Wine Advisor
Elio Grasso, Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate 2013
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The 2013 Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté does a great job of portraying its vineyard characteristics. This single vineyard is located at higher altitudes with thicker clay soils. This combination helps to build the wine's intensity, structure and muscle. It undergoes 45 days of submerged cap fermentation. Dark cherry and blackberry open the bouquet. These aromas are followed by spice, smoke, iron and crushed mineral. The robust nature of those aromas makes for a beautiful contrast to the fine, silky and more delicate (relatively speaking) nature of the mouthfeel.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Grasso's 2013 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is powerful, deep and tightly wound, with a level of translucent energy that is alluring. Deceptively medium in body, the 2013 packs a real punch. The Casa Matè has also closed down considerably since I last tasted it. Not that that should be a problem, as the 2013 really needs a number of years to be at its very best.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2013 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is powerful and intense, with huge beams of tannin underpinning the fruit. Black cherry, plum, violet, mint and licorice develop in the glass. Today, the 2013 is quite reticent, with tons of power in reserve, but all the elements are in the right place. Not surprisingly, the 2013 is a tightly wound ball of energy. Readers need to be patient.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
A rich and velvety-textured red with a dusty undertone. Full-bodied, rich and round with lots of fruit and cedar character. Juicy finish. Drink in 2020.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Grasso's 2013 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is powerful, deep and tightly wound, with a level of translucent energy that is alluring. Deceptively medium in body, the 2013 packs a real punch. The Casa Matè has also closed down considerably since I last tasted it. Not that that should be a problem, as the 2013 really needs a number of years to be at its very best.
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.
