In Stock Equiv £19.00 (Save £0.00)
1st November, 2011
91 points
A fantastic addition..., this deep, rich, seductive Barbera has 5% Freisa in it just to give the wine a floral lift as well as the bright cherry fruit on the nose. The palate is deep and concentrated, smooth and rich. A delicious wine.
Fausto Coppi was voted Italy’s greatest sportsman of the 20th Century. He was five time winner of the Giro d’Italia, and twice won the Tour de France. He was the first – and still one of the very few ever – to have won both in the same year, which he achieved twice. Today the family name is not only found on some of the best racing bikes in the world but also on a small number of wines produced from the family estate in Piedmont. The wines were highlighted to the UK by famed Barolo producer Aldo Vajra who expressed great modesty on their behalf; “He produces nice wines” he said with a sparkle in his eye.
Any cynicism that the wines could not live up to the Coppi name was dismissed in a moment. Elegantly presented and beautifully made these wines are certainly worthy of Il Campionissimo, or “champion of champions”.
The estate, started by Fausto’s daughter Marina, is now run by her son, Francesco Bellocchio. He produces only 20,000 bottles a year from his four hectares of vineyard on the hills of Castellania. His main grape is Barbera. In the Sant’Andrea which is aged solely in tank, he blends it with 10% of the Croatina to create a clean, vibrant and deliciously youthful red. The blend of the ‘Castellania’ is lent a extra touch of seriousness by 5% of Freisa. The Freisa is aged in 500 litre barrels, and gives the wine a lifted and more autumnal character. The flagship wine is simply called Fausto and is made solely from Timorasso, a relatively little known white variety from the hills around Tortona, which is recognised locally for making wines which ‘have the spirit of a red wine in the body of a white wine’. It’s an intense wine with minerality and refinement.