Cecilia Monte - Barbaresco, Italy
Cecilia and assistant.
VITICULTRICE IN NEIVE: OUTSTANDING WINES INCOMING
Time's straightforward though trickier than Houdini! 2019, marking year twenty for E&R, makes us wonder what time thinks it is up to.
Since 1999 we've made thirty wine trips to Italy. Thirteen years ago we began focusing on sourcing our own discoveries. We've lost count of how many Italian wineries we've visited - it must be 1000: some as famous as it gets, others not known by their next door neighbors.
On our second 2018 Italy trip we first met and tasted with Cecilia Monte near little Neive in primetime Barbaresco terroir. Cecilia's dynamic wines were a sensation. But don't only take our word, here is what Vinous - the English speaking world's most important publication on Italian wine wrote a mere week after we began our import relationship (!):
"These are two absolutely stunning Barbarescos from Cecilia Monte, who spent time working at Luciano Sandrone before taking over her family's small estate in Neive. Readers looking for an emerging star in Piedmont will want to check out the wines immediately."
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING REALLY GOOD?
(October 6, 2018) It took a good long while to find Cecilia's place, what with the twisty roads, flawless GPS, no signs - no signs: all good signs. When we did, a lovely greeting awaited from both Cecilia and her suspiciously discerning dog greeter. Cheerful, sophisticated, and down-to-earth serious, Cecilia exuded welcoming confidence. A few steps through the small winery and into the tasting area confirmed much. One of the most tasteful and artful rooms we've been in in the wineries of Italy. (Even with a small kitchen - she and her Chef husband run two stellar restaurants nearby.) When we tasted the ambiance fit perfectly; the winemaker, the winery and the wines. Our fingers were crossed hoping she might consider working directly with unknown Oregon folk like us.
Cecilia's tasting room.
Cecilia possesses enormous will, courage and perseverance. Making good wine in Piedmont is a true challenge, making great wine in Barbarecso is an epic accomplishment. Doing so, particularly with the very nearby and gigantic shadows of the old and the new - Bruno Giacosa or Giorgio Rivetti of La Spinetta for example. Cecilia manages those challenges brilliantly with power and skill.
For starters her family has farmed grapes in their peerless terroir for generations. Being an exceptional Sommelier, Cecilia wanted to make her own wine. She knew growing grapes was one thing, making wine another. Well versed in the great Nebbiolo wines of Piedmont, Cecilia worked at Domenico Clerico's and decided to knock on a door across the hills: Luciano Sandrone's. Sandrone is an absolute winemaking King in Barolo. As she explained on our visit, at first he was reticent, and then, well, more reticent. Over time and after several entrees to work there he relented. So she started, small. Sandrone saw what she could do, her talent, drive and skill - eventually she not only worked there, she thrived and learned much. Today Luciano is one of her great supporters.
Beginning in 2000, she started up her own winery, naming it after herself. Cecilia's first vintage was sixteen harvests ago and today she makes about 2400 cases of wine from Dolcetto to Barbera along with several Nebbiolo bottlings. Each revel in freshness and purity. The Monte family vineyards are beautifully positioned in absolute northernmost Barbaresco. Her small vineyard, not far from the famous Gallina vineyard is adjacent to Starderi, home to La Spinetta's $125 a bottle Barbaresco.
Cecilia is "old school modern", her winemaking foundation is classic, but she uses modern wisdom to make living wines of transparency anchored by the grape and the ground.
OH, BY THE WAY...
While writing this, an article from Antonio Galloni (12/28/18) listing his top wines of the year came out. Among others he listed Cristal Rosé 2008, Raveneau's Grand Cru Valmur Chablis 2010, Romanee Conti Montrachet 2010, Salon 1988, Coche Dury Corton-Charlemagne 2010 , Leroy Mazi-Chambertin 2010, Comte de Vogue Musigny 1993 and Cappellano Barolo 1989. (For perspective to buy a bottle of each today would cost over $12,000.) And yes, on his list - a Cecilia Monte Barbaresco.
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Click on each wine for more detail.