As always, this is a classic Dolcetto with nice purity and the guts to handle rustic foods like salami and burgers. As Vinous said of the 2020, The Dolcetto d'Alba Bricco dell'Oriolo is a very pretty, gracious wine built... Read More
A once rare Piemonte grape makes a comeback! Always a more savory than fruity wine with big texture and zesty acids. Wine Enthusiast captures the magic nicely in their 94 point rave, “Spiced pear mixed with candied lemon... Read More
Organic/Bio Russo’s Calderara Sottana is more red-fruited and open/fleshy than the darker, more intense, San Lorenzo. But there’s still plenty of intensity to the perfume and flavors and grip on the long, minerally,... Read More
Freisa is Nebbiolo’s cousin. Where Nebbiolo is tall, dark and seriously handsome, Freisa has an untucked shirt, grass stains on its knees and has clearly been rolling around in flower petals and raspberries because, my goodness,... Read More
Organic/Bio Grattamacco was one of the first estates to follow Sassicia into Bolgheri and was the first to plant Vermentino here in 1986. Bolgheri Vermentino is richer than the sharp, citrusy, wines of Sardenia and Corsica and... Read More
Organic/Bio From vines in Treiso and Roero, Enrico Nada crafts this widly complex and fascinating white from equal parts Arneis and Sauvignon Blanc. A bit of skin contact gives the wine depth of color and a touch of tannin to... Read More
Vinous in their 92 point write up captures this wine nicely: A sweet blend of violets and lavender gives way to crushed blackberries and chalk dust lifts from the 2021 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riparosso. It washes across the... Read More
No, you didn’t wake up this morning and think, “A Cabernet Sauvignon/Gaglioppo blend from Calabria – that’s what I want to drink tonight!” Taste this, though, and you just might find the thought crossing... Read More
Organic/Bio Only from Etna do you get this captivating combination of smoky volcanic rock and crunchy-ripe strawberry/sweet cherry fruit with mouthcoating tannins that give shape and elevate the flavors without drying you out... Read More
One of the best buys in Mt. Etna red we’ve seen in a while – and that just because it tastes so good. The ripe strawberry and tart cherry fruit shine brightly through Etna Nerello Mascalese’s signature smoky... Read More
Organic/Bio Nebbiolo – the great black grape of Italy’s Piemonte – is more than one thing. Or, at least, makes more than one kind of wine. This is Nebbiolo at its prettiest, dressed up for Sunday but with a tiny... Read More
We don't know where Monica originated, but it came to Sardinia in 1400 with Camaldolese monks. And that it's a terrific red grape for the southeastern corner of the island where the Pala family farms. A bit like a cross... Read More
Organic/Bio At just 1,800 feet elevation, the lowest of Passopisciaro’s Contrada vines grow on the last edges of Mount Etna lava. The vines push through the lava to limestone and develop more rich, round, textures than the... Read More
Organic/Bio With just 1HA of vines on the 2,800 foot elevation, lava-covered, Contrada Sciaranuova, Passopisciaro made only 165 cases or so of this in 2021. The name translates to new lava flow which covered the site in the 1600s... Read More
I never met Andrea Franchetti, who died in December 2021 at the age of 72. But this wine sums up everything I’ve read and heard from his partners at Passopisciaro. “Poetic” and “wildly visionary”... Read More
Organic/Bio Most Etna wineries make an “Etna Rosso” from younger vines or barrels not used in their single-contrada bottlings. Not here. Instead Passarosso is a blend from some of the oldest vines in Passopisciaro's... Read More
Organic/Bio Who knew Primitivo could be this…well, good? Wines from the Italian cousin of California’s Zinfandel are usually pruny, loaded with nail polish remover volatile acidity, and/or bursting with leather/horse... Read More
Organic/Bio How to get you to try this? “The most joyfully delicious Primitivo we’ve ever tried” falls short. And “Like JP Brun Beaujolais except from Puglia Primitivo” is a bit obscure. Let’s... Read More
Although the rest of Tuscany leans on Sangiovese as its primary red grape, Tuscany’s western coast along the Tyrrhenian Sea are too loamy and cool and humid for the grape of Chianti and Brunello. In fact, on gravel-dotted... Read More
Organic/Bio Here’s proof that great farming and straight-ahead winemaking can deliver fine Chianti – and even finer value! – from outside the Classico zone. More and more Chianti is either all Sangiovese or Sangiovese... Read More
Organic/Bio Aglianico is Campania’s most important red grape and examples from the Taurasi region show so much power, intensity, and cellar potential they’ve come to be called “the Barolo of the south.”... Read More
Organic/Bio Just as in the rest of Europe, when phylloxera came to Sicily in the early 20th Century it devastated most of the region's vineyards. But two small plots of Nerello Mascalese on Mount Etna's steep slopes survived,... Read More
Organic/Bio This old Roman grape is making a comeback in Campania, with wines like this showing why. From a high, cold, vineyard it wraps brisk flavors of dried fig, tart apricot and Clemintine in a blanketing, rich, texture enlivened... Read More
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