Wine Advisor
Elio Grasso, Barolo Gavarini Chiniera 2010
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2010 Barolo Gavarini Vigna Chiniera is a wine of breathtaking purity and finesse. The year that comes to mind is 2008, but the 2010 has a more classic sense of structure, tannic cut and intensity. Bright red berries, crushed rocks, mint and dried flowers are some of the many notes that linger in the glass. Sweet floral notes begin to emerge over time but the 2010 is a reticent, austere wine built for the cellar. Razor-precise veins of acidity and minerality support the brilliant, crystalline finish. This is an especially thrilling Gavarini, but readers are going to have to be patient. The 2010 is a wine to buy and forget about for a decade, perhaps longer. Hints of the 1989 and its extraordinary perfume linger on the finish. Gianluca Grasso adds that for the first time in 2010 he had the courage to pick this fruit a few days later than normal.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good bright red. Deep, ineffable aromas and flavors of red cherry, redcurrant, rose petal, menthol and flinty minerality. Rich, concentrated and fine-grained, with captivating early perfume giving the wine outstanding inner-mouth tension. Finishes with substantial noble, mouthcoating tannins and superb length. Grasso compared this wine to the 1989.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The 2010 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is an amazing wine born 430 meters above sea level from white limestone and sandy soils. The elegance expressed by the wine is unforgettable. It opens to a pretty garnet color with ethereal tones of licorice and balsam herb with sharp, delineated contours. This vineyard is usually harvested later than the others, so the growing cycle is extra long and steady. The wine is silky, finessed and profound. Drink: 2018-2040. Gianluca Grasso says the 2008 Barolo Riserva Roncot will be released in 2015. I did not taste that wine because he felt it needed more time. Otherwise the Grasso family has been working hard with researchers at the University of Turin to identify ambient yeast that they may, or may not, utilize in the future. Various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA; tel. (800) 862-4585; Admirality Beverage Co., Portland, OR; tel. (503) 265-3555; Wine Warehouse
Reviewed by: James Suckling
A wine with a purity of fruit and floral character. Full body, with firm tannins and bright acidity. Tangy and fruity. Lively and energetic. Racy. Better in 2017.
About the Producer
Elio Grasso’s History Born within an old family of Monforte d’Alba with substantial vineyards in the prestigious parts of the town, Grasso may seem destined for a career as a Barolo producer . But instead he chose a different path, at least in the early stages of adult life, choosing to work in the world of finance and living an urban existence that was decidedly different from that of the rural world in which he was born and raised. The wines of Elio Grasso The call of the land, however, eventually proved strong, and the return to Monforte d’Alba was probably only a matter of time. And what he returned to was in fact an impressive patrimony: 18 hectares of vineyards that include first-rate sites such as Chiniera , Casa Matè , and Runcot . Grasso, in fact, just in 1978, decided to ferment and age on his own the grapes of his best plots and was a pioneer in selling both a regular Barolo and also a series of crus . As a producer, Grasso has always been attentive to tradition, but, given the important experiences linked to the numerous generations of his family in the area, he has never wanted to radically transform his wines: both Chiniera and Casa Matè are aged in barrels; only the Runcot , a Riserva , ages in small barrels. Innovation, on the other hand, is represented by two other wines from the line: the excellent Barbera Martina aged in barrels and Educato , a Chardonnay fermented in barrels.
