Score: 91+/100
Groppello, or Gropello Gentile, is an ancient grape variety that has been grown in Valtenèsi, Lombardy, by the Garda Lake in Northern Italy, at least since the years 1250s.
Costaripa winery, a famous and popular local producer, has vinified this red grape in the most established tradition since 1990.
The Maim cuvee is a flagship red by Costaripa, aimed at showcasing the best Gropello can produce.
After fermentation, the wine was aged for 12 months in oak barrels.
Tasting Notes
This Northern Italian red comes in a red color of medium intensity, looking a little dark but not so concentrated, a bright red color with some oranges hues betraying some evolution.
The nose is quite intense, and very lifted, with bursting aromas of sour cherry and white pepper, plenty of floral notes like violet, but also crisp and zesty blueberry. It’s smells very lively in the glass.
The aromatic profile is deepened by touches of forest floor and humus, as well as touches of caramel and oak vanilla, hints of wood smoke.
Truly interesting and vibrant to smell at if you pay close attention!
The palate also boasts a vibrant fruity acidity. Juicy raspberry and fresh strawberry aromas come with plum jam and cooked apples. A complex mix of fruit flavors charms the palate with a combination of fresh berries and ripe cooked fruit characters.
Things are spiced up by a wealth of pungent sweet spices, clove and nutmeg, black and white pepper, cinnamon perhaps, and always this discrete yet present oaky notes of sweet caramel, milk chocolate, and wood ashes rounding the wine up and providing an extra sweet/savory dimension. Add a touch of positive mushroom/forest floor for the complete picture, providing a real sense of terroir with a hint of earthiness.
A pretty long and layered finish delivers one after the other all the flavors and aromas detailed above, fruit, spices and smoky oak all precisely and elegantly combined.
Overall
A charming, complex, vibrant, and zesty red wine, filled with the goodness of characterful fruit character featuring freshness and minerality from a great yet delicate acidity. It all comes with delicate oak, plenty of varied spices, and a touch of earthy evolution/tertiary characters for extra depth. The whole is harmonious and pungent, yet elegant.
A very well-crafted wine…
Enjoy 🙂
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