Terre Moreniche Ghemme Nebbiolo

Exuberant nose. Cherries. Chestnut. Gamey. Mega spice. Wild. Untamed. Classic Ghemme. Floral. Can tell it’s from a warm vintage. But in a good way. Warm vintage, cooler region. Palate is juicy and ripe with those rustic, deep Ghemme tannins. Good concentration. Nice depth. Not much finesse so far. But intense flavor and length. Rustic for sure. Not showing as well as last bottle. I’ll be back.

Killer. Nose of ripe cherries, cigar box. Smoke. Minerals. Tobacco. Wet earth. Dry earth. Loads of spices. Very expressive. Palate is terrific. Pure, ripe cherry fruit, big burly Ghemme tannins and terrific clarity of fruit. Very very fresh. Terrific energy. Will age for decades. Needs maybe 4-6 years. Terrific depth, power and concentration. Long finish. What it lacks in finesse it makes up for in flavor impact.

I had guarded expectations because I was not a fan of the 08, but this is quite good. Deep nose has deep old dark library furniture scent, gravel, warm spice, dark macerated cherries, dried roses, a little tar. In short, everything you want in an aged Nebbiolo. Soft, good acids, tannins very fine-grained and almost fully integrated. I wouldn’t age this much longer though, because it’s almost fully tertiary.

Balls to the wall Nebbiolo. Love Ghemme. Funky nose of cherry, hint of barnyard, nuts, spice, mint and sour cherry. It’s great but wild. I suspect with air it will become more tame. Palate is gorgeous. Deep and ripe. Terrific fruit that cuts a swath across the palate. Rustic and energetic with again, sick deep cherry fruit that echoes on the long finish with gorgeously ripe tannins. Big wine and even bigger fruit, tannins and terrific freshness. If you’re not drinking ripe vintages in Alto Piemonte you’re doing it wrong.

An austere, rustic style Nebbiolo. The nose is all tertiary: crushed underbrush, cracked river stones, old leather, the barest hint of macerated cherry. Austere in the mouth, and still showing significant tannin, this is much better with my homemade meatballs in San Marzano tomato sauce than on its own.

What a nose. Chestnut, tar, roses, leather, huge spice. Shows ripeness of vintage but so classic and old school. Rich and ripe with nice caressing tannins and so so juicy. Lovely spice and minerals and beautiful freshness. Long finish. Really really impressive. @Delectable Wine this is Il Chiosso winery and the Cru is Terre Moreniche.

Cherry and mint, which creates a medicinal feel. I like medicinal and churchy wines. It’s black cherries. Not so ripe anymore, but drying up a bit. You can taste the cherry pit/flower cyanide. The cherry gets sweeter with air. The mint has a savory quality like mountain mint, with touches of thyme/sage/oregano. There’s a nuttiness, pine nut or chestnut, following the herbal scents. Blood, geranium and maybe peony. Air makes it more like lilac and violet. There’s a refinement to this wine that’s different than the typical nebbiolo roses and tar thing, the way a fender plays differently than a Gibson does. Some rustic wood spice on the finish, and drying tannins, like running through pine trees. Damn good stuff. Slightly wild or alpine, stays funky even when in bloom. Good acid, could live a lot longer and probably turn into a really baroque bottle. For under $30 it’s hard to beat this, I’d like to try their other wines.