2006 Les Crêtes Torrette Vigne Les Toules

• By Antonio Galloni
  The Best of Northern Italy (Oct 2008), (See more on Vinous...)

  (Les Crêtes Torrette Vigne Les Toules) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  12/15/2009, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (TORRETTE Les Cretes Vigne Les Toules) Torrette Dear Friends, This wine gives the term "have and have-not" a new meaning. Our Les Cretes offers of late have spurred a generous amount of interest from email list members but also from journalists/bloggers around the US who are eager to write about the wines. Most of the inquiries have asked for the same thing - something affordable to try that represents the winery and their sphere of influence. That is not so easy - Les Cretes is among the most expensive portfolios in Italy and the $20 mark is almost impossible to break (with red or white). Well, here you go - Les Cretes does not get any cheaper than this. If you find yourself in need of resuscitation or simply bored with the typical outlook of your daily routine - pack up and head for the Val d'Aosta. Your sense and sensibility will be restored before the first taste of local Fontina makes it to your table. This is a still undiscovered, four season natural wonderland housed within the walls of a culinary watershed - Italy. The combination makes the Val d'Aosta one of Europe's most compact and alluring travel destinations. Les Cretes is considered the finest wine producer in the Val d'Aosta. A drive to the winery will jump-start your day even more than the Lavazza Rossa downed at the local bar. The topography, vineyard exposition and surrounding countryside can leave one breathless (especially during autumn...or winter...or spring...or summer). The vineyards of Les Cretes are dotted with local, indigenous grapes and the resulting wines are special indeed. Today we focus on Torrette so let us begin... Torrette is a sub-region of the Val d'Aosta principally known for the grape Petit Rouge - a mountain varietal that bridges Mondeuse and Morgon with a healthy dose of Mt. Blanc. It can produce alluring, cold as ice, mineral soaked wines with a depth and tension of terroir even more complete than most in the Savoie (the closest French wine cousin to the Val d'Aosta). While Petit Rouge has the capacity for a rainbow-like flavor spectrum, it is not for fans of Molllydooker or Silver Oak - this is a mountain varietal with requisite eccentric makeup intact. Les Crete's Torrette is 70-80% Petit Rouge and the remainder Fumin, Mayolet, Pinot Noir and local Syrah. 100% hand harvested and hand made, it changes in the glass over 4-6 hours and is just as intriguing on day two. Mostly raised in tank (with some older barrel ageing at the very end), this wine is a pure and mysterious entry to the world of the Val d'Aosta and its wild flower pastures, spring water streams and high-altitude game (all make an appearance in this wine). Fans of feminine Cote Rotie, the Cote de Brouilly or Marconnets will be especially enamored with this high acid, contemplative wine that retains a medium bodied, delicate presence despite its well-deserved reputation as a multi-dimensional, multi-layered red. Give this at least 1-2 hours of oxygen to integrate the feral and carnivorous overtones that only add to this wines complexity. A wine that is typically consumed young but history tells us it can age for up to a decade as well. The 2006 Torrette Vigne Les Toules proves that not all winemakers have aspirations that are only skin deep - this is a wine that requires peeling back the first few dermal layers to uncover the matter within. Your goulash and braised polenta with Hen of the Woods will thank you. A top effort and (at this bizarre price) a certain contender for my best of 2009 list. FIRST COME FIRST SERVED up to 36/person until we run out VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEDED as an indigenous expression of varietal and vintage. This parcel has impeccable provenance: 2006 Les Cr_tes Torrette (Vigne Les Toules) (some list this as "2006 Torrette Petite Rouge" but the correct name is Torrette Vigne les Toules and there is no "e" in Petit) Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Italy5401