Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 63

O LD WO RLD

Top 100 Wineries

Fratelli Alessandria
ITALY | PIEDMONT
The long, moderate 2013 season played into Vittore Alessandria's
preferred style, producing three outstanding Barolos that
emphasize finesse over power and weight.

MAYBE IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE that is driving so
many producers to scramble for vineyard plots
in Verduno, Barolo's northernmost commune.
But it is also undoubtedly the vibrant, racy wines
coming from producers like Fratelli Alessandria. When the estate was established in 1870,
Verduno was one of Barolo's leading production centers. Other communes eventually rose
to overshadow Verduno, but in recent years it
has reclaimed its former glory, largely due to
the efforts of winemakers such as Vittore Alessandria. The family owns several choice plots in
Monvigliero, Verduno's "grand cru" site above
the Tanaro River, famous for perfumed and spicy
Barolos; in 2013, San Lorenzo, from a cru on
Monviegliero's southeastern flank, is also bright
and spicy, with immediate appeal. The family's
only Barolo from outside Verduno comes from a
five-acre plot in the Gramolere cru of Monforte
d'Alba inherited from Alessandria's mother's
family. Its heavier clay soils yield a firmly structured wine, though the 2013 shows the Alessandria imprint in its seamless texture and vibrant
red fruit. And while Alessandria's Barolos are the
headliners, the brisk and spicy 2017 Pelaverga
offers a highly entertaining opening act. -S.J.

PAOLO
MEROI

Meroi
ITALY | FRIULI
Wines from the recently acquired Zitelle vineyard have propelled
Meroi to the next level.

VITTORE
ALESSANDRIA

PAOLO MEROI'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER founded
this estate a century ago in the Buttrio subzone of Friuli Colli Orientali. The warm microclimate is well-suited to the production of red
wines, but Meroi focuses on whites, particularly
since 2004, when he added the Zitelle vineyard
to his holdings. Meroi knew the vineyard well,
having rented vines in Zitelle for a decade, and
he replanted the vineyard's rock-studded clay
soils with white varieties to take advantage of
the site's northeast exposures and cool evening
breezes. Bucking the modern trend toward crisp,
reductive white wines, Meroi ages his whites in
French oak barriques to develop opulent textures and rich, layered flavors, like those found
in the 2016 Zitelle Durì, stunning in its expressive aromas and flavors, or the a bold, distinctive
2016 Zitelle Pesarin, the first release from a plot
planted to friulano. The 2017 chardonnay, coming off a south-facing plot at Vigna Dominin,
is rich yet precise, blazing its own stylistic path
between chardonnays from Burgundy and California. -S.J.
1830
Giovan
Battista, Allesandro and Vittore
Alessandria
WINEMAKER: Vittore Alessandria
FOUNDED:
OWNERS:
FOUNDED:

1900

OWNER/
VITICULTURIST:

Paolo Meroi

2016 Friuli Colli Orientali Zitelle Durí ($82, 94
points) This malvasia aged for one year in barriques
(80 percent new), gaining notes of vanilla bean and
candied florals as well as an opulent texture that
envelops the ripe apricot, peach and almond flavors.

WINEMAKER:

Mirko Degan
ACRES OWNED:

49.4
CASES PRODUCED:

4,166-5,000

VITICULTURISTS:

2016 Friuli Colli Orientali Zitelle Pesarin ($82, 93
points) Scented with notes of spearmint, lime and
toasted almonds, this friulano offers layered flavors
of spiced pear and quince that seem to become riper
as the wine rolls across the palate.

IMPORTERS:

Artisanal Cellars,
White River
Junction, VT

ACRES OWNED:

2017 Friuli Colli Orientali Chardonnay ($57, 92
points) Notes of vanilla, toasted hazelnuts and warm
spice picked up from 11 months in new French oak
barrels are well integrated with this wine's precise
green-apple flavors and balanced by vibrant acidity.

2013 Barolo San Lorenzo di Verduno ($80, 95
points) Aromas of violets, anise and white pepper accent this wine's fleshy plum flavors, taking on
notes of orange peel and Darjeeling tea with exposure to air. Vibrant acidity propels the wine to a fresh,
energetic finish.

CASES PRODUCED:

8,000

ESTATE GROWN:

100%

Gian Battista,
Allessandro
Alessandria

2013 Barolo Monvigliero ($110, 96 points) This
wine opens with pretty floral and fresh-cherry scents,
then bursts onto the palate with juicy fruit flavors
laced with notes of menthol and white pepper. The
tannins are cool and polished, the flavors exuberant,
lingering in a red glow of berries and herbs. Tempting as it is to indulge now, this tightly knit wine will
reward a few years of patience with even deeper layers of complexity and deliciousness.

ESTATE GROWN:

100%
North
Berkeley Imports,
Berkeley, CA

IMPORTER:

2013 Barolo Gramolere ($90, 95 points) A refined
and seamless Barolo, this offers plush, ripe flavors
of fresh cherry and strawberry accented by notes of
licorice and tarragon. It feels pure and precise, with
firm, ferrous tannins that will carry the wine through
a decade or more of cellar time.
WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2020

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019