Manzone's 2012 Barolo Gramolere. 95 Points, (Suckling). 6-Packs, $69/bottle. Wine You Want in Your Cellar.

When Barolo is good, it is hard to find any wine that matches up to it.

BAROLO GRAMOLERE DOCG BY GIOVANNI MANZONE 2012

95 points – James Suckling, March 2016

Winery : Giovanni Manzone

Wine Region : Italy (Italy), Piedmont (Italy)

Bottle Per Case : 6 x 750 ml

Food Pairing : Breads, Cured Meat, Hard Cheese, Red Meat, Roasted Vegetables
“A dense and beautiful red with plum, chocolate and mineral character. Hints of sandalwood too. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and a delicious finish. Already gorgeous. Drink or hold.”

I had some friends visiting from out of town over the last few days. This is always a good excuse to pull some corks from some of the great bottles in the cellar. We were drinking everything from Bordeaux, to Brunello, to Burgundy, to Barolo. Interesting that all my favourite wine production regions start with B. Even more interesting is that the Barolo consistently beat everything out with regards to quality and crowd reaction.

The trick with Barolo is, it needs age. Yes, if you drink enough Barolo, you can sort of see where it might go when it is young, but the truth is, i have never tasted a Barolo that was anywhere close to its potential when it was young. Those who know me are aware that patience is not my strong suit, but wine has helped me to understand just how rewarding being patient can be.

They have been producing wine in Piemonte for quite a while. See the above picture of the Manzone family in 1956 on the same piece of land that they occupy today. There was a time in the 1950’s through the 70’s where people could not make a decent living in wine production, and Piemonte ended up losing some of its oldest vines to other, “more profitable,” crops.

Then came Gaja and Giacosa in to the picture and both started to produce wines that the whole world wanted to try and buy. Not only that, for the 1st time, Piemonte had some great marketing savvy come around. Somehow Gaja managed to bring Piemontese wines, and especially theirs, to the forefront of the world’s wine connoisseurs.

Mauro Manzone is a young man, but his winemaking knowledge has been passed down from his father and grandfather. He also went to school. The Manzone wines are starting to be considered when talking about the great producers of Piemonte.

The moral of the story here is if you are a lover of great wines and have the patience to wait around until the wines are ready to drink, you really want to purchase a case or a few of this wine. This wine will start to come in to its own around 2022. For a wine of this quality, $69/bottle is a steal.

Don’t fret, we have more awesome wine from Italy, including a not yet featured Brunello and a new PO from one of my favourite wine producers and appellations. This would be the Sfursat Ca Rizzieri from Rainoldi. All of these wines will vastly improve your cellar, so don’t be shy.

It’s Friday, so don’t work too hard. Let’s all relax and enjoy the weekend.

Have a great day!