De Forville is a small, family operation that shows just how great Piedmont can be, even well below the illustrious strata of the super-star growers. They can't emulate Roberto Conterno's mind-boggling investments (he has, for example, no fewer than four machines devoted to testing each cork before it closes a bottle, and he can take as long as he likes to release his wines). But they share his passion for making their wines everything they can be: there's no cutting corners to keep prices down, either in the vineyards or in the winery.

Better yet, the wines they send to America are decidedly old-school. Their American importer (our friends at Neal Rosenthal Wine Merchants) famously loves the great traditions, and has worked with them to make it possible, through years of changing fashions, to keep producing wines for us in the old way.

So why are these wines such a good deal? Honestly, even after hours chatting with the family and checking out the operations, we really don't know. And will the prices always be so great? We don't even want to think about it! For now, we're just thrilled to be able to continue to share these wines with you, and at such amazing prices.

NYT's wine critic, Eric Asimov, shares our love of De Forville wines and consistantly names it his top value Barbaresco.

What importer Rosenthal Wine Merchant has to say about this wine...

This cuvée is a selection of Nebbiolo from the younger vines of the various “cru” in Barbaresco supplemented by grapes from the neighboring village of Neive. The average age of the vines is 30 years. The wine is fermented in stainless steel for 10 days to 2 weeks and then is refined in large oak barrels for an additional year before being bottled. An astonishing value … as are all of the fine wines from this remarkable estate. We import as much as 9,600 bottles per year of the Langhe Nebbiolo.

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