Hello and welcome to this week’s dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.

This past week included a few more wines from young Luca Leggero in Piedmont, including two versions of Erbaluce, the white grape that is beginning to see a renaissance in this traditionally red-wine focused region of Italy. Both of these wines are excellent, but I liked the evolution of the older wine, which was beginning to show some characteristics of its age. Leggero also sent through a classically styled Langhe Nebbiolo, which delivered just what any Nebbiolo lover would want in a more accessible bottling.

This week, I’m also sharing another tranche of recent releases from the guys at Arnot-Roberts Winery, including a few of my favorite wines that they make. As usual, their Trousseau is deliciously balanced between savory and berry notes; their Gamay is bursting with stony blood-orange fruit; the Heaven & Earth Pinot is a study in elegance, and their two Syrahs are positively mouthwatering.

Lastly, I’m happy to recommend a couple of wines from Cantina San Felice in Chianti, where both their Borgo and La Piave bottlings hit the mark from a Chianti perspective, and they have taken the interesting decision to bottle the obscure grape Pugnitello on its own. The latter, often used as a (very) minor blending component in Chianti, has a distinctive, dark, and even furtive quality that is worth trying out, if only to put another notch on your belt of obscure grape varieties.

That’s all for this week. Notes on all these wines below.

Tasting Notes

2021 Luca Leggero “Rend Nen” Erbaluce, Erbaluce di Caluso, Torino, Piedmont, Italy
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of yellow flowers, candied lemon peel, and a hint of butterscotch. In the mouth, saline flavors of candied lemon, butterscotch, and yellow herbs have a lovely, silky texture and a nice snap thanks to excellent acidity. Developing beautifully with a bit of age. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: ??

2023 Luca Leggero “Turciaura” Erbaluce, Erbaluce di Caluso, Torino, Piedmont, Italy
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of vanilla, yellow plums, and lemon pith. In the mouth, lemon pith, a hint of yellow plum, and poached pear flavors mix with a nice crisp stony quality, backed by excellent acidity. Nicely balanced between rich and lean, ripe and rocky. 13% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $??

2023 Arnot-Roberts Trousseau, North Coast, California
Light ruby in the glass, this wine smells of dried flowers, berries, and chopped herbs. In the mouth, gorgeously bright chopped herbs, strawberries, rhubarb, and plum mix with blood orange and dusty roads. There’s a faint sawdust and earth note that lingers in the finish, with fleecy tannins that wrap around the core of bright fruit. Very good acidity. Whole cluster fermented with ambient yeasts. Aged in neutral oak for 9 months before bottling unfined and unfiltered. 47 barrels made. 12.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2023 Arnot-Roberts Gamay, El Dorado, Sierra Foothills, California
Light ruby in the glass, this wine smells of blood orange, dried herbs, and forest floor. In the mouth, ethereal flavors of blood orange, dried herbs and flowers, and a touch of forest floor have a weightlessness on the palate that is really appealing. This sees a little bit of carbonic maceration for 5 days or so, then fermented whole cluster with ambient yeasts. Aged in neutral barrels for 19 months. Faint, gauzy tannins. 47 barrels made. 13% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $25. click to buy.

2023 Arnot-Roberts “Heaven and Earth Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of raspberry and herbs, with a hint of forest floor. In the mouth, powdery, muscular tannins wrap around a core of raspberry and sour cherry, shot through with dried herbs, fresh chopped herbs, faintly saline flavors, and bright, juicy acidity. Notes of sour cherry linger in the finish along with road dust. Fermented with 100% whole cluster and ambient yeasts, then aged in 100% neutral oak for 10 months. 6 barrels made. 12% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $65. click to buy.

2021 Luca Leggero “Maura Nen” Nebbiolo, Canavese, Torino, Piedmont, Italy
Light to medium blood red in color, this wine smells of dried rose petals, strawberries, and earth. In the mouth, juicy and fresh flavors of berries, chopped and dried herbs, dried flowers, and dried licorice root have a citrus peel brightness and excellent acidity. Muscular, powdery tannins coat the mouth and linger with hints of licorice root in the finish. 14% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $37. click to buy.

2023 Arnot-Roberts Syrah, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of blueberry and blackberry fruit, white pepper, and dried herbs. In the mouth, fleecy tannins wrap the palate, and gradually stiffen as slightly saline flavors of blackberry and blueberry mix with wet earth and chopped fresh herbs. Great acidity. 26 barrels made. 12.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $40. click to buy.

2022 Arnot-Roberts “Que Syrah” Syrah, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of struck match, blueberry, and chopped green herbs. In the mouth, coniferous herbal notes mix with blackberry and pepper, dried flowers, and a savory saline quality. Powdery tannins coat the mouth but don’t press on the palate. Fantastic acidity. 100% whole-cluster fermented with ambient yeasts, and then aged for 10 months in neutral oak. 8 barrels made. 12% alcohol. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $90. click to buy.

2022 San Felice “Borgo” Chianti Classico, Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine smells of wet earth, dark berries, and herbs. In the mouth, dark cherry and wet earth flavors are wrapped in a muscular, tannic grip as notes of herbs and dried flowers linger in the finish. Savory in character with a dark, brooding depth. Very good acidity. Includes 12% Pugnitello. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2021 San Felice Pugnitello, Tuscany, Italy
Very dark garnet in color, nearly opaque, this wine smells of dark blackberry and black cherry fruit filtered through earth and charred wood. In the mouth, fleecy tannins coat the mouth and begin to stiffen as dark black cherry and blackberry fruit flavors mix with earth and a hint of bramble. Dark and somewhat mysterious. Usually a minor player in Chianti, Pugnitello is a grape rarely tasted on its own. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $80. click to buy.

2021 San Felice “Gran Selezione – La Pieve – Castelnuovo Berardenga” Chianti Classico, Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Dark garnet in the glass with ruby highlights, this wine smells of espresso, black cherries, and dried flowers. In the mouth, muscular, fine-grained tannins wrap around a core of black cherry, freshly chopped herbs, and dried flowers. Excellent acidity, along with the fresh herbal note, brings a freshness to the wine. 14% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $60. click to buy.