Had these 3 Nebbs over the weekend:
1. G.D.Vajra rosabella Vino Rosato (13%; www.gdvajra.it/en; Nebbiolo + Barbera/Dolcetto) Barolo 2018: Light pink/orangey/bit onion skin color; very bright fragrant floral/lilacs/rose petal/strawberry very attractive nose; quite tart/tangy bright/zippy/electric (175.63 volts) very floral/violets/rose petal slight earthy lovely flavor w/ light bracing tannins; very long bright floral/violets/strawberry/lilacs/Nehi strawberry soda pop fairly tart finish; loads of strawberry/some Nebb character character; everything you want in a Summertime-drinking rose. $18.00 (KK)
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2. G.D.Vajra Claré J.C. Dd'OC: Langhe Nebbiolo (14.5%) Barolo 2018: Med.light garnet color; lovely very fragrant floral/violets/lilacs/Nebb/strawberries very slight earthy/pungent/tar very pretty aromatic nose; lightly tart maybe a bit off-dry (0.4%-0.5% r.s.) very strong floral/violets/Nebb/lilacs/alpine strawberries slight pungent/earthy very pretty flavor w/ light brisk tannins; very long bright strawberries/floral/violets/lilacs/Nebb slight earthy/pungent finish w/ light brisk tannins; such a pretty expression of the floral side of Nebb; they should be making this kind of Nebb in Calif; very fairly priced at $20.50 (KK)
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3. NinoNegri Sfursat DOCG: Sforzato di Valtellina (Chiavennasca; dried for 3 mo.; 2 yrs in Fr.oak; 15.5%; FrederickWildman; www.gruppoitalianovini.it/index.cfm/en/brand/nino-negri/) CarloNegri/Chiuro 2012: Dark color; fairly strong grapey/ripe earthy/licorice/pungent bit alcoholic slight floral/lilacs light toasty/oak nose; soft bit hard/tannic/astringent strong grapey/licorice/pungent/ripe bit toasty/Fr.oak slight tangy/metallic bit alcoholic/hot flavor w/ ample hard/gritty tannins; long quite hard/tannic bit rough/coarse strong earthy/pungent/grapey slight floral/lilacs slight toasty/Fr.oak finish w/ ample hard grippy tannins; needs more age but not sure where it will go; not an exciting expression of Sfursat and a bit on the soft/soupy/grapey side; not much expressive of Valtelline Nebb. $49.00 (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Vajra Clare: A few yrs back, DarrellCorti came across a TN written by ThomasJefferson, describing a Nebb he'd had from the Barolo area. Intrigued, Darrell asked the folks at Vajra if they could make a wine like Jefferson described. This is the claret (hence, claré) Nebb they came up with. The J.C. stands for Jefferson/Corti cuvee. In view of the interest in Calif, particularly by "natural" winemakers, for making a Vin de Soif or glou/glou wine; this is exactly the kind of wine they should be making. It's not like Langhe Nebb and certainly not like Barolo...it doesn't have those classic fierce Nebb tannins; yet this Claré captures the floral side of Nebb that make the Nebb variety so appealing. A beautiful easy-drinking Nebb.
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2. NinoNegri: This wnry is owned by Gruppo Italiano Vini, a large conglomerate of Italian wines of mostly commodity wines. I'm not sure when Negri became part of GIV, but I recall the wines back in the early '70's as being much more interesting.
The grapes are selected for the Sfortzo and dried, loosely packed, in crates in the attic of the wnry for several months.
NinoNegri has some of the finest vnyds in the heart of the Valtelline. But I find them not particularly thrilling wines.
I cut my teeth on the Valtelline Nebbs back in the early '70's when LiquorMart brought in a bunch of the Arturo Pelizzatti wines. Things went south in the early '70's and the wnry was sold to some Swiss investors, which folded it into the Nino Negri line. In the early '80's, the Negri/Pelizzatti line was then taken over by the GIV group. I haven't seen wines under the Pelizzatti label in the US since the '70's. Of course, Arturo's daughter, Isabella now has rescued his name under the Ar Pe Pe label, maker of some of the best Nebbs in the Valtelline.
Tom