Once Again, Less Is More (Catching Up With Tenuta Carretta)
It’s never a bad day when you get to taste through samples with the remote/virtual help of Tenuta Carretta, whose 550+ years of history have seen them craft some of finest wines that you can get your grubby hands on from northwestern Italy. Which is exactly the good fortune that I had a few months ago.
Tenuta Carretta has been owned by the Miroglio family for the last four decades, but can trace their history back to 1467 (see inset document above; you can read more about all of that in my previous coverage). The short version of their modern story is that they farm 80ha in part of the UNESCO Heritage site, with the 40ha surrounding the cellar being their most important plantings. They focus on Arneis, Roero, Barbera, sparkling wines, and Nebbiolo, for the most part, all of it DOCG. They’ve got a Michelin star restaurant and 2 boutique hotels on the property, as well, so there’s an additional swankiness factor happening.
Head Winemaker/Technical Director Paolo Scaiola walked us through the tasting, during which he mentioned that “Tenuta Carretta seems like a [high-end French] Chateau;” not just from the layout of its farm, but also in its history and the quality of its releases.
He also mentioned more than once that “what we can do in the winery is just follow the process of the vinification… with the quality of these grapes, it’s not necessary to do too much.” They have had a long, long, long time to sort out how to best focus on their fruit so that as little as possible needs to be done in the cellar, and their recent releases bear out the effectiveness of that approach. Speaking of which, we tasted a crap-ton of wines jammed into about an hour, so let’s get to those so that this post doesn’t end up being 45,000 words long…
2023 Tenuta Carretta ‘Cayega’, Roero Arneis, $28
This is their bread-and-butter white (with about 150K bottles produced annually). Farmed on calcareous souls, the grapes are processed whole, and “the berries are pretty small” according to Scaiola. Lots of pear, acacia, and tropical fruit hints on the nose. Electric acidity—absolutely jamming on the palate with some nice salinity going on. White peach, green and yellow apple, citrus, white grapefruit, and a TON of zing!
2019 Tenuta Carretta Riserva ‘Alteno della Fontana’, Roero Arneis, $NA
Arneis was known as “white Nebbiolo” in the 1800s, and this is a tribute to its history as a high-quality performer. Resting on the lees for 24 months, then a further 24 months in bottle, this sees sees no wood. Dried white flowers, golden apple, apricot, wild herbs, grapefruit rind, fleshy white peach, a saline note, and plenty of minerality mark its initial impression. “The surprise is in the mouth. The residual sugar here is, like, zero. The sweetness came 100% from the battonage,” Scaiola noted. The palate has some nice ripe peach roundness, but that crisp apple-like acidity shoots through once again like a laser. This is still a young pup, too.
2021 Tenuta Carretta ‘Canorei’, Roero Arneis Riserva, $40
Described as “a cru monopole” site, 2021 marks this white’s 30th vintage. It sees 12 months in oak tonneaux, with fine lees contact. Honey, white flowers, tropical fruits, apples, and hints of toast/wood and vanilla from the oak all make appearances on the nose. Saltiness, yellow apple fruit, beautiful depth, and lovely acidity mark the palate. Delicious, long, assertive in its minerality, and finishing with bruised apple and toast notes. Long life ahead for this one.
2022 Tenuta Carretta Riesling ‘Campofranco’, Langhe, $NA
Whoa! This one is floral AF, with rose petal, jasmine, and lemon blossom leaping up, along with notes of limes and quince. Still a young vineyard, and a work in progress for them (this is the third vintage of their Riesling), but there’s great promise here. Lithe, linear, and light on its feet in the mouth, the palate is true to the nose: sapid, mineral, and tightly wound with ample acids, apple flavors, and lovely hints of petrol.
2022 Tenuta Carretta ‘Podio’ Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, $25
This red is sourced from the hill mentioned in their historic 1467 notarial deed. It opens with lots of dried rose petal, spice notes, little vanilla hints, earth, and lots of red berry lift with wild strawberry and cherries. There’s a small smattering of Barbera in this, which might account for its extra sense of energy and youthful verve in the mouth. While very accessible now, it has some nice acidic and tannic structure, enough so that it could soften with a few years of bottle age.
2019 Tenuta Carretta ‘Bric Paradiso’, Roero Riserva, $45
Sourced from the eastern sided of their amphitheater-shaped plantings, this red is floral, smoky, meaty, and earthy, with very dark spice notes, licorice hints, and concentrated currant fruit. It comes off as much more delicate and finessed in the mouth, however, with a lighter touch to its texture, and lots of mineral freshness. Both elegant and friendly, in that I am sure that it can show at its best with even a wide range of foods.
2018 Tenuta Carretta ‘Cascina Bordino’ Riserva, Barbaresco, $76
From Treiso, one of the most iconic Barbaresco villages. Very floral, very (very) spicy, and very excellent. The spices mingle into an almost entrancing incense, heady and yet also focused, ending with smoke, game, and licorice on the nose. In the mouth, the roses and red berry fruits are in fantastic harmony, as are the tannins and linear acidity. Despite all of the structure, there’s a sense of silkiness and toast, and a fantastic finish length. A wonderful vintage for this, and it’s still quite young and austere (so make some cellar room).
2018 Tenuta Carretta Barolo ‘Vigneti in Cannubi’, Barolo, $100
“With Cannubi,” Scaiola advised, “less is more.” This red is where they really put their money where their mouth is when it comes to low-intervention winemaking. Licorice, spices, cocoa nib, roses, ripe cherry and red berry fruits, underbrush, black tea… the nose is replete with complex aromas, all sporting awesome purity and depth. The mouthfeel is almost gentle despite the amped-up tannins and acidity. 24+ months of wood aging has barely left a dent here, with just a hint of woodiness on a very, very long finish. Drinking this is like riding waves and waves of floral freshness. Superb.
Cheers!
