2023 Agricola Brandini, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC “Filari Corti” Piemonte, Italy.
The bright ruby, velvety fruited and freshly layered Langhe Nebbiolo from Brandini is an absolutely delicious version, of what is now a serious and important calling card category for Piemonte wines and is an outstanding value, going this winery’s stellar lineup, which includes an amazing set of cru Barolo offerings. Sourced from numerous organic Nebbiolo parcels with an average age of fifteen years from Alba, Monforte d’Alba, and La Morra, all between an altitude range of 270m to almost 500m, which allows for the balance, complexity and fabulous early drinkability, with this vintage offering up a depth of flavors led by black cherry, damson plum, lots fresh strawberry, tangy red currant and zesty orange fruits, along with geranium florals, wilted rose, minty herbs, sassafras, mineral tones and anise. While made in a way that would suggest a more tannic and austere offering, this beautiful Langhe Nebbiolo is very easy to love, expressive and silken on the medium full body, making it a ready to go anytime wine that will happily go with almost any cuisine options you could imagine, from simple burgers to pasta dishes, as well as being sipped with some hard cheeses. This has been a good release of wines from Brandini, all of which are top quality and shows off great individual personalizes, with Nebbiolo lovers being especially grateful for their Barolo efforts and reasonable prices.
Rising stars, the Agricola Brandini La Morra Estate, as noted in my prior review, is owned by Piero Bagnasco and run by his daughters, Giovanna and Serena, it is a new producer for me and in fact they are a pretty recent venture, just starting back in 2007, they have a tiny collection of prime Barolo vines and I found the wines to be beautifully made and very exciting. It was nice to meet Giovanna, a few years back, at a Slow Wine tasting event in San Francisco and learn about her wines, especially her cru Annunziata Barolo and the R56 Barolo, which made my top ten Nebbiolo(s) list of the Slow Wine tour in the City (SF) and of which I really admired for it’s elegance and exceptional length. Agricola Brandini La Morra uses the phrase “Organic Human Barolo” to describe its wines, as all of their vineyards are certified organic, hand tended and their wines are traditionally hand crafted, with their Barolo being aged in large, used oak casks with minimal intervention and only minimal amounts of added sulfur at bottling. The juicy, almost Freisa like, Filari Corti Langhe Nebbiolo DOC is ultra clean, seeing a natural fermentation and cool maceration in vat before being raised for close to a year in traditional large old oak casks, which is close to what the upper end Barolo bottlings get, but sees an earlier release and saw slightly earlier picks to bring out the vibrancy seen in the bottle. Brandini, along with GD Vajra, are now firmly go to wines from the region and this one, plus their Dolcetto are tasty values I highly recommend.
($32 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive