Aged Northern Nebbiolo Value
2001 Petterino Gattinara
The Alto Piemonte, the area north of Barolo and Barbaresco, is a region we've found ourselves fascinated with. The quality and the value is really, really impressive.
Today's offer drives this home emphatically. It's a wine from a great vintage with ten years of age that's as low as $31.95.
The value here is shocking.
With ten years of age, Petterino's Gattinara is starting to gain the complexity and nuance that age brings to wine.
In the relative obscurity of Gattinara, Petterino is able to follow the old fashioned practice of aging wines and releasing them when they are starting to hit their early maturity. This is quite a luxury, especially when you consider that most of his neighbors in Barolo have already released their 2008s.
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2001 is a legendary vintage in Piedmont. In all likelihood, it will be included with the greats of the past forty years. The wines are so pure, so precise and so classically proportioned. They promise to age beautifully on their concentration and their overall balance.
In Gattinara, Italy's noble and mighty Nebbiolo grape reigns supreme. When you explore the wines of Alto Piemonte, Nebbiolo's nobility truly shines.
Like Burgundy and Germany, the site-specificity of the grape is what makes these wines such fascinating expressions compared to Barolo and Barbaresco. Up in the northern reaches of Piedmont, the grape is able to achieve a haunting delicacy, a lovely energy and a stony minerality.
To situate Gattinara within the larger context of Piedmont, it represents a middle ground between the alpine floral briskness of Carema and the muscular intensity of Barolo or Barbaresco.
Gattinara benefits from ample sunlight during the day along with cool nighttime temperatures. The soils are rocky glacial moraines with tons of mineral salts. Grapes ripen very well in Gattinara and there's a substantial palate presence that reflects this.
Petterino is a tiny organic estate of only 2.5ha. However, these 2.5ha are in some of the choicest southwest facing slopes of Gattinara.
The breeding of these sites are on clear display in Petterino's 01 Gattinara. It possesses a mineral elegance and an overall sense of completeness. The spiced dark fruits and bright floral notes are present with a wonderful precision.
Gattinara's have an impressive track record for aging well. Bottles from the 70s are still drinking well today. While we can't promise that Petterino's 2001 will see its 40th birthday, it will be intriguing to track it over the next decade and more.
It's very rare to find a wine of this quality from a great vintage with age on it at these prices. It serves as a potent reminder of just how unexplored Northern Piedmont still is and the wonderful surprises that it can offer.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Special Email Bottle Price: $35.95
Compare at up to $40
Special Email 6-Pack Price: $191.70 ($31.95)
2001 Petterino Gattinara arrives early January
NET | No further discount