Wine Advisor
Elio Grasso, Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate 2010
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The 2010 Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate is a more muscular and layered expression with a softer quality of fruit and a good amount of power and muscle at the back. Its aromatic delivery is constant and steady with an ever-changing array of red fruit, dark spice, cola and anisette. The tannins are particularly well defined and silky. Drink: 2018-2038. 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
This shows lots of peach, tangerine and blackberry character. Full body, round and silky with berry and sliced-citrus character. Needs at least three years to soften: 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.
