Bottle #2 - Langhe Nebbiolo 2012, by Guidobono

Guidobono Langhe Nebbiolo, 2012

Now THIS is a great value, wow. I guess I'm obligated to share that information, but I didn't know it until just now!  This bottle was a gift from paisan David Fornaro, that I decided to hold onto until I really needed a good glass. I fully expected this "Baby Barolo" to deliver but as a gift I had no idea the value proposition it brought too - I'm impressed.

A little quick background on me and Italian wines... I grew up drinking ONLY Italian wine and thinking it was the only worthwhile choice! Imagine my surprise when a project landed me in Paris and I tasted my first French wine?! Suffice to say, I was blown away.  It's not that our family frowned on other wine "Oh, I'm sure it's good" we'd say, we just loved our Chianti and Valpolicella so much! My mother pushed the envelope with some Concha y Toro and took no small amount of grief for it! For all the love at the table - Sicilians can be a bit ruthless too!

As I grew older, my horizons broadened further and quite a lot of time went by that I nearly forgot about Italian wine; as I sought to taste and learn about South America, Europe, and of course California. And when I went back for Italian, I went back to what I knew - Valpolicella and Chianti Riserva. Until one day... I met Rick Simone - it was time to be blown away again. Rick taught me in 1 fell swoop about Barolo, Barbaresco, Sangiovese, and the tremendous Super Tuscan. From there I struck out in search of more and discovered Nero d'Avola, Primitivo, and the varietal featured here: Nebbiolo, just to name a few. Such a tasty journey it's been!

Which brings us back to this bottle, and my tasting notes.  Thank you for enduring my stroll down memory lane, and without further adieu:

Tasting Notes: I find the GLN to have strong character. It's very aromatic, even alluring, and gave me no hint of alcohol. I sensed a deep dark cherry forward, followed by soft leather notes and a very light tobacco undertone. As the aroma lingered, I got just the most subtle sense of roses that I found to be fantastic. When I personally imagine a wine's balance I'm focused on what it does to my tongue when the first drop hits - do the buds pucker up? Some wines as we all know bite back! Does my tongue go all leathery, or does a sense of alcohol pervade the first taste? Is the second taste the same, similar, or completely different? By taste 3 or 4, am I smiling? This Nebbiolo was smooth from the first sip - it tread lightly on my pallet, but was far from timid in expressing it's personality, quietly and confidently you might say. So expressive was this wine that if she were a woman, I'd have smiled stupidly and asked her to dance. Instead "we danced" our way through 2 glasses and her subtle complexity surprised me every so often with another nuance I hadn't noticed before: delicate, fresh, crisp, but with strong taste and character, leaving no question that this "baby barolo" is a Nebbiolo true to it's heritage.

I hope you can find it. My quick web research puts it in the low to mid $20 range and I will be adding several more bottles to my cellar as soon as possible! Grazie, Dave!

As we begin to get into the coldest days of winter - please remember, that to know good food is to be close to God - a truth which properly indulged in will warm your heart, body, and soul all at once.