WTN: Malvirà Roero Superiore Mombeltrano 1999

WTN and label question: Malvirà Roero Superiore Mombeltramo, 1999. I paid $27 each for a half case of this two years ago from Garagiste, and a couple of nights ago we tried it out with grilled rib-eye beefsteak. At cellar temperature (57° F) it was dead, but microwaving it to 63° helped. What really helped was airing it out. After an hour, it opened up with a floral scent of rose and maybe lilac (it’s winter and I can’t walk outside and confirm that). Really gorgeous, tannic wine with a medium finish. 14% abv, which is high but doesn’t show up on the palate. We’re looking forward to the next 5 bottles and are sorry that we can’t order more—one of many reasons why we’ve stopped ordering from Rimmerman and his imitators.

Now the label: It depicts an angel on one side and an upside-down serpent on the other grasping/twining about a wheel with 8 spokes. On the serpent’s side, the wheel contains golden grapes and leaves. The angel’s side is bare. (Go to malvira.com and click on "vini" for a photo). This graphic just fascinated me, but the winery didn’t reply to my email in bad Italian asking for the story behind the design. Some googling helped me find that it was a Tarot-inspired graphic, but is there some non-com site out there that discusses wine label graphics?

The wheel is apparently the symbol of the Roero region, and can be found on many of the wines produced there. The angel and the serpent are surely good and evil, although what that had to do with this wine in particular I have no idea.

I think it's amazing that they found a commercial quantity of that wine in an excellent older vintage, I wouldn't hold against them the fact that it was in limited quantity. $27, too...

Thanks, Oliver! We're nebbiolo freaks here and found the Malvirà more interesting than the '99 G. Mascarello Monprivato we had last night. But we're not giving up--these wines never die! And thanks for the label answer. There's no need to track down info on the boring, mostly imaginary, chateaux on French and German wine labels. Italy, Spain, USA--more creativity. As a prop in my classes I display a bottle of Van Duzer Oregon pinot noir and ask, "Would you resist the goddess of wine?" VD pinot is so-so wine but the label is great.