Robert Parker’s awards for Monchiero Carbone: Monica Larner recently tasted and rated Monchiero Carbone’s wines with 90+ Points.
Colour: bright ruby red.
Nose: intense and pleasant hints of plum sinuously blended with balsamic nuances of dried flowers, licorice and sweet tobacco.
Taste: full, harmonious and velvety; it reveals intense and balsamic notes and a long persistence.
Food pairings: its maximum potential is expressed combined with meat-based dishes, rich in aromas and flavors such as lamb cuts, baked kid, ribs, or long-aged cheeses.
Colour: a ruby-red hue, giving greater intensity without taking away any of its brightness.
Nose: intense and very deep, with unmistakeable aromatic facets; an initially ethereal impact gives way to hints of raspberry and blackberry, which are rendered more complex by a background of sweet spices (cocoa and cinnamon) and noble wood.
Taste: great character showing through dense tannins and a magnificent alcohol/tannin balance; after a full-bodied, almost chewy entry, the silky soft tannins gradually spread out into a long, round finish.
Food pairings: greater structure and body demand richer, tastier dishes, such as casseroles, braised beef in red wine, roast goose or wild boar stew. Ideal also with aged cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano or Castelmagno.
Colour: dark and deep with intense ruby tones, enriched by purple reflections.
Nose: excellent intensity and finesse with aromas ranging from underbrush to cocoa, with spicy notes (juniper berries) blending into fruity notes of morello cherry and plum.
Taste: the entry shows a great stratified and complex strength, the alcohol ensures an initial softness immediately balanced by the acidity, which gives lightness to the fruity pulp. The finish is long and fresh and delivers good harmony between fruity and woody sensations.
Food pairings: its richness in alcohol and good acidity recommend its consumption with all meats prepared with long cooking, but also enjoyable with medium-aged cheeses.
Colour: intense straw yellow.
Nose: rich and complex; aromas of citrus fruits, white pepper, aromatic herbs and a delicate note of dried apricot.
Taste: on the palate the wine is soft and powerful, with a vigorous acidity, leaving a rich taste in the mouth exquisitely integrating the mineral notes. The aftertaste is soft and elegant, but extremely rich and deep.
Food pairings: wine suitable for elaborate fish dishes, medium-aged cheese, but also first courses such as stuffed egg pasta, lasagna with meat sauce, eggplant parmigiana.
The producer:
The Monchiero Carbone farm is located in Canale, in the centre of the village, in a nineteenth century stately farmhouse, which hosts in its basement a large and fascinating historical cellar, untouched for over two centuries.
The company owes its name to the union of two families through the marriage between Marco Monchiero and Lucia Carbone, and the consequent merging of the vineyards inherited from both. The origins and the connections with winemaking are, however, to be found in the past, among the members of the two families.
The vineyards:
We are in Piedmont, in the province of Cuneo. Roero, that portion of territory located North of Alba, on the left bank of the Tanaro river, is the only terroir in Italy to boast a DOCG that includes 2 native varieties, the white berry ARNEIS and the red berry NEBBIOLO.