and more:
• Mauro Sebaste
• Fattoria di Rodano

A Note from Sergio

Those unfamiliar with old wines are often hoping for a new wine when they take a sip of a 30 year-old vintage. After a few years of tasting five-year-old Syrahs and three-year-old Cabernets, many enthusiasts have been taught that freshness and fruitiness are the main gauges of quality. If they sense any oxidation, they're convinced that the wine is faulty. This isn't necessarily the case. Think about it: Would you require an elderly woman to be as energetic, sprightly, and unlined as an 18 year-old girl? Would you decide your grandfather wasn't worth your time if he said he didn't want to go to a rock concert with you? No—when you meet an octogenarian, you look for poise and wisdom. You sit and talk quietly with your grandfather; you try to learn from him. Wine is similar. Old, beautiful wines aren't full of bright, youthful, easy flavors—they have other qualities deserving of appreciation.

Personally, I would rather drink a mediocre wine from 1975 than an okay wine from 2004 any day. An old wine represents the remarkable accomplishment of the farmer who made it. Over a decade, the average winemaker usually has only two harvests that are exceptional enough to warrant long aging. That means that over a period of 30 years, even the best vintners can only hope to make a deeply superior wine six times.

The ability to age well is the greatest indicator of quality—in life and in wine. Just as you can't label a boxer great if he wins his first three matches, you can't label a wine great if it tastes good in 1993, 1994, and 1995. But if you open a bottle from 1961 and the juice still tastes gorgeous—which doesn't necessarily imply that it tastes young—you know you've stumbled upon a fantastic product. This is because with time, a wine's mask falls away. It's no longer overwhelmed by spice, wood, or dense, concentrated fruit. It unravels, relaxes. The drink's true spirit—its most authentic, hidden character— shines through. You're experiencing history in liquid form. Drinking an old vintage is the best way to fully understand a wine. A winemaker's best long-aged bottle symbolizes his wine's full potential; whenever you drink another vintage from the same estate, you can refer back to that glorious old bottle.

Today, I'm offering some long-aged wines at uncharacteristically low prices to IWM clients, who have made 2005 a tremendous year for us. Drink them in good health.

My best,
Sergio Esposito

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Alfredo Roagna

This estate earned its first accolades in 1900, when wines made by founder Vincenzo Roagna received gold medals at expositions in Monaco and Chicago. The fifties found Vincenzo’s son Giovanni and his wife Maria moving the family business to the newly acquired winery of I Paglieri, located in the world-renowned commune of Barbaresco and not far from the village of the same name. Here, amid the bustle of reconstruction and improvements, they raised their son Alfredo and trained him in their exacting standards of winemaking. Today Alfredo runs the estate with the help of his own wife and son, Luigina and Luca. The family is involved at every step of the traditional production, and their meticulous care is repaid in Roagna’s superb, well- structured wines, aged to preserve the typicity of the grape. The Barolo La Rocca e la Pira is an expression of the Pira vineyard – a tannic backbone perfectly balanced with a delicate and intricate bouquet – and the Barbaresco Crichet Pajé is “l’espressione massima della nostra cantina,” the greatest expression of their land made only in the greatest vintages.

Alfredo Roagna 1990 Barolo La Rocca e la Pira $94.95
Alfredo Roagna 1989 Barbaresco $84.95
Alfredo Roagna 1988 Barbaresco Crichet Pajé $84.95

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Castello di Monsanto

Chosen by Aldo Bianchi for its view of his hometown of Poggibonsi, the estate of Castello di Monsanto also features vineyards with surprisingly low altitudes and hotter climates than most of Chianti Classico as well as significant deposits of marine fossils, all very favorable conditions for viticulture. Aldo’s son Fabrizio recognized this boon and devoted his boundless energy to the estate, enthusiastically trying new ideas and tirelessly promoting the excellent wines he produces. Fabrizio’s most integral belief is in the character of the land, which he explains is destined to produce robust, structured wines with great aging potential. Now running the winery with the help of his daughter, Laura, and enologist Andrea Giovannini, he has developed and maintained a reputation as one of the most consistent and high-quality producers of Chianti Classico and an innovator who has introduced many developments that have become regular practice throughout the zone. The first cru to come out of Chianti Classico, the Riserva ‘Il Poggio’ is a testament to this adventuresome character, while the wine that takes his name is also a creative experiment, one of the first pure Sangiovese bottlings to do justice to the native varietal. Nemo goes down yet another road, showing a Tuscan interpretation of the “international” Cabernet Sauvignon.

Castello di Monsanto 1990 Nemo $74.95
Castello di Monsanto '90 Fabrizio Bianchi Sangiovese $64.95
Castello di Monsanto 88 Chianti Classico Ris. Il Poggio $74.95
Castello di Monsanto '85 Fabrizio Bianchi Sangiovese $54.95

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Mauro Sebaste

Sylla Sebaste was a prominent figure in the wine world of the Langhe, her wines commanding great respect and her passion and insistence on quality fully ingrained in her son, Mauro. This young enologist branched off and now runs his own cellar, where he produces a growing line of wines that includes several cru Barolos and a cru Barbaresco from his four separate vineyard sites. Barolo’s small Le Coste vineyard has long been known for its association with the prestigious Cannubi – fruit from the two sites was often blended in the late 19th and into the early 20th century – but easily stands alone in Sebaste’s single-vineyard bottling. The Montestefano site, one of the first in Barbaresco used for cru wines, has a dignified reputation for deep, structured, long-aging wines of intense color that resemble Barolo more than those of any other subzone in Barbaresco.

Mauro Sebaste 1990 Barolo 'Le Coste' $79.50
Mauro Sebaste 1990 Barbaresco 'Montestefano' $79.50

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Fattoria di Rodano

Once serving as a resting place for pilgrims traveling to Rome, the medieval Fattoria di Rodano sprawls over 100 hectares in Chianti Classico’s eminent Castellina subzone. The Pozzesi family acquired the farm in the 18th century, but only in 1967 did they begin to take advantage of the excellent vineyard land they possessed. Enrico Pozzesi and winemaker Giulio Gambelli help run the estate while the owner, Enrico’s father Vittorio, divides his time between the winery and his duties as president of the Consortium of Chianti Classico. Made from the fruit of the treasured Viacosta vineyard site, the Super Tuscan Monna Claudia brings a new interpretation of the high standards of the estate. Named for Vittorio’s daughter Claudia, this highly concentrated Sangiovese-Cabernet Sauvignon is made only in great vintages.

Fattoria di Rodano 1990 Monna Claudia $69.00

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