June Wine Club
WINES
2021 Lamole di Lamole, Chianti Classico ‘Maggiolo’, Tuscany, Italy
2021 Vietti, Langhe Nebbiolo ‘Perbacco’, Piemonte, Italy
2019 Smith-Madrone, Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain, Napa Valley, CA
LAMOLE DI LAMOLE
2021 ‘Maggiolo’ Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy
Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
With an elevation of 650m above sea level, the highest elevation in Chianti Classico, and the highest range that Sangiovese can legally grow in Tuscany, the village of Lamole represents one of the most unique microclimates in Tuscany. Vineyards here are often planted on terraces and the soil itself is unique to the region, with large sandstone boulders called 'Macigno toscano’ mixed with schist, galestro stone, and albarese limestone. The wines here are highly perfumed and elegant, and many say they are the only Chianti Classico wines that are truly identifiable geographically in a blind tasting.
Aromas of blackberries and blueberries surprise here where you expect more bright cherry. Sweet spices and flowers round it out and on the palette, marked acidity is complemented with fine and integrated tannins and additional red fruit components plus a bit of cocoa.
Serve at 58º-62ºF
Drink now. This wine can be cellared for up to 10 years, but is truly a gem right now.
Food pairings: Traditional Italian foods are perfect, so think about tomato-sauce based pastas, pizzas, beans, and roasted meats or vegetables. This is a lighter and more aromatic style of Chianti, so intensely grilled or smoked meats might be better paired with slightly bigger styles, but don’t hesitate to drink this with a lovely grilled ribeye.
VIETTI
2021 Langhe Nebbiolo ‘Perbacco’
100% Nebbiolo
Vietti is one of the truly great domains in all of Piemonte. Their Barolos include some of the most sought-after and long-lived wines in the region, most notably their single vineyard Ravera cru. Founded over 150 years ago by Carlo Vietti, the estate was recently named winery of the year by Antonio Galloni of Vinous. The estate was family-owned until 2016, with the Vietti family finally handing over full control in 2023 to the new owners.
In Piemonte, the Nebbiolo grape is supreme. Langhe Nebbiolo or and Nebbiolo d’Alba are often referred to as ‘baby Barolo’. In truth, this moniker doesn’t really capture the wine for what it truly is. So often, the big Nebbiolo wines of Barolo and Barbaresco are so tannic and powerful that they don’t showcase the best of the grape until they have several years of bottle age. Langhe Nebbiolo is produced in such a way as to take the powerful Nebbiolo grape and highlight its acid and fruit qualities while preserving the tannic structure, but offering the final wine in a way that makes it absolutely delicious on release. Many of the best Langhe Nebbiolos still possess the potential to age for even a decade or more.
Typically, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC is produced from Nebbiolo grapes grown either outside the major zones of Barolo or Barbaresco, or from vineyard sites not suited to these ‘superstar’ wines. The Langhe DOC allows grapes to come from anywhere within the large Langhe zone. Vietti, like a few other great producers, chooses Nebbiolo grapes from prestigious vineyards both in Barolo and Barbaresco, and then completes a traditional long fermentation of nearly a month. The wine is then aged 18-20 months in a mix or barriques and large barrels. The nose is classic Nebbiolo with cassis, cherry, raspberry, rose, and tea aromas. Notes of spice and toast round the wine out. It can be powerful in its youth and soften much like a Barolo with several years in the bottle.
Serve at 60º-63º F
Drinking now and over the next 10 years.
Food Pairing: Hearty stew, wild game, roasted red meats and sharp, aged cheeses.
SMITH-MADRONE
2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc
Founded in 1972, Smith-Madrone is an iconic producer in Napa Valley, even if they remain relatively less well-known than many of the larger producers in the region. Family owned and operated by Stuart and Charles Smith, the estate produces wines of incredible class and quality on Spring Mountain. Spring Mountain is an iconic area in the Mayacamas Mountain Range that forms the Western boundary of Napa Valley. Vineyards at this estate range from 1,300 to 2,000 feet in elevation and are planted not only to Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but also to Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and arguable the most important Riesling in the region.
In general, Napa Valley Cabernet falls into one of three camps:
1) Highly concentrated, powerful wines with juicy fruit, high alcohol, ripe tannins, and a distinct presence of new oak
2) Dusty, woven wines with power, earthiness, and black fruits with pepper and spice
3) Wines with a strong mineral quality, higher acid, and ripe but not overripe fruit.
Smith-Madrone, being located on Spring Mountain tends to produce Cabernet with a more pronounced acid profile from the elevation. In addition, their practice of dry-farming (not irrigating the vines after they come of age) helps to produce a more complex and mineral-driven style. The fruits have a complex balance of ripeness and earthiness, likely attributed again to the elevation which keeps the grapes cooler and allows them to ripen more slowly than on the valley floor. While the use of new French oak is truly essential for aging high-quality Cabernet, Smith-Madrone carefully balances the new and used oak profile in their wines. This vintage spends 18 months in oak, 55% of which is new. The blending of Cabernet Franc helps to provide more floral and earthy aromas in the wine. While there is no doubt an intense amount of pleasure and immediacy to the hedonistic ripe style found from many of the Cult producers and valley floor Cabernets, I have a soft spot for wines produced in the Smith-Madrone style with a more restrained use of new oak and higher acid. There is an elegance in this Cabernet that speaks to the way most of the wines here were made in the 1980s and 1990s.
Spring Mountain was significantly impacted by the 2020 Glass Fire. Photos can be seen below of the fire at Smith-Madrone.
Serve at 60º-63º F
Drinking now and over the next 15 years
Food Pairing: Steaks, smoked and grilled meat, blue cheese, and even lighter
