Mr. BIG STUFF gets a Haircut!

In order to raise capital (and space!) for a lot of fantastic everyday value wines we will be bringing you in the next few weeks, we have decided to sacrifice bunt some truly fantastic wines at fire sale prices. This is going to hurt on our end so, please, let’s get it over with quickly. Have at ‘em:

Azienda Agricola Gravner, Oslavia, Friuli

Plato and Aristotle would have dug these...For those of you who want natural wines, they don't get much more old school than this: completely organic viticulture, hand harvesting and pressing, fermentation on the skins in giant clay amphorae while buried in the ground, bottled without ANY filtration or fining. The Ribolla is fantastically fragrant and rich in the mouth and changes right before your eyes like a hologram of the Gorizia hillsides, Breg is a field blend of Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Riesling Italico. All of these are downright cloudy with flavorful extract and you should DECANT them before serving (at cool room temp, NOT ice cold).

Josko Gravner Amfora Ribolla Gialla 2001, Venezia-Giulia  was $100.00 now $69.99

Josko Gravner Amfora Breg 2001, Venezia-Giulia  was $98.00 now $68.99

Azienda Agricola Fontanabianca, Neive, Piemonte

Aldo Pola and Bruno Ferro meticulously tend 14 hectares of vineyards then mostly stay out of the way to let Mother Nature write beautiful poetry in the fabulous dialect of the Langhe. The wines perfectly reflect the different personalities of each vineyard and vintage without being manipulated to produce a house style or to please the palate of critics. And the owners are VERY nice people as well...

Fontanabianca Barbaresco 2000, Piemonte  was $51.99 now  $39.99

Fontanabianca Barbaresco Sori Burdin  2000, Piemonte  was $63.99 now  $44.99

Fontanabianca Barbaresco Sori Burdin  2001, Piemonte  was $66.99 now  $46.99

The back labels of these wines say they were “perfectly eSposed” to (betrothed? married to??) the sun. We know they meant to say “eXposed” but somehow they stumbled on to a higher truth in the translation. 2000 was NOT the vintage of the millennium as some have said but rather what we used to call a “restaurant vintage” meaning the wines are showing very well in their youth with rich concentrations of dark fruit, tobacco and tar on the nose and manageable tannins and you can drink them now while you age the classic 1999’s and 2001’s.

Nada Fiorenzo, Trieso, Piemonte

Vignerons since 1921, the wines of this family were sold in bulk until Fiorenzo’s son Bruno convinced him to estate bottle in 1982. They have since become superstars of the Langhe. These are extremely intense and we often joke with Bruno that, instead of the verse on the label that poetically speaks of their wines tinting the moon with each passing day, they should just cut to the chase and change it to “don’t be afraid of the dark”!

Nada Fiorenzo Barbaresco Rombone  2004, Piemonte  was $95.00 now  $66.99

More structured than this estate’s already amazing normale Barbaresco, Rombone needs some combination of the following: long aging, extended decanting or some really big food (think Lamb, Venison, Duck, Elk, or, better yet, a mixed grill of the above). VERY, VERY limited, worth it.

Tenute Dettòri, Sènnori, Sardegna

Young Alessandro Dettòri inherited a vineyard with ancient Cannonau and Franche di Piede vines and decided to just let the soil of his native Sardegna speak directly to you. No fancy scientific winemaking, he just let nature sort it out (and the result is that the cuvées are often wildly different from vintage to vintage not unlike Pepe’s killer Montepulcianos). These may well be more wine than you can handle:

Dettòri Romangia Rosso Dettòri  2002, Sardegna  was $84.00 now  $58.99

Dettòri Romangia Rosso Tenores  2001, Sardegna  was $85.00 now  $59.99

Intense, deeply structured Cannonau (Grenache) from vines over 100 years old, these have a lot to say. Give them some air and some big food and listen to their story....but here is another one... Signore Veronelli (the keeper of the flame re authentic wine styles in Italy) on Dettòri: “Young Alessandro Dettòri...I tasted his wines, each of them, as if it was a miracle. One of my first books was the Veronelli Guide of Italian Wines of Sardinia  from 1969. In those years, walking in Sènnori on Sundays and holidays, you felt embraced in a really miraculous aura. Women and men used to wear costumes of extraordinary richness. You would admire and even feel part of their pride in their ancient traditions. I have such a feeling every time I taste the wines of Alessandro.” Indeed, this are as rich as those embroidered costumes and are well suited to game, hearty stews or a plate of seriously ripe and ready cheeses.