
Oddero is growing, they would be unlikely to sell their Rocche, and the parcel is at the very end, not the parcel I would want to buy.
The biggest holders are Roccheviberti, Brovia, Roagna, and Fratelli Monchiero. Monchiero are the only ones I know nothing about, but interestingly they also have the most split up parcels of those holders, in three separate sections. Maybe them? Could be anyone. There are 14 different owners listed in Masnaghetti v3.
Villero is even harder to guess, 18 different owners including some private plots.
Very excited to try a Cavallotto Rocche though!
@OwenJ yes same and it adds a producer with a distinctive style to compare against the existing producers.
So I have it from a good source that Cavallotto has owned the Rocche plot for a long time but that it wasn’t planted with vines previously. So presumably it will be very young vine Rocche to begin with. Very exciting nonetheless.
There may be a little lost in translation re the Villero, but it seems like it was sold by a private owner who previously supplied grapes to other wineries. Not sure who though.
