2005 Luigi Ferrando & C. Carema (White Label) DOC 13.5%
100% nebbiolo from the northernmost reaches of Piemonte, near the Val d'Aosta. Lighter ruby than your average Barolo/Barbaresco. Attractive aromas of sour cherry, iodine and leather. Judicious acidity, correct acid/sweet balance, pleasant body weight. I was beginning to "complain" to Marcia that this was a bit straightforward, compared to the 86 Roagna Barolo from two days ago (admittedly an unfair comparison), when it became UNO with our cheese & toast in such a complementary way that the expression GASTRONOMIC WINE began to flash in massive neon signs all over Las Vegas and Broadway. What it lacked in intellectual pleasure was more than compensated by sensory happiness, and it vanished in a flash, like a half bottle. Our favorite northern Piemonte nebbiolo so far (we enjoyed it much more than the Sella Lessona). Too bad it's a bit expensive for a house wine, in the mid $30s.