Erwan, 32, is the seventh generation in his family to run the company, which was founded in 1825 as a negociant, buying and selling wine. When his father was 25, Erwan’s grandfather literally turned over the keys to his dad. And in 2005 when Erwan was 25, his father continued the tradition and put Erwan in charge (Erwan himself has no children, so his position is likely safe for 25+ years). I sat down with Erwan in New York a few weeks ago to talk about how he has improved the house style, overcoming paternal resistance, vineyard acquisitions and biodynamic winemaking.

With the weight of generations on their shoulders, today’s heirs to the storied estates of Europe could be forgiven for having one primary goal: not screwing up. And when the family company holds a jaw-dropping 300 acres of vineyards in Burgundy, including 25 acres of Grand Cru, and makes wine across 18 different appellations, the pressure ratchets up even further. I could certainly understand if a scion asked for the instruction manual along with the keys and followed everything to the letter; ripping up the manual would seem like a remote possibility.

So when Erwan took over in 2005, he was careful not to rock the boat. He grew up in Nuits-St.-Georges and studied in Versailles (and later did an MBA at Columbia in New York). He told me that he wasn’t happy the first two years running the domaine, as he contemplated a change in style and personnel. He went out into the market and discussed changes with key accounts in the Japan and the US and elsewhere. In the end, he decided that “when you don’t take risks, you don’t make great wines.” He hired a new technical director and a general manager, Bernard Hervet. The shift was underway; he didn’t rip up the manual entirely, he just did a total rewrite.

Describing the stylistic transition, Erwan says that his father prefers strength, where has he prefers more elegance making a comparison as shifting from Nuits-St-Georges to more Chambolle in style. His inspirations for the shift were the wines of Dujac, Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Domaine Henri Gouges, and Dominique Lafon. Erwan shelled out for a new vertical press at the winery, paid more attention to the wood for barrels, and purchased vineyards in the Cotes de Beaune, including two acres in Batard-Montrachet.

The results in the glass are terrific. The 2009 Bourgogne wines, made from mostly purchased grapes, are both solid examples of Burgundy under $20. The 2009 Clos des Myglands, a premier cru from Mercurey, offers good depth, acidity and a tannic structure that provides intrigue. The 2009 La Combe aux Moines, a premier cru from Gevrey Chambertin, climbs the scale in terms of quality showing a lot of richness, minerality on top of approachable tannins with a good does of come-hither fruits earthiness on the nose. The 2009 Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley, a grand cru, is a terrifically rich wine that is not over-the-top, just concentrated with ample stuffing. Young as it is, my time with it in the glass showed an unfurling of aromas–spices, red fruits, plums and earthiness–and layers of complexity on the palate. It’s pretty sexy stuff.

Although we tasted all 2009s, I asked Erwan which vintage he preferred, the 2009s, which have been derided by some contrarian-minded Burghounds as underwhelming in favor of the 2008s. He replied that while the 2008 was very classic and fresh, he preferred the 2009. In the vineyard, he said, there was so much perfect fruit in 2009 while in 2008, some selection had to be done. As to biodynamaics, he worked with only one grower who was biodynamic but he asked him to stop in 2010, citing the large amount of copper and silica used in the vineyard treatments.

Are more vineyard purchases in the offing? “I would love to purchase a vineyard in Chablis,” he said. He has his eye on one site and every year he thinks it will be the year. But that might actually happen this year, he says, citing a January 31 change in the capital gains tax on real estate that may trigger sales. A developing story–just like the domaine.

The tasting on Manhattan’s Upper East Side came and went and I didn’t wear a woolen cap, flannel shirt, or use empty 40-ounce cans of PBR as decanters. But we did taste some fine and fun wines, if quirky and hard to find (though not in Brooklyn).

We started with the Cedric Bouchard, Inflourescence, “Val Vilaine” V09 ($56). This young grower has attracted quite a bit of attention and, based on the reaction of those in attendance at our tasting, rightfully so. While champagne from big houses can be excellent, it is most often a blend, of vintages, varieties and vineyards. Bouchard, located in the south of the appellation in Aube, bristles at this blending and makes all of his wines as singular: single vintage, single variety, and single vineyard. Intellectually interesting, to be sure, but it is a wine that also succeeds in the glass. Allow me to geek out: This particular blanc de noirs comes from pinot noir in his father’s vineyard, hand-harvested at low (for Champagne) yields of three tons per acre, all from the 2009 vintage, fermented with indigenous yeasts and then rests on the lees for 16 months, and is bottled with no dosage! The vibrant, young champagne captured the that one person took pains to find in Hong Kong (for a third less than NYC, incidentally) the following week.

Moving to the still whites, no hipster wine tasting would be complete without an oxidative or skin-fermented white! Since we had tasted a Coenobium Rusticum previously, I decided to go with a wine from the Jura–the Montbourgeau 2008 L’Etoile Chardonnay ($20). This isn’t your mother’s chardonnay–this is an oxidative chardonnay that spends two years in barrel. Nutty and minerally with a long finish, the wine’s austerity was somewhat polarizing. We then changed gears and shifted to Vouvray, specifically the Francois Pinon Silex Noir 2009 ($23). From a warmer year, this wine has a lot of roundness on top of the acidity of the chenin. The honeyed character would go great with Thanksgiving dinner–I seconded the idea! (The tasting was a few days before Thanksgiving.)

Moving to the reds, hipster love of the Loire continues, as I decided to include a value wine in the form of the Domaine Guion, Bourgeuil, Cuvée Prestige, 2009 ($14). Cabernet franc usually shows well for the uninitiated in warmer vintages and this one convinced most people while others found it to be green. What can you do? It’s a polarizing grape.

We then had a hipster special: Yvon Métras, “l’Ultime,” Fleurie 2009 that our hostess hand-imported back from Paris. (The wine is essentially unavailable in the US.) Quite hilariously, the American told the clerk that she was looking for a hipster wine and he gave her a blank stare–I guess “le hipster” doesn’t translate. In the glass, I found the wine to still be in a ripe phase that I have found that other 09 crus exhibit in youth. Although we probably drank this wine before its prime, people liked it and it was great to have such a direct import.

Then I set up a blind tasting of two 2009 pinot noirs, each about $30, one from California and one from Burgundy. I poured them side-by-side for people and many were stumped, finding the wines to lack the supposed telltale signs of New World pinot–darker color, primary fruit, and higher alcohol. That’s probably because the American pinot comes from Anderson Valley and is made by Wells Guthrie, who had the Damascene conversion. Poured alongside his Copain Tous Ensemble 2009 ($28) was the Lafouge, Auxey-Duresses, 2009 ($27), a duo of graceful pinots under $30.

Finally, we concluded with a wine that was unanimously popular in my NYU class this fall, the Lopez de Heredia, Tondonia, Reserva 2001 ($40). A ten-year old wine that really sings. Why is it a hipster wine? Because the LdH table is always swamped at the New York distributor tastings. Rightfully so, these old-school Riojas are like trips back in time.

Everyone loved the tasting and wanted to find their favorite wines again soon. But nobody felt the need to seek out a woolen cap.

Interestingly, a little of the cava remained in the bottle and I left it on the counter. A couple of days later, I poured it in a glass and was surprised it was bubbly! I tasted it and it showed no signs of deterioration.

I asked the wine’s importer, Jose Pastor, via email for his thoughts on why this bottle held up so well. He was puzzled by the persistence of the bubbles, pointing out that he likes to decant many (grower) Champagnes and that reduces the fizz. As to the lack deterioration, he said that many of the (natural) wines from his portfolio often actually show better after being open a couple of days.

As several small producers in Champagne are making their bubbly more wine-like with less fizz, perhaps giving sparkling wines some air and serving in wine glasses will be a good way to go. What have you found in your experiments in giving bubbly some air?

So here are a few wines that I brought some joy to my NYU class this week. We opened with the Roederer brut premier Champagne, and that was enjoyed by everyone but the few bubbles haters in the room. The Francois Pinon, cuvée tradition, Vouvray 2009 was almost unanimously liked, and rightly so. The vintage was on the warm side and the wine has an enticing balance between acidity and some residual sweetness. I poured a Clos de la Roilette, cuvée tardive, Fleurie 2010 from magnum. Everyone was wowed by the large format–and cru Beajolais is a large format that isn’t priced into the stratosphere. They really liked the wine too. And a final wine that met a very warm reception was the Domaine Montpertuis, vignoble de la Ramiere, Cotes du Rhone, 2009. The estate is an old-school Chateauneuf producer and this is their mostly-grenache CdR blend that clocks in at a mere 13.5% alcohol. At about $15, the class really liked it as a relative value too. (find these wines)

Which wines are you looking forward to this weekend? Or what have you had recently that provided you some joy or solace?

I attended a private dinner recently where a Brunello was the main wine. It was big and extracted and I found it fatiguing. I can’t even remember the producer’s name. Of course, the palate fatigue wasn’t helped that the other wines on the table were a primitivo and an Amarone. It was the sort of lineup that made me want to step outside under the pretense of feeding the meter and wander off to find a beer.

A few weeks later, I had another side of Brunello, aptly named Il Paradiso. In 1958, Manfredi Martini bought some land in Montalcino. He worked at Biondi-Santi and converted his seven-acre property from olive trees to a vineyard of sangiovese grosso. When the Brunello de Montalcino DOC became formalized in 1968, there were only about a dozen producers (there are now over 200). Today, the vineyards ekes out a mere 9,000 bottles a year, split between a Rosso and the Brunello. Manfredi’s daughter and son-in-law, Sorella and Florio, continue making old-school Brunello from the organically grown vineyards and raised in barrels as large as 2,500 liters.

When sangiovese is on, it is gorgeous. I tasted the wines at their American launch (Grand Cru Selections is importing them; search for these wines). The 2004 was the richest of the wines I tasted–this is still Brunello, not Chianti, after all–but it was plummy rather than the tiring jam. The thing that got me about this wine was the concentration without being overdone. The 2001 has an alluring aroma of spice, cedar, faint volatility and oxidation with a lovely, appetizing bitterness on the ten-year old tannins. Layered and complex, it is drinking well now. The 2000 Riserva saw more time in large oak barrels but has an old-school charm, redolent of earth, leather, and faint spice. These are distinctive Brunellos–definitely not ones to walk out on.

In 2004, Arianna Occhipinti made her first Agricola Occhipinti wine at the ripe old age of 21. Her uncle, Giusto, makes the wines at COS, a traditional winery in Sicily. She makes her wines naturally; find out more about her in this Q&A. I poured this wine at a tasting in NYC recently and the group really liked it. I also showed them the picture of Arianna (right) and one person, commenting on her youthful looks, said it looked as if she’d never been up against a co-op board.

The 2010 is electric. After the 2009 had more ripeness, I find 2010 a reversion to the exciting norm of citrusy freshness and minerally, iodiney verve. Pairing it with seafood, particularly shellfish, is probably about as much fun as you can have with a $15 white wine. (search for this wine at retail) The wine comes from a single vineyard in Muscadet, one of vines planted in the 1930s. The wine stays on its lees up until bottling, which also helps account for more depth than your average Muscadet. It’s also particularly age-worthy, and I’m scouting out some magnums to tuck away. Emphasizing the minerailty over fruitiness means this wine isn’t for everyone. But for those who love wines so taut you could play a DVD on them, check out what is the best white value out there.

A runner-up would certainly be the Terres Dorées Beaujolais Blanc, a Chardonnay, also from 2010 (above, left). The wine is a perennial better value, but the 2010 exhibits a value chardonnay in its minerally, unadorned form that is stunning. (On a related note, I was a huge fan of the 2009 red Terres Dorees, but didn’t find the 2010 red to have the same snap.)

Which wine would you nominate as the best white wine around $15 in the market today?

Last week, I made my wife a birthday dinner. But before I started covering the kitchen counter and, inadvertently, the floor and my clothes with flour to make fresh pasta, I popped open a bottle of slightly chilled Mugnier Clos de la Marechale 2007. By the time we got to the table, I was dismayed to find most of the wine had evaporated!

The 2007 Clos de la Marechale is drinking very well now. I had the good fortune of tasting the 08 and the 09 this week too at a trade tasting. While the 07 is the least heralded of these vintages, it is certainly not one to overlook with delicious balance of fruit, acidity and tannin. The ’08 has more red berry notes, acidity, tannin, balance and gorgeous oomph that bodes well for a long cellar life. The ’09 has more dark fruit character, slightly more ripeness and roundness and elegant concentration, with a spice note that culminates an a faint whiff of pepper. All bear the signature of Frédérique Mugnier for the “bargain” price of under $100. (Find these wines)

Peter Wasserman, who works to export the wines, told me that “Freddy” Mugnier, the winemaker and a former petrochemical engineer, has undertaken a geological survey of the vineyard this year. While the wine making remains very hands-off, for the first time, he will be harvesting the grapes from similar soils and making the wines by those parcels instead of by vine age (45 – 70 years old). All the vats will still be blended in to the 2011 Clos de la Marechale.

There, wine farms, as they are known, have been around for centuries, making South Africa possibly the oldest “New World” wine countries. Sadly, the “dop” system, now illegal, of paying workers a portion of their pay in wine also spanned centuries, bringing with it devastating health consequences for the farm workers. A recent report from Human Rights Watch contends that the industry still has a long way to go for meeting a suitable minimum standard for worker conditions.

Still, there are signs that the industry in the racially divided country is changing. The NYT recently ran a terrific profile of Ntsiki Biyela, originally from KwaZulu Natal who had never tasted wine before learning to make it on a scholarship at Stellenbosch University. Now she is the wine maker at Stellakaya Winery and was hailed as the country’s Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2009.

Mark Solms, a psychoanalyst, left South Africa during Apartheid. When he came back to later take control of the family farm, he did so by mortgaging his own property so that the black workers could become one-third owners in the adjoining property and set up a museum trace the history of workers on the farm. He talks about it in the below video at a TED conference in London. “The answers are obvious–it’s not brain science. You only really have to want to.”

One they may not have included in the article was the Magdala rosé. We’ve worked our way through a box of the 2010–liquid air conditioning–so far this summer at the Dr. Vino World Headquarters. It’s from importer Jenny & Francois and is a darker rosé in the glass that hails from organic grenache and cinsault vineyards in Provence. Solid rosé, especially for the equivalent of $7.50 a bottle. (Find this wine at retail.)

I was talking about this wine with a friend recently and he told me that he loves the Magadala rosé for its stealthy refreshment. Every year, he pops the bag of wine out of the cardboard box and puts it at the bottom of a large canvas tote bag, covering it in ice packs, towels and sunscreen. Then he proceeds to a tennis tournament that may or may not rhyme with US Ropen and drinks the rosé all day instead of whatever overpriced swill is at the concession stand.

The wine was made by the venerable Andre Tchelistcheff, the “dean” of California winemakers of his day. Georges de Latour, a Frenchman, bought Beaulieu in 1899 and apparently made a fortune selling sacramental wine during Prohibition (people were so devout during Prohibition!). With the end of the Prohibition profits, de Latour decided to embark on the quality route and went to France to find the best Frenchman for the job. But in 1938, he returned with Andre Tchelistcheff, a Russian refugee as winemaker. The Private Reserve slightly preceded Tchelistcheff’s arrival (the first vintage was 1936), but it as the flagship for the estate, it was his signature wine for much of his career. In 1969, Beaulieu sold to Heublein; now it is owned by Diageo.

The 1958, a legendary wine, was showing gloriously at a recent tasting at a collector’s house. Easily one of the best California wines I have ever tasted, the gorgeous mature cabernet from start to finish was spectacular: the wine was still structured and very much alive. Some dark fruit remained but there was also a a dose savory, earthy notes. More than anything, it was the texture of the wine and the finish that just wouldn’t quit that really set it apart and made it so downright drinkable, enjoyable, and worth savoring every drop. It was so outrageously good that even showed better than the 1971 JJ Prum that was at the same tasting–and this was according to one of Riesling’s most ardent fans was was also at the tasting.

Incidentally, I checked out the back label and was amused to see Cabernet Sauvignon described as a “premier claret grape of the world…responsible for the renowned chateau-bottled red wines of Bordeaux, such as those from the médoc and Saint-Emilion.” Ah yes, the renowned St-Emilion cabernet sauvignon!

First among these needs to be the J.J. Prum, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Auslese, 1971. In the vernacular of the day, the wine is epic, though not an #ecpicfail mind you but an epic success. Forty years young, I’ve had the good fortune of tasting the wine twice this year. The first was in Vegas celebrating a high school friend’s fortieth birthday party. I saw it on the list at Lotus of Siam and had to buy it for him. Although he’s not that into wine (it does happen from time to time but he’s still a great guy), he loved the wine as did the others in our group who don’t even usually drink white wine. It was really fun to reach back in time the way wine can so joyously. My buddy tells me he keeps the empty bottle on his desk.

I had the wine again recently (actually, it was the “gold capsule” bottling this time) with a small tasting group and it was singing. The wine is a golden color with a deliciously honeyed nose, terrific purity, weight, and an astoundingly integrated blend of acidity and sweetness. Truly, if you remain unconvinced about the soaring greatness of Riesling, get your hands on one of these bottles. Among the world of collectible wines, it remains a relative bargain for the superb quality.

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Saul had his conversion on the road to Damascus. Wells Guthrie had his conversion on the road home from Burgundy.

The lanky, California maker of pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah told me at his Sonoma winery that he had his conversion in 2005, after returning from a trip to Burgundy and the Rhone. He tasted the pinot noirs and syrahs he had been making since starting his own label, Copain Wines, in 1999. The wines were made in a big, full-bodied style and had received high scores, including some 95s from Robert Parker. (Wells’ resumé includes working a year at Turley, as well as briefly at Marcassin, and two years with Michel Chapoutier.)

“A light went on,” he says about that January day in 2005 when he returned to Sonoma and tasted his own wines. The older wines from bottle were advancing too rapidly. Friends with Jeremy Seysse (of Domaine Dujac) and Jean-Louis Chave, Wells said he wasn’t sure he would be proud to serve his wines to them; he had to change his style to something more age-worthy, which meant lowering the alcohol and maintaining freshness of the wines. He also mentioned having a 1981 Williams-Selyem Allen Vineyard pinot noir from the Anderson Valley a couple of decades after release and was amazed at the grace with which it aged, describing it as “Jayer-like.”

Meanwhile, he had harvested some of his 2003s at 22.5 Brix (lower sugar level, therefore alcohol) and they tasted leaner. Thus he decided to change his style. He describes his current style as “less is more.” The 2005 vintage was lost to frost for many of his wines so the first vintage of the new regime was 2006 (many of the 2008s were lost too, to smoke this time).

How did such a change in style sit with his mailing list–did he fire all his customers who liked the full-throttle style of the early days? He says that Parker’s influence has diminished and pointed to other influencers such as Allen Meadows, Eric Asimov, John Gilman, and sommelier Raj Parr who like his wines. Though he didn’t outright admit it, I imagine there has been some turnover in his fan base but this new

I tasted some of his exciting and energetic 2009s. The Brosseau chardonnay, a first vintage for him, comes from a vineyard of 35 year-old, own-rooted vines planted on limestone at 1,500 feet elevation in the Chalone AVA. Harvest started August 28, grapes were pressed in whole clusters, and the racy, alluring finished wine (pH: 3.18) sees no new oak.

For the pinots, Wells looked north to cooler Mendocino County, specifically the Anderson Valley. The lineup starts with the really respectable “Tous Ensemble,” which at 12.9% alcohol and $20 retail is that rare find of affordable and tasty pinot. The “Les Voisins” comes from two organically farmed vineyards, sees no sulfur at the crushpad, is 100% destemmed and sees 10% new oak. The tariff is a little higher (about $40) but worthwhile as the wine has more structure, including a particularly fine-grained finish.

Of the various single vineyard pinots, I tasted a duo of Wentzel Vineyard, the 2007 and the 2009 in bottle. The ’07 has excellent depth, bright acidity, and an almost savory, minerally quality rarely seen in new world pinot and an integrated finish. Wells says it tastes better on the second day of being open. It’s hard to believe that the vines here are so young–this was less than their fifth vintage. The ’09 was tighter and more tannic given its youth, but still had a lot of stuffing and balance that bode well for its evolution.

The Monument Tree 2009 from bottle exhibited restrained richness, a hint of oak on the nose, a vibrant mouthfeel, and elegant tannins–really a fine pinot. Sadly, Wells told me that the opportunity recently arose to purchase this site, which he greatly respects. Unfortunately, word came through with short notice while he was on vacation and the vineyard was sold to Silver Oak (Twomey). Copain retains a multi-year lease on the vineyard.

Finally, I tasted the 2009 Kiser “en bas” and “en haut” bottlings. From vines about a decade old, this site (particularly the higher, or “en haut” block, that is really elegant ) merits scrupulous attention from pinotphiles.

Sadly, a 2004 pinot (I don’t recall which vineyard) was corked but it would have been fun to taste the change in winemaking styles in the glass.

A final note, although Copain owns the vineyards surrounding the winery in the Russian River Valley, they sell most of the fruit a (except for a few rows of trousseau rouge). Nonetheless, the newish winery appears ripped from the pages of Pottery Barn, Wine Country edition, and makes for a gorgeous stop on your Sonoma itinerary (call ahead to reserve a spot). Although it’s on Eastside Road, not the road to Damascus, you can taste the conversion with those 2009s.

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We started with a manzanilla pasada, Pastrana vineyard, from Hidalgo La Gitana ($28). Sherry gets a bad rap and usually conjures up images of men in tweed sport coats with elbow patches sitting in leather-bound dens. But this sherry–and other manzanillas–is a kind of transformative sherry, one that changes your opinion of a whole category of drinks. I anticipated that about half the people would like it; instead, everyone really liked it. The sea-breeze, iodine character with faint oxidation yet freshness (odd combination to fathom, but it was there) really got the evening off to a great start. Pairing with marcona almonds was ideal. As we moved to the table, we had an incredible feast of Mediterranean (mostly Turkish, actually) delights.

Next we had an invigorating white txakoli, the Gurrutxaga 2010 ($19). The faint fizz and the snap of acidity made this also unanimously praised. We followed this with Do Ferreiro, an exceptional Albarino 2009 ($23) from Rias Baixas that we have discussed previously and it too was unanimously praised. Yay, three for three so far!

Then we encountered our first disappointment of the night. I poured the good value godello from Benaza ($13) in all the glasses and as our hostess smelled it, she wondered aloud if there wasn’t something a little bit wrong with it. Alas, it was corked. Encountering a corked wine is always a disappointment but in this case it was a teachable moment! People always love to know what a corked wine is so that they can send a wine back at a restaurant with brio, panache, and certainty.

We finished off the whites with Bodegas Maranones’ Picarana blanco 2009 ($20), an Albillo from Madrid of all places. The grapes aren’t grown in the Plaza del Sol, mind you, but in the surrounding area outside the capital. This wine saw some time in large barrels and was the fullest-bodied, highest-alcohol white in our lineup.

Our oldest wine of the tasting was the La Rioja Alta 2001, Vina Ardanza Reserva Especial. This wine is not made every year and for $33 it’s a great value that the winery aged for you for a decade. The group liked the wine a lot.

We concluded with a duo of grenaches/garnachas. Returning again to the Madrid region, the Bernabeleva 2008 Navaherreros Tinto ($22), which impressed the group with its light color but full flavors. Sadly, the Buena Pinta 2009 ($22) from Manchuela was also corked. But at least someone from the group nailed it again!

Even though 25% of the wines were plagued by TCA, it was still a fun evening.

One final note: the eight wines came from six different importers, I think. There are so many importers (such as De Maison, Jose Pastor, Rare Wine Co and Louis/Dressner to name a few) bringing in fun wines from the small estates of Spain.

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Nebbiolo, it’s not just for Piedmont! Well, actually it is just for Piedmont (think: Barolo, Barbaresco) since there are so few examples of the grape outside the region. But consider this example from Valtellina, in the adjacent region of Lombardy, slammed up against the alps and Switzerland.

Perched at about 4,200 ft altitude, the vineyards of producer Ar.Pe.Pe. are so steep that the grapes are harvested by a sort of modified ski gondola! And their steepness so rivals Hermitage that they also have signs in the vineyards in between terraces! It sounds outrageously cool and I am putting this on my list of places to visit. Fortunately, we can taste the fruits of these vineyards in the US today.

Ar.Pe.Pe.–an abbreviation for Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, pronounced “are pay pay”–provides a tasty treat with its Rosso Valtellina, 100% Nebbiolo fermented in stainless steel with brief aging in old oak barrels. The traditional producer makes more expensive, longer-aged reds, but this entry-level wine is ready to drink. I threw it in a decanter just for laffs, served it at 55 degrees and the transparent, light red color was appetizing in and of itself on a summer evening. Delicate fruit, stoniness, and the alluring slight bitterness of Nebbiolo, combine to make this wine (about $30) a stunner.