Coutandin Ramie Rosso 2017

Case discounts (can be mixed cases)
5% off 6 bottles (£38.00 each)
10% off 12+ bottles (£36.00 each)

2017 / Piedmont / Italy

Avana, Avarengo, Bequet, Barbera & Chatus / 14.5 % / organic

We deliberated for ages whether to list this wine.  On the negative side, I think it will be a hard sell given that it's not cheap nor is the producer or wine well known.  In fact, four of the five grape varieties I've never heard of.  It also takes a while to open up so it's not immediately attractive.

However, the other side of the coin is that this is heroic, extreme winemaking from a small producer that is doing his best to keep alive some of Italy's lost varieties.  Factor into the mix that the vines grow on mountainsides, not hillsides - the slopes for Ramie Rosso are about 70 degrees - and you can see why I call it extreme.  Imagine tending your vines with crampons on.  Daniele Coutandin makes about 1800 bottles of Ramie Rosso each vintage and would love to be certified organic but the numbers don't add up (certification is quite expensive).  Great story but what's it like then?  To begin with, it's really dark and tight, a bit chewy and quite savoury, wild and a bit brutal like the landscape it comes from.  However, with time, it does start to soften a little and it begins to grow on you.  It's very, very minerally but there's also dark fruit, liquorice, spice, herbs and a floral note.  The tannins are quite grippy at this stage and there's plenty of acidity there suggesting it will age for quite some time.  It clearly needs decanting for a few hours (we didn't) and it needs food, it's not a wine to crack open for a glass whilst watching a film.  However, it's a wine that says something and, even if we never sell a bottle, I'll enjoy cracking one open every couple of years and seeing whether the wild mountainside was ever fully tamed inside a bottle.

LAST 2 BOTTLES AVAILABLE