Wine Advisor
Elio Grasso, Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate 2007
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The estate’s 2007 Barolo Ginestra Vigna Casa Mate is quite a bit fresher and firmer than the Gavarini. The exuberant personality of the vintage is also a bit more balanced and restrained. This is a beautifully layered, textured Ginestra Casa Mate endowed with endless layers of dark, mineral-infused, balsamic-tinged dark fruit, all of which flow through effortlessly to a long, sumptuous finish that lasts forever. The stunning bouquet, purity of the fruit and overall balance are simply breathtaking. The Ginestra Casa Mate will be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years and decades. Could it be a modern-day 1990? Anticipated maturity: 2017-2032. These 2007 Baroli from Elio Grasso are worthy successors to the stunning 2006s. Readers will have to wait until 2012 for the 2006 Barolo Runcot. The more time passes, the greater my esteem grows for this underappreciated and often overlooked grower in Monforte. To be sure Domenico Clerico, Conterno-Fantino and Aldo Conterno get most of the attention in Monforte, but at their best Grasso’s Baroli more than hold their own. A recent magnum of the 2000 Runcot was quite possibly the finest and most elegant 100% new French oak-aged Barolo I have ever tasted. Grasso’s 2007s Baroli saw 30 days of contact on the skins followed by a full 30 months in large, neutral oak casks. Various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Langdon Shiverick Imports, Cleveland, OH; tel. (213) 483-5900; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA; Admirality Beverage Co. Columbia Distributing Company, Portland, Oregon; tel. (503) 289-9600
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This is really wonderful with an fabulous depth of fruit and savoriness. Full-bodied, with super velvety tannins and chalky, cedar and dried meat undertones with fruit. So subtle yet full of everything. Better in 2014.
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.
