2006 Ferrando Carema Etichetta Bianca
Perfumed, Nuanced, High-Altitude Nebbiolo
"When I am asked which wine would I choose were I to be restricted to a single one, my answer is: Carema."
- Neal Rosenthal
Today marks the fourth Ferrando email that we've begun with the quote above. It was too good to resist using it again... after all, it's difficult not to pause on these words, since they come from a person with luminary bottlings such as Fourrier's Griotte and Barthod's Cras at his fingertips.
There is indeed something very special about Ferrando's perfumed, elegant and silken mountain Nebbiolo - the wine's cinnamon-tinged dark cherry fruits, sweet herbs like mint and tarragon, irises, violets and smokiness, all offering a subtle grace and complexity that's hard to tire of...
Especially when it comes at $34.26 a bottle, down to $33.10 a bottle on today's four-pack.
In a world where so many wines boast brawn and directness, the grace and agility of Ferrando's white label can be outright beguiling in the way it quietly invites you to engage its complexities. It's the product of backbreaking work on steep, terraced slopes in the margins of where grapes can properly ripen in the northern hemisphere. The wine's uniqueness is certainly something to cherish.
Judging by the cult following that has begun to gather to around this wine, many share Neal Rosenthal's (and our) enthusiasm for the wine. Each new release is eagerly anticipated, and every year we sell out of this more and more quickly, fielding calls through the rest of the year from people who want to get their hands on more.
There's an admirable consistency in Ferrando's Carema, and yet each vintage shows off a slightly different face of the wine, has a subtly different view of the mountain to offer. For the region, 2006 offered up plenty of warmth and sun in August, and then a cool September and October.
Accordingly, the wines show plenty of ripeness and structure linked with a sense of brightness and energy that leads to pure, precise flavors. It offers a gloriously clear nose of textbook Nebbiolo aromatics: roses, spice, tar, red cherry fruit, all coasting on a current of crisp, clean mountain air. This is a perfume that only Nebbiolo can deliver, with each layer revealing another nuance of cinnamon-framed, mineral-inflected flowers and red fruits.
As you'd expect from the wine in such a vintage, there's also a sense of power and ageworthy structure that dwells beneath its luminous alpine briskness. The wine's approachable tannic structure belies how well this wine will age - 10 years will certainly be no problem. Nebbiolo ages long and gracefully, and there are many tales of outstanding bottles of Ferrando white label at 15 and even 20+ plus years old. At under $135 per four-pack, there is likely no better value for a Nebbiolo with which to fill your cellar.
To order, email us at offers@crushwineco.com or (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
2006 Ferrando Carema Etichetta Bianca
Wine arrives late next week!
NET | No further discount