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Cogno, Elvio

I’ve been visiting with Walter and Nadia at Elvio Cogno for quite a few years now and have seen the quality here consistently move up the scale. There are only a few producer who really impress me each year, or rather exceed my expectations and Elvio Cogno has been on a tear as of late and absolutely knocked things out of the park this year. Every wine was terrific. When people ask me about Piemontese wines I now tell them not to forget the name elvio Cogno. If you see his wine on a wine list and are unsure of what else might be better, just go with the Cogno.

These are wines that seem to have a bit of modernist edge when they are young. That’s simply the purity of fruit and lack of overt winemaker signature talking. They are immensely appealing when because of this, pleasing almost any palate but as they age the baby fat slowly melts away revealing more detail, traditional style, and squeaky clean winemaking. I have said in the past that I don’t mind a bit of dirtiness in my wines, but these wines just go to show how captivating perfect wines can be.

Expanding cellar to be able to bottle the wines when he can not when he is able, he sometimes wants to bottle earlier but has no space to store bottles

Thinks that for example fifteen Elena needs only two years in wood and the third in bottle,

2016 Elvio Cogno Anas cetta 13%
1994 restarted the production,
Very fragrant with a little sweet pork fat note on the nose that is joined by aromas of dried flowers with a grassy edge with lots of salt and rosemary on the nose making this almost a marinade in the mouth. A touch of dissolved gas adds a hint of early petillance. Super acids support lots of bright citrusy fruit in the mouth with a hint of rubber band on the mid palate with green fruit highlights. Good length and drive, with real energy on the palate,  the fruit is more green apple this year, with  just a lovely finish, this has a touch of  Muscadet to it, but more body and complexity than your typical Muscadet. This is a great showing. 93pts

2010 Elvio Cogno Anas cetta 13%
Lovely golden color still with green reflections, deep and complex on the nose, with gentle hints of beeswax, sweet fruit, golden apple,heather and white flowers and a touch of flint. Bright, mineral, and a little salty on entry but very metallic,  muscular and energetic in the mouth with clean fruit and good acidic drive. Still lots of life left, crab apple toned fruit, real mineral base here with some green apricot tones on the finish. It’s very complex and nuanced, and very different from the younger version. This is a white to age and to follow. 91pts

2016 Elvio Cogno Dolcetto d’Alba 14%
3-4 days on the skins
A little subdued but complex on the nose with nuanced violet, earth, and fine black berry fruit undertones on the nose. Lots of acid and  supple tannins lands this a restrained and elegant feel. A real Dolcetto made in a. fresh style with a slightly modern character. Great purity and cut on the palate with lovely ripe fruit that is quite pretty, which is rare for Dolcetto. With fine inner mouth perfumes, plum and blueberry come together on the palate in a very delicate way with no sign of extra ripeness or alcohol. This is acid driven with the finest of tannins, fairly long and slightly earthy. 91pts

2016 Elvio Cogno Langhe Nebbiolo Montegrilli 14%
Not a small barolo, should be not too expensive, drinkable, SS for a lot fresh aromas, very versatile, universal, also fish no problem, shooting for elegant style, not heavy, a little like Pinot Noir and Grenache, a little carbon is maceration, 40% whole cluster the rest is pressed very softly,

2013 only nebbiolo, initially just a touch of carbonic, increased each year, now they are comfortable with the percent not producing a wine that is too simple by increasing,
Reticent on the nose with hints of  rose petals, sandalwood, and a suggestion of apple stems with a wash of powdery red cherry fruit. Turns very floral in the mouth, fresh and bright but with some gravitas.This has a, lacy tannic richness, dusty minerality and the purest most tender of fruit. So delicate yet so complex with the tannins so well measured. Dusty limestone tannins lend it such a vivid nature in the mouth with fruit that is persistent and delicate.  OMG this is arguably the best bistro wine ever. Stunningly good wine this price point, buy it by the case. 92pts

This is the first, fifteen is good but not these tannins

2015 Elvio Cogno Barbera d'Alba Bricco dei Merli 14.5%
One year in botte, 15-25 Hl
Strives fora good balance between wood and acidity
This is incredibly fragrant, I can smell this from quite a distance with its cocoa dusted and slightly creamy blend of dark berry and black cherry fruit.  Gauzy and fine, showing a certain restraint, this is a fabulous showing. So fine, deep and rich in the mouth and yet remaining elegant, man this is fresh on the palate, a touch salty, layered and ultra refined with acids that are real Barbera but so well integrated. A top Barbera, the finish is stunningly pure, a strong showing, texturally perfect, hard to imagine a better Barbera. 95pts

2014 Elvio Cogno Barbaresco Bordini 14.5%
Neive cru more elegant
A bit evolved on the nose with notes of carob and tea, sweet tobacco, very complex with nice red fruit as well and an interesting mineral and almost marine accent. Enters the mouth with really fresh fruit, totally supported by bright but not tart acids, turning more minerality and savory across the midpalate with forest floor notes that ebb and flow across the palate. Not big by any means but fills the mouth with  fine cherry fruit and leafy accent notes supported by fine grained, dusty tannins. Fragrant red currant and cranberry berry fruit lingers on the long finish with lovely ripe tannins. This has a lovely core of fruit, just a lovely refined and nuanced bottle with great freshness to the vivid wild raspberry fruit. With air this turns cleaner and more precise. 91pts

2013 Elvio Cogno Barolo Cascina Nuova 14.5%
Recalls 99 as a style, it's powerful and fresh
15-16 yo Lampia Michet more than thirty five days, two years in botte slavonian not toasted, these are newer hybrid clones
Tight, pure and fresh on the nose filled with rose petals a little mint, wildflowers, and  wild strawberry. Elegant and fine, this really fills the mouth with breadth, fine grained tannins, supportive acids, unevolved, but fine elegance and balance. Another refined wine with just terrific fresh mouthfeel, this is so pretty, the potential shows most strongly on the finish which is long with a gentle spice to it, real fresh crushed berry fruit, again there's a particularly fresh raspberry/strawb quality to it. Great length, with dusty tannins contributing to the length and gorgeous minerality. , I expect this will gain complexity with age but even already the freshness is impressive, there's real depth on the palate as well. As complete a wine as you can expect. 93pts

2013 Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera  14.5%
70 years old, Lampia and Michet original clones,
Taken to another level aromatically,  there's richness behind the fruit, a depth to this on the nose full of  burnished fruit and a core of balsamic spice, a touch medicinal even in a good way, just lending nuance and serving as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the fruit. Moderately high acid lends this lovely freshness. This is very young with power that arrives vertically and later on the palate than the Cascina Nuova, a more precise, tauter wine, more tannic as well with a chewiness late on the palate and noble if austere tannins on the moderately long finish. The nose gains a hint of gunpowder with air. A grand vin indeed. 95pts

2012 Barolo Ravera Bricco Pernice 14.5%
4000 bottles.
Three years in wood,
The extra ageing shows here with a little sweetness to the hints of apricot, red fruit and fresh bay leaf on the nose. So well knit, just a fine texture with tart red fruit flavors and tannins that are more important and tend to dominate the finish, which shows good length with fine rose inflected inner mouth perfumes on the backend. A powerful wine, lacks the sheer elegance of the 13s, a more chunky and angular vintage, the nose is very pretty though and that front loaded fruit is gorgeous, then there's that little misfire between front and back palate that is so typical of the vintage. 91pts

2011 Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera Riserva Vigna Elena 15%
27 years
A touch darker than usual
An explosion of fruit, truffle,Iris, ginseng, a hint of dried rosepetal, spice perhaps and a touch of meat juice all explode on the nose. This is bordering on opulent, filling the mouth, though remains light on its feet. Fruit first, just gorgeous fruit, dances across the palate with layers of truffle, meat juice, and dark fruit flavors. Open knit but not loose at all, elegant and fine with acid driving the juicy fruit flavors. A joyful wine, weightless but powerful, a ballerina of a wine already so enjoyable but this is very young with a richness on the backend and this really impressive incipient  complexity. Absolutely terrific. 95pts

2014 Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera from the botte.
Fruit and spice greet nose with a hint of red licorice. Juicy and nuanced in the mouth with lovely dried herbal overtones and a bit of medicinal mineral spice. Rather high in acid, and linear in the mouth but already complex and complete. It has distinct cool vintage character throughout, ripe tannins, beautiful fruit on the palate, small scaled, compact and clean but elegant and fine with persistence to the fruit. Cut from classic cloth this has lean power with a subtle yet refreshing evergreen note. 88-90pts

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