Day 7: this feels darker and more savory than the 2019. Black cherry, tar, licorice ,earth, spice. Hints of rose petals and This feels a little bigger and hotter but not as persistent as the 19. Very pure and feels translucent. Hints of sandalwood Palate is similar. Good grip and acid. Ripe black and red cherries, licorice, tar, earth, leather with a bit of spice. Medium bodied with nice energy, no noticeable tannic structure until the far end of the palate. Very pretty with red fruits. A real savory mushroom/soy pulse into the finish which widens well and it just so lovely with hints of spice and rose and red cherry. These wines really improve with days of air. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finish - 5-5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17-17.5+/20 (with 17-18/20 potential.)
This is a fine and elegant wine, but probably a bit early on it. Can't find my scribbled notes. There was a faint must I would sense, not thinking it was corked, I'll call it rustic. I think this is set up for mid-long-term aging. Next one 2028?
Importer: Rosenthal
13.5% abv
Empty bottle weight: 511g
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Beautiful. Extremely delicious Nebbiolo that checks all the boxes. Tar but not overbearing, roses (fresh garden, not grandmas perfume as some can be), enveloping bouquet that keeps evolving minute by minute, from deep burgundy like Sous Bois, to light crisp alpine herbs and freshness, to classic, room filling ethereal floral elegant Nebbiolo lift.
Absolutely gorgeous palate, excellent concentration while being extremely light on its feet, punch in the mid palate of acid and meat and crisp, but not crunchy bojo, red fruit, long deep layered finish, always evolving and becoming more exciting as it opens.
Fantastic and can’t wait to see how it ages over several years, it’s got the acid and tannin but the balance of pure fruit to take it there.
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27 hours after opening from undecanted bottle. No sediment at the bottom.
Light fruit of raspberries, cranberries, touches of Meyer lemon on the nose.
Palate was open, full, lush, light, delivering delicate flowers, essences of raspberries, dust, rustic crunch of fruit in a 5 gallon bucket. Finished beautifully clean with tart berry laced with citrus. My favorite was the middle of dusty, crunchiness, where the Nebbiolo was obvious and built in my mouth and became more spicy and longer and longer with each swig. No signs of flabbiness. This should keep for a decade or more.
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Earthen nose, with light fruit barely detectable and soupcon of lemon.
Palate of yeasty earth, elegant, very light on the mouth, but then the punch of power and stars with length and fantastic crunch.
(After one sip, Burgundy fans come over to the cool climate Nebbiolo on the other side of the Alps. You'll forsake that plonk and never leave the complexities of terroir of these hills.) https://www.italia.it/en/piedmont/things-to-do/carema-vineyards-and-wineries
As this opens in my Riedel Burgundy hand-blown crystal, (Kinda a must for such quality.) teas start to pop, such as hibiscus, fine black, hints of citrus, ever so slight raspberry/cherry and a palate of fineness with crazy strength that finishes ethereally with length. Nebbiolo such as this is a find and a half deserving of its crown. It’s easy to grasp its price point now. If only every wine would deliver for the dollar such as this.
After about an hour decant, flavors of fine cakes and herbs start to show. Its nose sports a touch more funk of real with tart berry mingled with tars, still keeping that citrus. Yep, more horse’s butt starts to show, which makes me love this even more! (I left ½ the bottle undecanted for tomorrow. Great Nebbiolo this young takes time to show all its stuff.)
It’s tasting more and more like a bathtub wine, a real wine, like a raw gem. When I say “bathtub wine” I mean that it’s not been adjusted/manipulated for any sort of taste, but left to be itself, exactly what the earth meant. It’s medicine, it’s prescribed by the gods, it’s for the health of the body and soul, it’s sacrament, it’s what Yeshua would drink. Just exquisite and ranks up there with my top 10 favorite wines.
One day Nebbiolo will be studied for its longevity properties, and one day we will know how this variety is different from others, but for now, I’m happy that this is not so well known. Super small production such as this would create a huge price boom if the Hong Kong-ites figured this out. Just don’t tell anyone, okay.
Hints of rose, tar, and red cherry on the perfumed nose. Weightless on the palate with finely-grained tannins with just a touch of grip with bright red fruit seamlessly integrated into the palate. A beautifully elegant wine that is approachable today and which I hope I can return to again and again in the future.
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Popped and poured. The 2018 Ferrando Carema pours a beautiful, luminous, transparent ruby color that displays a slightly brown cast around the edge. Medium (+?) viscosity. Cherries, bruised forest strawberries, pink roses, tar, crushed granite, Alpine herbs, and a kiss of spices. Medium+ tannin, medium+ acid. Finish is very long and super satisfying. A tremendously elegant wine. So much class. Best after about 45 minutes of air in the glass and continued to build until the last sip which was a few hours later. I really enjoy these wines. Too bad the prices are nearly 2x what they were 5 years ago.
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2/29/2024 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Day 7: this feels darker and more savory than the 2019. Black cherry, tar, licorice ,earth, spice. Hints of rose petals and This feels a little bigger and hotter but not as persistent as the 19. Very pure and feels translucent. Hints of sandalwood Palate is similar. Good grip and acid. Ripe black and red cherries, licorice, tar, earth, leather with a bit of spice. Medium bodied with nice energy, no noticeable tannic structure until the far end of the palate. Very pretty with red fruits. A real savory mushroom/soy pulse into the finish which widens well and it just so lovely with hints of spice and rose and red cherry. These wines really improve with days of air. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finish - 5-5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17-17.5+/20 (with 17-18/20 potential.)
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2/25/2024 - tward Likes this wine:
This is a fine and elegant wine, but probably a bit early on it. Can't find my scribbled notes. There was a faint must I would sense, not thinking it was corked, I'll call it rustic. I think this is set up for mid-long-term aging. Next one 2028?
Importer: Rosenthal
13.5% abv
Empty bottle weight: 511g
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2/4/2024 - Gunakadeit Likes this wine: 94 Points
This needs a little decant to unfurl (reticent at first, as usual) but this is straight fire. Lithe and delicious.
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11/3/2023 - Juicyfuit Likes this wine:
Elegant and approachable. Light on the palate - strawberry, spices, menthol. Well integrated tannins - all quite balanced for a young nebbiolo
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10/7/2023 - Neumann U47 wrote:
Beautiful. Extremely delicious Nebbiolo that checks all the boxes. Tar but not overbearing, roses (fresh garden, not grandmas perfume as some can be), enveloping bouquet that keeps evolving minute by minute, from deep burgundy like Sous Bois, to light crisp alpine herbs and freshness, to classic, room filling ethereal floral elegant Nebbiolo lift.
Absolutely gorgeous palate, excellent concentration while being extremely light on its feet, punch in the mid palate of acid and meat and crisp, but not crunchy bojo, red fruit, long deep layered finish, always evolving and becoming more exciting as it opens.
Fantastic and can’t wait to see how it ages over several years, it’s got the acid and tannin but the balance of pure fruit to take it there.
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9/15/2023 - Fractalage Likes this wine:
27 hours after opening from undecanted bottle. No sediment at the bottom.
Light fruit of raspberries, cranberries, touches of Meyer lemon on the nose.
Palate was open, full, lush, light, delivering delicate flowers, essences of raspberries, dust, rustic crunch of fruit in a 5 gallon bucket. Finished beautifully clean with tart berry laced with citrus. My favorite was the middle of dusty, crunchiness, where the Nebbiolo was obvious and built in my mouth and became more spicy and longer and longer with each swig. No signs of flabbiness. This should keep for a decade or more.
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9/13/2023 - Fractalage Likes this wine:
Earthen nose, with light fruit barely detectable and soupcon of lemon.
Palate of yeasty earth, elegant, very light on the mouth, but then the punch of power and stars with length and fantastic crunch.
(After one sip, Burgundy fans come over to the cool climate Nebbiolo on the other side of the Alps. You'll forsake that plonk and never leave the complexities of terroir of these hills.)
https://www.italia.it/en/piedmont/things-to-do/carema-vineyards-and-wineries
As this opens in my Riedel Burgundy hand-blown crystal, (Kinda a must for such quality.) teas start to pop, such as hibiscus, fine black, hints of citrus, ever so slight raspberry/cherry and a palate of fineness with crazy strength that finishes ethereally with length. Nebbiolo such as this is a find and a half deserving of its crown. It’s easy to grasp its price point now. If only every wine would deliver for the dollar such as this.
After about an hour decant, flavors of fine cakes and herbs start to show. Its nose sports a touch more funk of real with tart berry mingled with tars, still keeping that citrus.
Yep, more horse’s butt starts to show, which makes me love this even more!
(I left ½ the bottle undecanted for tomorrow. Great Nebbiolo this young takes time to show all its stuff.)
It’s tasting more and more like a bathtub wine, a real wine, like a raw gem. When I say “bathtub wine” I mean that it’s not been adjusted/manipulated for any sort of taste, but left to be itself, exactly what the earth meant. It’s medicine, it’s prescribed by the gods, it’s for the health of the body and soul, it’s sacrament, it’s what Yeshua would drink. Just exquisite and ranks up there with my top 10 favorite wines.
One day Nebbiolo will be studied for its longevity properties, and one day we will know how this variety is different from others, but for now, I’m happy that this is not so well known. Super small production such as this would create a huge price boom if the Hong Kong-ites figured this out. Just don’t tell anyone, okay.
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4/22/2023 - EricU wrote: 90 Points
Rose, tar. Tanins not well integrated and made wine feel unbalanced. Finish detracted.
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3/22/2023 - ylkim30 Likes this wine:
Hints of rose, tar, and red cherry on the perfumed nose. Weightless on the palate with finely-grained tannins with just a touch of grip with bright red fruit seamlessly integrated into the palate. A beautifully elegant wine that is approachable today and which I hope I can return to again and again in the future.
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12/3/2022 - thesternowl wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured. The 2018 Ferrando Carema pours a beautiful, luminous, transparent ruby color that displays a slightly brown cast around the edge. Medium (+?) viscosity. Cherries, bruised forest strawberries, pink roses, tar, crushed granite, Alpine herbs, and a kiss of spices. Medium+ tannin, medium+ acid. Finish is very long and super satisfying. A tremendously elegant wine. So much class. Best after about 45 minutes of air in the glass and continued to build until the last sip which was a few hours later. I really enjoy these wines. Too bad the prices are nearly 2x what they were 5 years ago.
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