For decades, Ferrando's Carema has been the benchmark for the beauty and profundity that Nebbiolo achieves in the northern extremes.
Carema is alpine Nebbiolo of breathtaking grace.
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Ferrando's Carema is Nebbiolo at its purest, its most energetic, and its most aromatic. At high altitudes, in the shadows of Mt. Blanc, on soil that's pretty much eroded rock, the grape assumes a level of finesse that's gorgeous and hauntingly singular.
Today, I'm happy to offer Ferrando's 2018 Carema Etichetta Nera.
Compared to Etichetta Bianca, Etichetta Nera is richer, denser, more structured, and intense. It’s a powerhouse wine, but with breathtaking finesse.
The Etichetta Nera is only produced in the best vintages from the best sites, usually the Silanc and Siei vineyards. The production is tiny.
Riper vintages, like 2018, always give the wine an extra dimension, without sacrificing all the mountain lake freshness of this wine. Each smell and taste seems to reveal something new - there’s a cinnamon-tinged cherry fruit, crushed rock, pomegranate, roses, and hints of smoke. All of this is wrapped around silken tannins, an energetic streak of acidity and a surprising flavor impact.
This is a wine known to be a serious distance runner. Neal Rosenthal, Ferrando’s importer, speaks of a 1964 Etichetta Nera that hit its apogee in 1998—at 34 years of age. It's no doubt experiences like this led Neal Rosenthal to write: "When I am asked which wine would I choose were I to be restricted to a single one, my answer is: Carema."
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
