Today, we offer a certified blockbuster—one of SommSelect’s true “greatest hits.” Since the early years, our customers have loudly demanded any and all wines from Antonello Rovellotti. These full-throated, deeply soulful reds have earned a reputation for outperforming and outselling many of the top wines in Barolo, and the explanation is simple: A best-in-the-region family property, tiny production, a compelling origin story, and a comparatively/ridiculously fair price (which, by the way, hasn’t increased in years). If that’s still not enough, how about seven years of age delivering a wine that is ripping into its “sweet spot” drinking window?
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NOTE: This wine is only available as a pre-offer and will be arriving at our warehouse in two weeks.]
If you love Italian red wine—or elite-tier Bordeaux or Grand Cru Burgundy for that matter—I can’t imagine you won’t fall head over heels in love with today’s wine. The only catch here is: I wish Antonello made more of it! Unfortunately, this is the estate’s most limited release and their only
riserva-level wine. Fortunately, our microscopic allocation is in immaculate condition, having never once left the same frigid New York cellar in which it first landed upon release. Do not miss this one!
Antonello Rovellotti lives in the small village appellation of Ghemme, which is about 80 kilometers northwest of Turin and, as the crow flies, not far from Italy’s border with Switzerland. Ghemme is centered around a sprawling castle built in the 1100s, and Antonello is the only winemaker still permitted to work in the original structure. His “winery” is little more than a collection of trap doors, lofts, and crawl spaces, hidden all over the castle. Despite his truly minuscule production volume, it takes numerous key rings and an hour of exploring and climbing ladders to see the entire operation. And while Antonello is a gifted and experienced winemaker—his vines are among the village’s oldest and most prized—the real story with Rovellotti is his vinification. Simply put, these wines are made the long and hard way. Grapes are macerated for longer than any other property I’ve ever visited in Piemonte and the wines are released after a minimum of six and a half years in barrel and bottle. Many modern wine producers aren’t willing to defer profits for that long, but Rovellotti is the opposite—these wines are still produced exactly as they were in the 1960s.
Today’s Ghemme Riserva “Costa del Salmino” is always a contemporary classic. Comprised of 90% Nebbiolo and 10% of the local Vespolina, the wine spent two years aging in Slavonian oak Botti (50-hectoliter) before being transferred to smaller French oak barrels for another year-plus. It hails from the oldest vines on Antonello’s property and this is his top wine, only produced in stellar vintages from the most immaculate clusters. For me, it is a timeless and perfect expression of Nebbiolo. In the glass, the wine has a dark and concentrated crimson center moving into a burnt orange hue at the rim. Black cherries, blackberries, plum, leather, dried rose blossoms, violets, black truffles, dark chocolate, baking spice, and black pepper aromas leap from the glass. Even without any decanting, the balance, depth, and power of this wine is impressive. This is one of those special wines that only gets better and better until the bottle is empty. Ideally, I advise decanting for one hour prior to drinking in a large Burgundy stem. As I always stress when discussing Antonello’s wines, this wine will only improve for decades to come. I set aside multiple cases of Rovellotti every year in my cellar and I encourage anyone who collects Italian wine to do the same. These are incredible wines and they never disappoint.
