No need. Vias is shipping L9.105, but only 750s. Mags are another lot (sorry, don’t recall which ones). FWIW, I don’t know how much they have, and I don’t think they do either since they out source warehousing/trucking.
Unless there are multiple lots per bottling?
I would think that 9.113 is a later lot than 1.105, and would therefore be one of the blended lots. I have some of lot 9.097, which may well be unblended, but is a wonderful wine. If 9.113 is the same wine, then it’s a steal at Garagiste’s price ($20). If it’s the blended lot, then even better.
I think each bottling run is one lot under EU law.
FYI, the 9.105 I had last night was excellent – deeper than the 9.097 I had a week ago.
I completely agree the wine is a steal either way, my only issue is the suggestion by Garagiste that it is part of the reserve blended lot when it sounds more and more like it is not. Could be I am making a bigger deal out of nothing as it could in fact be part of the later bottlings. May just have to pick up a few of the 105’s to compare down the line.
Guys, I suspect that the chronology of lot numbers is not really the entire key to sorting out the puzzle. For their USA importers, I doubt very much that the Produttori would bottle markedly different wines at different times. The introduction of a lot bottled for European trade might, or might not give rise to some variance. I don’t recall the Produttori’s wines to have had any gray market activity at all in the past, and they are an unlikely candidate to be gray imported in the future. The gray market offer was a fluke of timing, a short period of USD strength coincided with a compelling review, coincided with no stocks yet in the market here.
But it may well be part of the blended cru batch.
As it happened, I bumped into Greg dal Piaz on the way to work this morning. He was at the cantina in May last year when they were bottling. He says there are only two blends, though there are plainly more bottling numbers. (I believe that every time you do a bottling run, EU law requires that you use a new lot number, even if it’s from the same tank you bottled from a few days earlier. That makes sense from a food safety and tracking standpoint.)
FYI, Antonio Galloni posted a new tasting note on this wine on his message board at eBob a few days ago. This bottle was from lot 9.097. He gave it the same score, and his tasting note was similar to that in his original review from lot 9.125.
FYI, in NYC, PJ’s and Garnet have the 9.097 lot. Astor and Chambers have or had 9.105. I think Chambers is now sold out, though.
I’ll try to report in 10 or so years. I have a bunch of the 9.097 lot and the 9.113 lot.
I’ve had quite a few of the 9.097 lot (a 6-pack in fact) this year and it’s gorgeous juice.
A sidebar to the intrigue. VIAS is not the only official US importer. Lemma in Portland is the official importer for (I believe) Oregon. Turns out Portland is a huge market for Produttori. It doesn’t hurt that pricing seems to be much better than VIAS. Just over the river in Washington, the VIAS bottlings are usually $10 to $15 more expensive. Of course, local prices on riservas have jumped from $40 to the low $50s. Maybe that’s more in line with VIAS, but I don’t know.
Anyone know why the word “Torre” sometimes pops up in reference to this wine?
I purchased some lot 105 this weekend and while the bottle doesn’t state “Torre” on it, the shelf talker thingy did.
Any insight?
Torre = normale, nothing to worry about. I don’t have any handy, but doesn’t it have a picture of a tower on it? Cheers!
Indeed, torre = tower, and ergo the shorthand/slang for the normale bottling:
Hehe - yup!
Thanks guys!
Just picked up a 9.141 at binnys.
Just when I thought everything was clear regarding the 2006 Produttori Normale bottlings, along comes an offer claiming…
“bottles containing at least 50% Cru juice” and “finally, the winery has released 2,000 magnums of Barbaresco 2006 made ENTIRELY from Cru juice.”
Mark, where did you hear this?
An offer from a UK merchant. Have emailed back to ask for clarification, quoting Aldo Vacca’s statement: “Regarding the 2006 Lots, basically all lots below L9.100 have no SV in them, while Lots above L9.100 have a 25% cru in the blend.”
Still awaiting a reply.
From a WINEX email received 5/24/11…
The Story of Produttori’s Lot 10.155…
We’ve actually been waiting for quite some time to tell this story. It is the tale of a great winery, a split second decision, and the wonderful, hidden ramifications of that decision. So here goes…
The Produttori del Barbaresco is one of the pre-eminent wineries in Piedmont. Anyone who is a collector of fine Barbaresco wines knows this. Any merchant who has ever sold Nebbiolo on a professional level knows this. The pundits know it. Needless to say, the winery is closely watched and the wines they make have an impact on buying decisions across the board.
Every year, the winery determines whether or not they are going to produce their famous single vineyard Riserva Barbaresco series. These wines, from such esteemed vineyards as Asili, Rabaja, Moccagatta and many more, are considered some of the region’s greatest values for top quality ‘cru’ bottlings. They commonly sell for around $55 or so and are only produced in the greatest vintages. In addition, they are only made when the Produttori can produce every one of the vineyards (out of fairness to the individual growers at this co-operative winery). The rest of the time, they find their way into the winery’s standard label so that even in more difficult years the standard wine shines!
So here was the winery’s quandary in 2006. The vintage was clearly Riserva level in quality, and the winery was pretty sure they were going to produce their whole Riserva line-up. But for whatever reason, the Produttori decided not to produce their Riserva line-up at the last minute. One problem… the regular Barbaresco was already being bottled! What to do? Director Aldo Vacca took the following course of action. He slowly spread out the Riserva level wines in incremental fashion, over the different bottling runs. The idea was that each cuvée of Barbaresco “normale” that hadn’t been bottled yet would have some of the groovy Riserva juice included.
There was just one other, little problem. Aldo decided to put more of the Riserva level wine in the later bottling runs. These different botltings are designated by distinct Lot #'s on the back of the bottles. We’ve already sold multiple lots, at really good prices, that started with the number “9”, indicating the wines bottled in 2009. These ‘Lots’ carried anywhere from 0% to 25% Riserva juice, the higher sequential numbers having larger percentages.
Yet what we were really waiting for were the Perfect “10’s”, the Lots of Produttori Normale that were bottled early in 2010. These Lots consist of approximately 40% Riserva level juice! These would be special wines indeed considering they were selling for the same price as the previous Lots.
Recently, we received word that these Lots had officially arrived here in California. Knowing the background, we bought. Hard! The only question was if they were actually better. So, we blind-tasted our top guys with these “10” Lots against the earlier “9” Lots. Results? All three tasters determined the “10” Lots were clearly superior. Darker in color, richer in fruit and structure, the Produttori “10’s” are truly some of the finest Barbaresco deals we’ve ever encountered, or, in this particular case, searched out. Antonio Galloni actually gave one of the earlier Lot numbers 92 points. What do you think he’d give this bottling?
Hey, we know that Aldo Vacca and the Produttori didn’t want to stir the pot and create a whole “Lot Number” thing with a wine they sell quite a bit of. They want everyone to think every bottle provides great value. Hey, we’ve tasted all of the Lots and can say that quality across the board is fantastic for this icon wine. So, for Aldo, mission accomplished. But we can’t ignore the fact that, due to a set of last minute decisions, some very special and unique wines were created. And these special wines are simply too good to ignore, though the Produttori probably would prefer that no one made a fuss about it.
If this sounds like ‘insider trading’, so be it. Barbaresco isn’t regulated by the S.E.C. Get this pumped up Lot while you can, only a hundred or so cases of this rare, under-the-radar gem are currently available…and selling fast…