Piedmont

95/100 Wine Enthusiast, Kerin O'Keefe

"Underbrush, camphor, cedar and mature dark-skinned fruit aromas come to the forefront along with spicy notes. Full-bodied and firmly structured but also boasting a surprising weightlessness, the palate features dried cherry, steeped prune, licorice and tobacco set against a firm backbone of tightly knit, close-grained tannins. It's still youthfully austere so give it time to fully develop. Drink 2027?2037. " Drink 2027 - 2037

94+/100 Parker's wine Advocate, Monica Larner

"Considering the untimely passing of Renato Vacca in March of 2020, there is a lot of emotion coming back to this wine: It has always been an expression of Barbaresco nostalgia and romanticism, even when its creator was alive and well, working in these vines located directly under his family house. The Cantina del Pino 2017 Barbaresco Ovello bears his winemaking imprint with balance and elegance that never misses a beat. This vintage offers more density and concentration for sure, and the positioning of the Ovello cru overlooking the Tanaro River Valley sets the wine up for open-knit characteristics and suave softness. Those impressions are amplified in this vintage but are not overblown. Some 6,000 bottles were released and you get terrific value in this bottle. The wine is set to hit the market in September 2021." Drink 2023 - 2038

94/100 Vinous, Antonio Galloni

"The 2017 Barbaresco Ovello is a superb effort for the year. Bright, aromatic and effusive, the 2017 is so expressive right out of the bottle. It has the vintage 2017 power found in all the wines here, but also the cut and verve that make Ovello one of the most distinctive sites in all of Barbaresco. It is such a gorgeous wine." Drink 2025 - 2037

Winery notes  from 2019 Vintage

"Made of 100% Nebbiolo grapes grown in the hills overlooking Barbaresco, this wine delivers a delicate perfume reminiscent of dark cherry and black pepper with a hint of tobacco from a fine cigar. Elegant and fully ripe it has a wonderful structure and balance. Aged for two years in the oak and one year in the bottle, this wine is as good now as it will be aged for many years."

A rewarding, savoury and deliciously complex red blend of two great Italian red grapes - Barbera and Nebbiolo, which combine very happily in this juicy, earthy, sensationally complex and layered red. It is medium bodied, completely dry and rewardingly savoury, without any aspect of astringency. It's an outstanding wine at the price. 

Buy at least half a dozen. This is great. 

Arneis is a white grape varietal from the Piedmont region in Italy. This wine is tangy, dry and full-bodied. The nose is bright and floral with a fresh pear quality. The palate is rich with stone-fruit and a light nuttiness.

Punset are a certified organic winery from the Piedmont region in Italy. These wines champion sustainable agriculture and a hands-off, terroir driven approach to winemaking. This 100% Barbera wine is very fruit-forward, with great intensity and complexity. The palate is round and balanced, with great structure and fresh acidity.

Glowing ruby red. Pleasant and fruit bouquet with hints of almond. Glides over the palate, smooth and harmonious. Aftertaste low in tannins. Recommended for light meals and as a pleasant and agreeable drinking wine.

Dark garnet red with a powerful bouquet of pleasant cherry fruit. The palate and aftertaste is full of smooth tannins and hints of bitter chocolate. This powerful wine is an excellent accompaniment to red meat, roasted and game dishes.

This dry cherry-red wine features woody, spicy and fruity scents and offers a broad texture as well as fleshy tannins.

Gattinara is the northernmost Italian wine region for one of that country?s greatest red grapes - Nebbiolo. Like its better known siblings, Barolo and Barbaresco, Gattinara DOCG (the Italian name for a legally defined wine region) is in Piemonte, in the north west of Italy.

Wines made in the Gattinara DOCG must contain at least 90% of the Nebbiolo grape but in reality, many of the best are 100% Nebbiolo wines, despite the very cool northern weather conditions in this northern zone. This means that Gattinara tends to have refreshingly lively and pronounced acidity. This preserves the wines in the long term and makes them taste fresh in their youth.

Ever heard of Pelaverga?

It's not exactly a household name, even in the households of wine lovers. It is the name of a red grape grown in Piemonte in north west Italy. Even in its homeland there, it's pretty rare, and best known for making light, smooth fruity reds, such as this one, which is an interesting different take on northern Italian red wine.

Outstanding new vintage 2019 Barolo from a classic producer. Giacomo Fenocchio has a reputation for producing classic traditional Barolo with traditional long maceration times, of up to 40 days on skins with natural indigenous yeasts. 

The result is a group of stellar Barolos that can age for between 10 to 20 years in good cellaring conditions and which offer exceptional value for money. The style is savoury all the way from the clean, fresh, earthy note to the rich mushroom, truffle, tar and roses notes that typifies great Barolo. This wine punches above its weight for its price and will age gracefully.

This Langhe Nebbiolo offers a great opportunity to get up close and personal with one of the world's great (and one of the trickiest) red grapes. Concentration of flavour and fresh acidity with earthy darkness and flavour interest all make this wine a winner - and, we think, one that offers stunning value for money as a great introduction what the superlative Nebbiolo grape is all about.

Claudio Fenocchio is the fifth generation of winemakers in the family and succeeded his father Giacomo in running the family business in 1989, triggering debate about modernist versus traditionalists in Barolo. Claudio's approach is different yet again; radical traditionalism. His aim is to make wines that are approachable in youth rather than austere but can also age impressively with time in the bottle.

Get in quick to secure a bottle of this supremely age worthy, full bodied and beautifully savoury Barbaresco from one of the great wineries in Italy, the Produttori del Barbaresco - a high quality cooperative winery that is devoted entirely and only to the Nebbiolo grape. This is a great addition to the wine cellar or as a gift for the wine lover in your life.

Produttori del Barbaresco was founded in 1958 and now has 51 members who collectively own approximately 100 hectares of the entire appellation (itself nearly 700 hectares). This wine is a blend from various vineyards in the Barbaresco DOCG's limestone and clay soils, which are rich in calcium with sandy veins. 

This wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks with 30 days on skins at 28C (slightly lower temperature and slightly less skin contact than the single vineyard wines). It was pumped over two to three times daily and aged for 24 months in large oak casks then bottled; as opposed to the standard 36 months in oak and a further nine months in bottle that the single vineyard wines receive, prior to release.

Pio Cesare is one of Piemonte's greatest wine producers, founded in 1881 by Cesare Pio in the town of Alba. His aim was to champion wines that expressed the soils, climate and great Nebbiolo grape of this great north west Italian wine region. 

"Please don’t call it regular" says the front label of this great Barolo, which highlights the power and elegance of this highly revered grape; Italy's finest red variety. Aromas of truffles are beautifully enveloped by the structure of big grainy tannins and high but balanced acidity. This is a beautiful wine from a classic producer.