Wine Advisor
Elio Grasso, Barolo Gavarini Chiniera 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The Elio Grasso 2017 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera shows us that deft hands are able to shape good results in a challenging vintage. This wine is balanced and polished with an array of smaller and more detailed aromas that we simply don't see in the majority of Barolo releases from this hot and dry vintage. The bouquet here cautiously unveils tiny berry fruit, underbrush, wild rose, lilac, rusty nail and crushed stone. Nuanced and precise, this is one of a handful of 2017 releases that deserves special praise.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Grasso's 2017 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is fabulous. In fact, the Gavarini is easily one of the wines of the vintage because it retains all of its classic signatures, which is also the sign of a first-class vineyard. Bright and vibrant in the glass, the Gavarini pulses with energy. Crushed red flowers, mint, chalk, white pepper, cinnamon and orange peel give the 2017 a super-classic Nebbiolo profile, as expressed in a relatively high-altitude site. The precision and finesse of the tannins - so hard to find in 2017- elevates the Gavarini into the realm of the sublime.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Ripe-berry aromas with toffee and some iodine and stone. Full-bodied with depth of fruit and chewy, polished tannins that are intense and pointed. This has so much structure and intensity. Give it time to soften and come together. Try in 2025.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Grasso's 2017 Barolo Gavarini Chiniera is fabulous. In fact, the Gavarini is easily one of the wines of the vintage because it retains all of its classic signatures, which is also the sign of a first-class vineyard. Bright and vibrant in the glass, the Gavarini pulses with energy. Crushed red flowers, mint, chalk, white pepper, cinnamon and orange peel give the 2017 a super-classic Nebbiolo profile, as expressed in a relatively high-altitude site. The precision and finesse of the tannins - so hard to find in 2017- elevates the Gavarini into the realm of the sublime.
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.
