Ready to taste at Fratelli Alessandria

Barolo that's ready to drink?

Share

I’m stumped for superlatives – describing wines that are truly exciting is, for me today, like reinventing the wheel. Thrilling? Gorgeous? Spectacular? Spectacular Value? Superlative? I’m sure you get the point: it’s easy to feel that many powerful adjectives are getting worn out, and the exclamation mark loses its punch. Nonetheless, we are lucky to be living in a period with an unparalleled range of thrilling wines, wines so gorgeous that they deserve the most spectacular superlatives in the arsenal. If you’re paying attention, there’s something new and exciting every day – a newly-introduced producer, or the new vintage and, as in the present case, a new bottling.

I’m referring to Fratelli Alessandria’s 2018 Barolo del Commune di Verduno – actually the second vintage for the wine – this is a truly exciting wine that is drinking now. Ditto the 2018 Monvigliero. And for good measure, the 2021 Verduno Pelaverga. Read on! Jamie Wolff

No Longer Available

Fratelli Alessandria 2018 Barolo del Commune di Verduno

Formerly their Barolo blend included fruit from La Morra; now it’s pure Verduno (for you geeks it’s a blend from Boscatto, Campasso, Pisapola, Riva Rocca, and Rocche del’Ormo). Because I didn’t get to visit last spring, I tasted the wine for the first time yesterday (February 2nd, 2023), and it was everything that one could hope for in a classic Barolo.  It will do fine for at least a few years in the cellar, but it is also truly delicious now, and I will have a hard time keeping my hands off. This is a function of the vintage, which generally produced lighter wines – in the right hands yielding moderately structured wines like this one, with a really surprisingly gratifying balance of all elements. Jamie Wolff

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $59.99

  • Organic

Fratelli Alessandria 2018 Barolo Monvigliero

Monvigliero = wow. Absolutely lovely, very fine and elegant, with super-ripe tannins, medium bodied and open, redolent of cherry, orange peel, rose petal, chalky earth – a complex and really fantastic wine that happens to be drinking extremely well right now. Taste one and see if you can resist opening another bottle very soon after. Jamie Wolff

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $109.99

  • Organic

Fratelli Alessandria 2021 Verduno Pelaverga

Made from the Pelaverga Piccolo grape, specifically grown in the northern Barolo sub-region of Verduno. Consisting of fruit from many sites: Riva Rocca, Campasso, Boscatto, Neirane, Sotto Orti, Galleria. Guyot trained vines averaging 20 years of age. Fruit added to a pied de cuvee, fermented 6 to 8 days in stainless steel tanks. Aging is done in either stainless or cement for 5 to 6 months, plus an additional month or two in bottle. In the glass, the wine shows a clear red, with nuances of pink and orange. The nose on this wine is terrific. Aromatically sophisticated like a cocktail. Freshly milled peppercorns, pine needles, and grapefruit peel, with the simplest bass note of firm red cherry. It tastes much like it smells, plus salinity and stoniness that adds zip and focus to the palate. The wine's structure relies on this assertiveness, since it is almost free of tannin (in the best way). Completely refreshing.David Hatzopoulos

I loved the Pelaverga 2021, which seems to show the best that Pelaverga has to offer. This one is light-bodied, and very aromatic, with the classic nose of ground pepper and fresh red fruits that follow through on the palate – “a very versatile wine with food” says Vittore, “salume, spicy foods, even with fish”, which I buy, although it’s delicious all by itself. Jamie Wolff


  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $27.99

  • Organic