My dream wine labels

 

In a historical period in which everything seems to be lacking, from the freedoms we were used to (and which we considered taken for granted) to the more or less granite certainties that accompanied our everyday life, I think one thing is evident: we just have to dream.

Dreaming to escape - even if only for those moments - from reality, dreaming because (at least for now) it's free, dreaming to set new targets and relaunch one's self-esteem, dreaming just to spend some time relaxing and fantasizing.

For this reason, without departing from the vinous theme, which recurs and marks my life as well as that of many of you, I enjoyed thinking about my "dream bottles", the ones that if I had no budget limits – or more likely if I were a Russian oligarch – would order in huge quantities.

There are seven, as many as the wonders of the ancient world, mythical labels that - in some small cases - I have approached in these years of wine passion but which unfortunately (for me) have not yet taken up residence in my personal cellar.

I recognize it's just a game - and quite silly too - but the game, like the dream, is what separates personal happiness from a life spent chasing patterns made by others.

 

P.S. By choice I avoided Burgundy, partly because I am not so competent in the matter as to give a judgment that came out of the "usual suspects" list, and partly because it contains so many dream bottles that I really wouldn't have known which ones to choose.

 

Unico Ribera del Duero - Bodegas Vega Sicilia

Blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon (with the first clearly prevalent), coming from very old and hyper-selected vines within the endless winery property, a mythical Bodega with over 150 years of history behind it.

Very low yields (in the order of 20hl / hectare) and aging for at least 10 years, first in new barriques and then in larger barrels already used previously, with marketing moment decided from time to time by the judgment of the Bodega’s winemaker.

It’s expensive but it is certainly not among the most unattainable wines of this world, but it has always exerted an unnatural and almost magnetic force on me, to the point that if I had to think of an ideal ranking, I would probably put it in front of everyone.

A bottle of incredible elegance and almost unheard of longevity, the King of Spain of wine, a monument more than a great bottle.

Unico in name and in fact.

 

Barolo Monfortino Riserva - Giacomo Conterno

PoWer and elegance, a giant in a velvet glove.

The favorite son of Serralunga’s terroir, the result of a selection of grapes from the legendary Francia vineyard (undoubtedly one of the greatest crus in Langa), aged for about 80 months before being put on the market.

A wine of infinite strength, a real champion without time or dimension, capable of challenging and defeating the passage of time as well as anyone who put in doubt his own supremacy.

If Barolo is the King of wines, Monfortino is undoubtedly the “Louis XIV of Barolo”, its largest and most shining representative, capable of obscuring the sun and giving unforgettable emotions.

 

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva - Gianfranco Soldera

Few personalities of Italian wine have been important but at the same time divisive as Gianfranco Soldera, great and iconic producer who left us a few years ago.

A figure without half measures, a visionary genius able to anticipate the times, creating – also thanks to the help of the master Giulio Gambelli – some labels able to rewrite the history of Montalcino but also to provide an additional dimension to Sangiovese.

A simply extraordinary wine, elegant and deep like the sea that it can be admired from the Montalcino’s hills but at the same time visceral and sanguine like the land that gave it life.

 

Porto Vintage National - Quinta do Noval

Infinity. Eternal. Immortal.

An iconic Vintage Port, an authentic legend, produced from grapes from a very old ungrafted vineyard, entirely planted with autochtonous vines (hence the name Nacional).

Finding descriptors for this monument of world wine, a bottle of unusual beauty and longevity, is simple but at the same time impossible.

Simple because finding it in front of you, breathing in its aromas and tasting its flavors, would - metaphorically – return the word even to those who have lost it.

Impossible because anything to say, any adjective you can use to describe it, even the most amazing, would not be able - not even in part - to tell its greatness.

 

Barbaresco Asili Riserva - Bruno Giacosa

To talk about Bruno Giacosa, one of the greatest figures of the Langa but more generally of Italian wine, an entire article would not be enough.

The master par excellence, a unique and inimitable figure of this territory, a “negociant-elevateur” of an unparalleled level and cultural depth.

A timeless myth, a man who made sensitivity in the choice of raw material an art capable of restricting wines of dazzling beauty.

Barbaresco Asili Riserva is probably the greatest of its extraordinary wines, a complex bottle like very few others, a liquid dream capable of recounting - more than many and often empty words - the sensitivity and philosophy of its creator and the greatness of this terroir.

 

Chateau Latour Pauillac Grand Cru Classè - Chateau Latour

Sumptuous, elegant, complex, extraordinary.

Considered by many the red wines par excellence, it’s a legend also known by those who know little or nothing about this world, the label which – thanks to a perfect combination of natural factors and enological knowledge – is able to express the quintessence of Cabernet Sauvignon and the potential of the incredible Pauillac terroir at its best.

An authentic monster, a myth without time or space, a Bordeaux to which the word perfection fits like a Valentino’s dress wraps the body of a wonderful model, capable like very few others of combining tradition and modernity.

 

 

Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Rouge - Chateau Rayas

Concentrated and deep, complex and very elegant.

A Chateauneuf du Pape nothing short of legendary, unusual in its blend but also of majestic classicism, territoriality and grandeur.

Coming from an area that is unique within the denomination, with sandy soils and extremely poor in skeleton, it’s a true liquid miracle, a wine of unusual richness.

A label capable of upsetting the canons within an already great terroir, able to rise to a supernatural dimension, transcending human and limited understanding.

The non plus ultra of Grenache, its highest and unattainable expression.