Istine Vermouth di Radda Back in Stock

When Angela Fronti isn’t busy making award-winning Chianti Classico that gets huge scores with critics and sells out vintage after vintage, she focuses her attention on vermouth.

Still a secret to the greater wine community, Angela’s Vermouth di Radda is the obsession of our sales team (as you can see in the photo!). Made in a rosé style from her own organically-grown Sangiovese grapes, it’s always one of the most anticipated arrivals of the year.

The same grapes that classify as DOCG Chianti Classico, from the heart of the region in Radda (hence the name), are used for the production of the Istine Vermouth, along with locally-sourced Tuscan botanicals. Angela teams up with a distillery in the Piedmont region (hint hint) to create the final product.

With elderberry, sweet orange peel, china, gentian, clove, cinnamon, saffron, mint, and juniper in the final recipe (along with two dozen other botanicals), the Vermouth di Radda is as flavorful as it is fresh. Unlike sweeter vermouths that often lack acidity, the Sangiovese rosé base has a mouthwatering raciness that can stand entirely on its own in a simple cocktail (you can see some of our favorite recipes here).

Istine only produces a few small batches of Vermouth di Radda each year, and a large portion of that is consumed by both Angela and the Oliver McCrum team, which leaves a limited amount for the public. A fresh batch has just landed at our warehouse, so it’s a great time to place an order.

La Staffa's Selva di Sotto Returns

“I often think of the La Staffa Verdicchios as Meursaults in a lineup of Chablis. The wines are all about tension, acidity and minerality, while many other producers rely on fat and fruit to impress. The best part is that no matter how enjoyable these wines are upon release, they get even better with time.”

-Eric Guido, Vinous

As if La Staffa owner and winemaker Riccardo Baldi’s standard Verdicchio expressions weren’t exciting enough, we’re very excited to announce the (very limited) return of the Selva di Sotto: a single vineyard expression made only in the best of vintages: 2015, 2017, 2019, and now the 2020 release.

The Selva di Sotto is sourced entirely from a small parcel of Verdicchio planted back in 1974 on a steep, rocky slope surrounded entirely by a large forest. Having started production on the single vineyard expression just ten years ago, this is only the fourth vintage of Selva di Sotto ever made—and it’s the most limited yet.

We’ve all heard of allocated Bourbons like Blanton’s and Weller, but allocated white wines from Italy are few and far between. Nevertheless, we’ve got one here with the 2020 release of La Staffa’s Selva di Sotto with only 2000 total bottles produced, of which only 60 made it to the United States.

What makes it so unique? It’s a more intense version of La Staffa’s standard Verdicchio profile and slightly more oxidized, which leads to concentrated notes of honey and a nuttier profile. Eric Guido’s comparison to Meursault is spot on here. Production of the wine extremely hands-on, as the wine is whole cluster-pressed, then the juiced is pumped over for a few hours. The must is then moved into concrete tanks to ferment.

As Guido also notes, flavors of “candied lime flourish” giving way to “sour melon as tactile mineral tones add a crunchiness toward the close. It’s long and intensely spicy, displaying vivid Meyer lemon and a minty herbal freshness.”

Suffice it to say, it’s a very exciting wine! Unfortunately, there are only a handful of cases to go around, so we strongly recommend fans of La Staffa to reach out immediately and secure what little is available ASAP.

Germano's Alta Langa Success Story

Whether its MW Patrick Schmitt’s latest article about the impact of French grapes grown in Italian soil, or Eric Guido’s most recent inclusion of Alta Langa in a Vinous dossier about Italy’s top sparkling wines, the success story of Ettore Germano seems ready to be told, along with a greater appreciation of the Alta Langa DOCG as a whole.

Sparkling wine from Alta Langa can be traced back to the 19th century; however, the region was only given DOCG status in 2002, after a number of producers banded together in a commitment to supreme quality—méthode champenoise production, noble grape varieties, etc. With its high altitudes and heavy clay and limestone soils, it’s no surprise that Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have begun to thrive in Alta Langa’s environment.

Our own Ettore Germano, known primarily for powerful Barolos, is one of the key producers of Alta Langa sparkling wine and the three most recent releases will immediately shed light on as to why. The 2020 Germano Alta Langa is a blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay that combines richness with acidity, minerality, and elegance, while the 2016 Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir expressions showcase additional lees aging and the intricate precision of both varieties on their own.

The electricity and citric character of the Alta Langa Chardonnay as a stand-alone wine is truly something to behold, as are the incredible stone fruit and spice notes of the Pinot Noir. As Eric Guido wrote in his 94 point review of the Blanc de Blanc: “The 2016 is complex yet remarkably fresh, especially considering the sixty-five months it spent maturing on its lees. Nicely done.”

Given that Alta Langa sparkling wines are made the exact same way as Champagne, with the same grapes as Champagne, and from similar soils to Champagne, it should come as no surprise that many of the top Alta Langa expressions command similar prices to the top Champagne bottles on the market. That being said, given the 5+ years of lees-aging alone, the price for Germano’s vintage-dated riserva expressions could be much, much higher than the $79.99 MSRP (and many American retailers are far below that price).

We feel the value that Germano’s Alta Langa sparkling wines provide in comparison to top producers around the world is as important to their appeal as is their impeccable quality. As Patrick Schmitt points out in his aforementioned article, “this is a time when the spotlight is firmly on the role of indigenous grapes in historic wine regions – both as a way of finding differentiation in a crowded market, but also as a source of well-adapted vines in a warming climate.” Hence, “focusing on foreign varieties is a counter-trend,” and not necessarily the romantic story that diehard Italian wine enthusiasts are chasing at the moment.

With the focus in our market clearly on Italian grape varieties with a century or more of traditional production, the newly-minted Alta Langa DOCG doesn’t fit neatly into that narrative unless you know the full backstory. Alta Langa sparkling wine production actually dates back more than 170 years to the 1860s, when Carlo Gancia returned home to Piedmont after studying the production of sparkling wine in Reims at the heart of the Champagne region. His experiments with “metodo classico” fermentation with Moscato in Piedmont paved the way for future Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blends that ultimately created the category.

Although the Alta Langa DOCG only dates back to 2002, many of the region’s top producers have been making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir-based sparkling wines for some time and the age of their vines exemplifies that history. As an example, Germano’s Chardonnay vines were installed years before the DOCG was finalized and have spent decades digging into the limestone-rich hillside in which they were planted.

So, as you decide which bottle of bubbles to celebrate with this New Year’s Eve, let us suggest the following: find a bottle of Ettore Germano Alta Langa and drink it along side your Champagne of choice. Compare and contrast, ponder the details, and decide for yourself if the merit is deserved. At the very least, you’re in for a very entertaining evening. At the very most, you’ll have discovered one of the most under-appreciated wines in all of Italy, if not the globe.

Girolamo Russo Named Top Wine of 2024

This past week, Food & Wine editor Ray Isle named Girolamo Russo’s A’Rina Etna Rosso as his #4 wine of 2024, writing about winemaker Giuseppe: “he’s charming, impressively talented, and definitely one of the new (or new-ish) names to follow if you are intrigued by the elegant transparency and complexity that Nerello Mascalese gets when it’s grown on Etna’s volcanic soils.”

Using estate bottled fruit from a combination of different sites, the A’Rina is a blend of roughly 90% Nerello Mascalese with 10% Nerello Cappuccio, all planted using massal selection. The vines range from 20 to 100 years of age, rooted in weathered volcanic lava flows on the north side of Mount Etna, head-trained or modified head-trained. To Isle’s point, the complexity and draw of this wine is the dynamism of the volcanic-grown fruit. It’s herbaceous and floral with incredibly-concentrated color and flavor.

Giuseppe’s vineyards are planted on ancient lava flows called ‘sciare,’ which vary in age, mineral content and topsoil composition, with underground pockets that allow water retention to keep the vines hydrated during the heat of the summer. The solid rock of these lava flows breaks down over time, eventually becoming loose enough that a plant’s roots can penetrate. We recommend sampling any of the Girolamo Russo wines to see how these soils impact the flavor.

As Isle points out: “His Etna Rosso was a perfect summertime red, fragrant with red berry fruit, light-bodied, and lively. I’ll double-down on that to say that it’s a terrific wintertime red as well.”

We agree!

Sirene Amarulivo Arrives

New product alert from Sirene! We're excited to announce the arrival of Amarulivo, a new Vino Amaro from renowned herbalist Elisa Carta. This time she’s chosen local Lake Garda olive trees as her inspiration and uses the leaves as the primary bittering agent. The name ‘Amarulivo’ comes from a combination of the words Amaro and Ulivo - bitter and olive - and as the category name implies, it’s wine-based, so friendly for all license types.

Supporting botanicals include lemon verbena, bay laurel, rosemary, lemon peel, orange peel and pine needles (along with many more). As with all Sirene products it is perfumey with good freshness, and balanced between bitter and sweet. The finish is long and where we see the citrus and herbaceous notes showing up. As a Vino Amaro it can stand alone as a digestivo but it is also spicing up our white Negroni game!

This is also the first time a Sirene product contains infusions made from plants Elisa grows herself at her new property near the lake. We’re excited for this development and looking forward to the future when she is able to expand her herb production!

Amarulivo just landed and is ready to impress in California!

Settemmezzo is Imbibe's Drink of the Week

Caroline Pardilla wrote a fantastic article for Imbibe this past week about her unique experience with the Settemmezzo Artichoke Liqueur from Gotha Spirit Nobili, and how it compared against Cynar in her cocktails.

Naming it as the “Drink of the Week,” we’ve been thrilled at the increased exposure for Il Carciofo Violetto, or the purple artichoke from Bologna. As Pardilla writes, “Since this purple artichoke has to be propagated by hand, only five farmers in Bologna grow it. Naturally, the artichoke is a source of local pride.”

As she also notes, Settemmezzo is made “by infusing alcohol and seawater with the purple artichokes and bitter orange peels,” making it both a dynamic aperitivo and succulent digestivo. You can swap it out for Cynar in just about any cocktail, or play with it in a Negroni variation.

No matter how you use it, it’s pretty spectacular.

Le Pianelle Makes Vinous Top 100

"Le Pianelle is one of the great recent success stories of Alto Piemonte. Over time, they expanded their vineyard holdings and brought in talented winemaker Cristiano Garella, who has since been joined by Fabio Zambolin. The 2019 Bramaterra is magnificent. Soaring in its intensity, the 2019 is immediately captivating.” -Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Cristiano Garella made a big splash in California this past week, sharing his Nebbiolo-based Le Pianelle wines in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Not only was he a star at all of our tasting events, his 2019 Le Pianelle Bramaterra made the Vinous Top 100 Wines of 2024, coming in at #78.

As Oliver himself wrote in a recent web piece: "These are some of the best bottles from Alto Piemonte. The endless complexity of Nebbiolo is obvious here; the stems add interesting non-fruit notes, such as tea-leaf, to the abundant fruit and spices; it’s a Kaleidoscope of wild strawberry, orange-peel, Ceylon cinnamon, and mineral notes (especially iron) that are particular to this very unusual soil. Anyone who loves great Nebbiolo should try them."

Thank you for showing us the light, Cristiano!

Barolo Season Is Here

November is an exciting time of the year for us at Oliver McCrum because, not only is it the start of the holidays, it’s the beginning of Barolo season. For as much as we love Barolo, and as important as Nebbiolo is for our portfolio year-round, it’s a wine that simply shines when the weather is cold and damp, and the food is warm and heavy. 

Hence, when our team met up this past week to taste through our entire inventory of Barolo wines, you could feel the giddiness in the room. The Fall air was crisp, the room was full of cheer, and our teeth were stained purple from all the tannins. 

Much of our current inventory is based on 2018 and 2020 - top-notch vintages with cooler growing seasons. They resulted in wines that are classic stylistically, but without the immediate opulent ripeness that leads to high scores from the press. As a result, we often need to be our own cheerleaders.

As our own Michele Boscia said during the tasting, “2018 and 2020 are the vintages that I’ve enjoyed the most in recent years, and it’s unfortunate that more people don’t see the beauty in them. They’re elegant, and not so aggressively tannic that you can’t drink them young.”

When it comes to the “best” vintages of Barolo, often times they’re also the most structured, meaning consumers will need to wait ten years or more before enjoying their bottles. In the current market, we’re finding most wine drinkers aren’t quite that patient and would prefer something drinkable in the short term. We think the 2018 and 2020 vintages are just that.

There are numerous critics out there who agree with us as well, particularly Antonio Galloni from Vinous. Let’s take Cavallotto as an example. The 2018 Cavolotto Barolo is one of the best vintages we’ve tasted in years. Our entire staff was smitten with its soft, supple red fruit flavors and gentle tannins compared to some of the beefier vintages in years past. Galloni agreed, writing that the 2018 “is an especially serious edition of the Barolo” with its “blast of sweet dark cherry, menthol, licorice, gravel and incense.”

Everyone loved the Castello di Verduno wines that were loaded with berries, mineral notes, tangy acidity, and rose petals—all the classic Nebbiolo flavor with a silky texture. Galloni was also complimentary of these vintages, writing: “Castello di Verduno is one of many Piedmont estates that remain under the radar. Readers who enjoy classically built Barbarescos and Barolos will definitely want to check out these new releases.”

The single cru Barolos from Brezza had our team buzzing as well. We all really gravitated to the Castellero in particular, with its cherry-heavy flavors and immediate appeal. We’re very excited about bringing these to the public. Galloni also shared our enthusiasm, adding: “Enzo Brezza's 2018s are quite good. There is a renewed sense of energy in the cellar that is palpable. The Castellero is another impressive wine in this range.”

Oddero’s single crus also showed quite well. Adam Davidow from our LA team said the wines really surprised him, especially the Villero. “It jumps out of the glass with a balance of sweetness and tanginess that is approachable.” Michele loved the Brunate with its cedar and fennel notes. Galloni agreed, writing: “What a delight it is to taste Oddero's 2018 Barolo Brunate. A glorious wine, the Oddero Brunate is one of the very few wines in this vintage that possesses real mid-palate depth and notable textural intensity.”

The Germano wines were haunting and thought-provoking, showing complexity and depth, as well as more structure than the others. That said, the 2018s are not big and brash compared to other vintages from Germano. As Galloni observed: “In 2018 the Barolo is not a powerhouse, but that is perfectly fine. All the elements are so well balanced.”

We’ve got plenty of Barolo to share with you this November. For those of you on the hunt for wines that can be opened and decanted today, rather than a decade from now, these recent vintages are exactly what you want around your table this holiday season.

Bordiga Genepy Arrives

We’ve very excited to announce the arrival of another fantastic alpine spirit from Bordiga; one crafted with a meticulous, hands-on quality that is apparent in every sip.

The Bordiga Genepy (along with the now-famous vermouths) was one of the first recipes developed by Pietro Bordiga in 1888. At that time, wild genepy grew abundantly in the Alps and all small communities made their own liqueurs. Today, due to over-harvesting and climate change, genepy is a protected plant in Italy, so by law it must be cultivated by specialists.

It takes two years to mature the genepy, after which it produces its aromatic flowers for three harvests. After that, the plants are removed and the ground has to remain fallow for three years before another round of planting can begin. Bordiga is the only distillery sourcing its genepy from estate-owned and estate-farmed fields, making it a true farm-to-table liqueur with total transparency.

How does one enjoy Genepy? Imagine a warm mountain lodge in the winter time, full of conviviality and banter, with glasses raised and good spirits abound. As a true mountain liqueur, Genepy is the perfect foil for your après-ski party or any wintertime activities. Consumed as an aperitivo or digestive, its flavors of white flowers, chamomile, candied citrus, and herbaceous mint are delicious when sipped neat. However, Bordiga’s Genepy also shines in a Last Word cocktail or white Negroni variation.

Gungui Should Be On Your Sardinian Shortlist

If you are in search of pure, high-elevation expressions of Sardinian Cannonau, then Gungui Berteru should be on your shortlist.

-Eric Guido, Vinous

While we appreciate the above quote from Vinous, the number of people searching out any sort of Sardinian Cannonau is likely quite small, let alone “pure, high-elevation expressions.”

Nevertheless, for those who like adventure we believe the rustic grit and intensity of Luca Gungui’s Sardinian Cannonau (the Italian version of Grenache or Garnacha) is a journey worth taking. That’s because, unlike the juicy and fruit-forward expressions we love from France and Spain, the Berteru wines are far more savory, mineral-driven, and full-bodied than what we’re used to from the Rhône or Campo de Borja.

“They’re almost bloody,” said our sales associate Liz Rubin during a recent tasting of Gungui’s Berteru lineup.

Berteru means “sincere” in the Mamoiada dialect. You only need to spend a few minutes with Luca Gungui to understand why he chose this name for his wine label. The Berteru wines are as sincere an expression of land and place as any in the Oliver McCrum portfolio, as Gungui not only eschews cultured yeasts (he believes they interfere with sincerity), he works primarily with unusually high altitude vineyards and remains as hands-off as possible with his farming practices.

The Cannonau wines that come from these granite-rich vineyards are some of the most dynamic we’ve ever tasted. They’re also some of the hardest to find. Berteru is one of our smallest producers and we get very little of the wines to sell each year. With just four total hectares to farm, tasting Gungui’s Cannonau is an experience not enough people have to opportunity to enjoy.

One of our goals for this year is to expand the Gungui universe beyond the handful of major critics and restaurateurs who snatch up the tiny allocations available annually. We need more people to see what the fuss is about! It’s tough with so little wine available, but we’re making an effort.

2022 Whites from Alto Adige's Kuenhof Are Electric

“Easily the best vintage of the Sylvaner I've ever tasted."

That's what Lauren Reuthinger from our California sales team said after tasting through the 2022 Kuenhof releases this past week, and she wasn’t alone. Our entire company is buzzing right now after sampling the Riesling and Veltliner wines as well.

With vineyards in Italy's Alto Adige region at altitudes between 1800 to 2900 feet, the freshness and vibrancy of Kuenhof’s white wines have always been striking, but with a strong vintage like 2022 the precision is even more impressive. Owned by Peter and Brigitte Pliger, the estate is one of the best for white wines in all of Italy with steep, stony vineyards in the Val d'Isarco (or Eisacktal), not far from the border with Austria.

Their Sylvaner, Veltliner and Riesling vines are all farmed organically, and their wines show an almost electric mineral character. If the duty of a great wine is to be distinctive, these wines stand out like beacons: great terroir, careful grape-growing, and brilliant winemaking.

Renowned critic James Suckling famously wrote of the 2020 vintage: “This Alpine masterpiece redefines what Gruner Veltliner can be!” His praise, along with accolades from other writers, have continued with the recent 2022 releases. Vinous critic Eric Guido agrees with our co-worker Lauren as to the quality of the 2022 Sylvaner, recently opining: “It's soft and supple with a balanced inner sweetness and candied lime that embellishes its crisp orchard fruits.”

If you're a fan of clean, racy, and aromatic white wines, you need to try these new Kuenhof expressions. The Riesling, Veltliner and Sylvaner are just hitting the market now and everyone seems to agree: they’re utterly fantastic.

Italy's Top Emerging Winery: Maugeri

We’ve believed in the quality of Renato Maugeri’s wines since we first started working with him, along with his daughters Carla, Michela, and Paola. Given the estate has only been in production for the past few years, the family has taken some amazing strides in that time.

This past month, Gambero Rosso awarded just two white wines from Etna the coveted Tre Bicchieri (three glasses) as the region’s best, and Maugeri’s Etna Bianco Superiore Contrada Volpare was one of them. Here at Oliver McCrum, we believe that Mount Etna is one of the best white wine terroirs in Italy, and Maugeri is a perfect example of it. Clearly we were thrilled with the news, yet not surprised!

Yet, in addition to the Tre Bicchieri, Maugeri was also honored with the award of top emerging winery in all of Italy, with Gambero Rosso writing: “Etna continues to produce spectacular new labels and new wineries. In just three harvests, the winery of Renato Maugeri and his daughters Carla, Michela, and Paola has established itself as one of the denomination’s most significant, from vineyard-specific winemaking to a complete hospitality system.”

What makes the wines from Maugeri so distinctive is their dedication to typicality and locality. There’s no flashy winemaking interfering with the inherent character of the grapes or the expression of the land. The location is allowed to speak for itself and the Maugeri family has proven itself to be the perfect steward for these vineyards.

The Tre Bicchieri-winning Etna Bianco Contrado Volpare is made entirely of Carricante grapes grown in sandy decomposed lava soil near Milo, on the east side of Mount Etna. The vines were planted around 2010, on terraces surrounded by dry-stone walls and forest, at about 700 meters (2,300 feet) above sea level. The fruit from this vineyard translates into flavors of wet stones and Mediterranean herbs in the glass with bright acidity and a stunning minerality that transcends the finish.

As one can imagine, calls and requests for Maugeri have picked up since the awards were announced, so we encourage anyone interested in allocations to inquire sooner than later!