TN: 2016 Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema Carema

• 2016 Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema Carema - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Carema (10/7/2020)
  If Hardy Wallace (Dirty & Rowdy) made Nebbiolo it would be like this. Lightly colored, heavily perfumed, and high on flavor. Raspberry, violet, earthy tones, and a lightweight frame with easy tannins, this is super drinkable now, and well balanced for a short ride in the cellar. Lovely value wine at $19.

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks for the note. I’m still awaiting delivery of mine. Galloni says drink 2024-2036. Sounds like you think it won’t make such old bones?

Now-2030

Thanks, David. Crush just had an offering yesterday on the 2016 Produttori Carema Reserva. Buy?

I have some but have not tried one yet. I would think it’s worth a shot.

Thanks man, I’m in.

I’d make sure you’re looking at the review for the normale vs the riserva.

I am. AG pushed the 2016 Riserva out to 2041.

I just bought the riserva because it sounded like something I would love. Haven’t tried this bottling but this sounds good too.

I haven’t tried the 16 riserva, but it spends more time in cask/oak and is generally more on the savory side.

My note on the 2009 Riserva:

• 2009 Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema Carema Riserva - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Carema (11.3.2015)
  Decanted for 1,5h. Quite transparent and already a bit brownish in the glass. On the nose as classic and recognizable as it gets: lots of bold red fruit in a tarry, slightly smoky wrapping. Beautifully perfumed with a mushroomy hint. On the palate extremely juicy, chewy even, with friendly, polished tannins that grip in a very gently manner. Open and inviting, with a bit simple yet delicious, classic Nebbiolo flavor profile. Somewhere between medium- and full-bodied, with no extra fat to be found. The fruit is that of a young wine, but structurally this seems quite approachable and drinks really well at the moment. Finishes clean and refreshing, like a good food wine should. A really honest Nebbiolo at a really good price (18 €).

Short ride? These Caremas survive easily for decades!

They might not evolve that much (nor as fast) compared to their southern cousins, i.e. the older ones show relatively little evolution and complexity, but having drunk lots of Caremas from the 1960s to the 80’s, I can attest to the normale bottlings easily surviving for 40 or so years. The bottles from the 1960s start to be over the hill - with the exception of the wines from the legendary 1964 vintage.

And based on our visit to the producer during our trip to Aosta from Piemonte, they haven’t changed much of their production since. So the wines they make today are stylistically pretty identical to the ones produced half a century ago.

I also have the Riserva and Selezione. If they are a little richer/deeper I will enjoy them over the longer haul. This bottling is lovely to drink now, so what the heck.

wow

Didn’t know about the Selezione, probably they didn’t produce it back then when I visited the place. Apparently it is a modernist barrique-aged version of their traditionalist wines. Although I can imagine that will age wonderfully as well, more likely that won’t age as long as the Riserva.

I have one bottle of Riserva and have no intentions on touching it for many more years!

I just bought my first set of Riserva’s (2016’s) about a week ago. Panzer beat Crush to the table by 5 days so that’s who I ended up ordering from, plus no shipping costs for me. This thread makes me feel like I made a solid choice.

For those who want to taste older wines from this co-op, Chambers Street often has bottles in inventory from the 70s and 80s. I once opened a co-op and a Ferrando from the same vintage (1970, I think) blind, and that bottle from the co-op outperformed the Ferrando. There are no great old wines, just great old bottles, but it at least shows that (a) these wines can age and (b) there have been quality bottlings for some time.

Anyone in a position to contrast this one with the 2015? It was pretty round and fleshy – very aromatic. I thought of this wine (the 15) when tasting the 2016 Paulo Scavino Monvigliero, which surprisingly has much in common (round, very fleshy, similar tactile and aromatic qualities).

I’ve been to three or four verticals of Carema (i.e. both Ferrando and the co-op).

From my experience, the co-op’s wines age better: many older Ferrando’s wines I’ve had have often been past their peak or turned just weird with evolved off-flavors, while the co-op wines just seem to keep going. However, when the older Ferrando wines are in sound condition, they tend to much better and more rewarding. I’ve noticed that although the co-op’s wines can age like crazy, they develop relatively little after some point and most vintages never start to develop anything truly complex and fascinating; they feel more like time capsules - not unlike Colares reds from Portugal. Ferrando’s wines, on the other hand, become beautifully complex and nuanced with age, but with them it’s harder to predict when the wines are at their peak.