Dal Zotto L'immigrante 2015 Nebbiolo

You know those nights when you just feel the need to open something special? There is a chill late winter nip in the air outside and beef short ribs slowly simmering in the oven with garlic, fennel and lemons from the winter crop, sprigs of freshly picked herbs from the garden. Yeah, that!

This wine is not necessarily for a celebration, but is certainly more than a Tuesday night bowl of pasta in front of the telly in your sweats. This is an occasion wine, this Dal Zotto L'immigrante Nebbiolo. We shall talk first of the most talented and lovely family who produce it. Two generations of Dal Zotto's make beautiful wines and food and good times in the King Valley in Victoria's north east. Theirs is a cracking prosecco, a ripping arneis, and a myriad of wines including a pinot grigio, riesling and sangiovese.

I loved opening this bottle. It evokes the smells of a Tuscan kitchen overflowing with scents of violets being put in a small vase, fresh raspberries being mushed for a gelato, spices being readied for salumi making and a zincy note of a squid ink being made into pasta. It is so deliciously robust, with smells of terracotta earthenware casserole dishes adding to the mix.

I forced myself to let it sit and open up a bit, breathe a little while I tended to the short ribs. The palate is rich with wild fennel and licorice notes, dark blood plums sprinkled with rose water and a heft of spice. The tannins are grippy without being tight - more velvet and sherbet like, clinging voraciously to your lips, tongue and cheeks. The finish is long and languorous, with tiny hints of mocha and dark chocolate bitterness. It is rich and juicy, with a lively crunchy acidity. I call the acid chewy, for lack of a better word.

One bottle of this is never enough, but any more and I would feel like its too much. A beautiful example of careful, considerate wine making, superb fertile earth for the fruit to grow with such depth and a love imbued in the wine which is both intensely passionate and yet, enduring.

It's a superb bottle of wine, without question, and probably one of the ones I will remember most from this year.

RRP $85

https://www.dalzotto.com.au/

VIC | 2015 | King Valley | 13.9% ABV