2023 Josetta Saffirio, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, Piemonte, Italy.
The dark ruby/brick hued Saffirio Langhe Nebbiolo is a true authentic, rustic and rewarding expression of varietal and place, coming from organic vines in the commune of Monforte d’Alba, in the Piemonte region and from main parcels with a southeast exposure at up to between 300-400 meters above sea level and on calcareous soils of marl, sandy and underlined by limestone. I must thank Josh Perry and Monterey’s Cella Restaurant for introducing me to the Josetta Saffirio wines a couple years back and who continues to have them and this one by the glass, going extremely well with their absolutely delicious wild mushroom formage blanc dumplings and the oxtail and blue cheese croquettes. The palate here is pretty classic stuff, with some good fruit density and earthy tones with black cherry, damson plum, huckleberry and blood orange fruits, along with balsamic strawberry reduction, old cedar, salted licorice, a delicate meaty note and wilted roses. Medium to full bodied and with some grippy tannins, the wine here is pure Nebbiolo and even into the mid 14% range it still has a sense of freshness and acidity to make this go great with the food choices mentioned, and give a happy smile. There’s a lot to like here and this Josetta Saffirio Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, part of their Orchidea Line, is an exceptionally value and a savvy choice in drink now Nebbiolo, providing all goodness of the terroir and a soulful charmer. As noted before, I only have limited experience with this winery, but I was impressed with this 2023 vintage and look forward to try their Cru collection of offerings in the future.
The Josetta Saffirio winery, a small estate in Castelletto, is one I had only a few times before with their Langhe Nebbiolo being the one bottle I tried, and even though I enjoyed that one, their super rare Rossese Bianco, an obscure treat and I had never known even existed before my friend James at Phoenix Selections in Memphis turned me on to it on my travels to Tennessee earlier this year! Digging further into the winery, as noted previously, I found out that the Josetta Saffirio is a historic two hundred year old property, a family-run and completely organic estate in the commune of Monforte d’Alba, in Piemonte. Maybe most famous for producing highly regarded Barolo wines, it now spans a full five generations, the estate is currently run by the talented Sara Vezza, who took over from her mother, Josetta, blending generations of heritage with modern and totally sustainable viticulture. Saffirio was known for its iconic wine labels featuring a little gnome, a mascot introduced by Sara’s grandfather, symbolizing the connection to nature and the environmentally friendly practices in the vines, but this new “Orchidea Line” label is more subtle and elegant with no gnome on this one. The winery says the Nebbiolo was made with nicely ripe hand-harvested grapes that are delicately de-stemmed and softly pressed, with the must being what they call cryo-macerated for 24 hours. The fermentation takes place in steel tanks at a cool controlled temperature and the maceration lasts approximately 10 days. After malolactic fermentation is also completely, the wine is then aged about 12 month before bottling, all to be transparent, nuanced and pure, as seen here.
($20 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive