2020 La Colombera Cortese Bricco Bartolomeo Colli Tortonesi Piedmont 750 ml

Boasting a crispness and vivacity that rivals Sancerre or Grüner Veltliner, the 2020 Bricco Bartolomeo Cortese is an outlandish value—the perfect introduction to a top producer in a region on a rocket-like trajectory. The ‘19 was one of our top Italian white-wine discoveries last year, and the 2020 builds on that success—at an even lower price.

La Colombera has been one of our reference points for exceptional Italian white wines ever since we tried one of their bottles at Felix, chef Evan Funke’s LA temple of hand-rolled pasta. On a normal evening, we would have watched the masters of the mattarello roll huge sheets of golden dough in a glass-walled room—but that night we were wrapped up in the wine, amazed that something so fantastic could have escaped our notice for so long.

In retrospect, we shouldn’t have been surprised—La Colombera’s wines are tough to find outside of Italian-focused restaurants, which is why it’s extra special that we can offer this bottle to you today.

Bricco Bartolomeo is La Colombera’s entry-level bottle, and like Aligoté from Burgundy’s Coche-Dury or Leroy, it offers the chance to taste a wine from masters at work that costs significantly less than their highest-priced bottles. The 2020 is beautifully aromatic, full of aromas of crushed rocks, sea grass, citrus zest, and soft green herbs. Once it hits your tongue, the wine’s electric energy makes your taste buds stand at attention, then a long, mineral-filled finish demands another sip and a bite of food.

This wine‘s appeal is universal—that’s why we’ve been opening bottle after bottle. You’ll do the same, so be sure to buy enough. It’ll go faster than you think.