TN: 2004 Terra di Lavoro

Purchased on release. PNP. An excellent vintage for this wine. Smoke, graphite, and a whole lot of dirt. Like the dirt you smell when digging a garden in the spring and laying in dark soil. Wild and refined at the same time. Maturity wise, just starting the shift from primary to secondary aromas, and is at a nice time to check in if you have several bottles. Seems to be aging quite slowly and deliberately. Good match with Flannery’s burgers on the grill grates and the Boston Bruins game.

Thanks for the note, Greg. We had a 2006 on Friday that’s following a similar track

Love this stuff - another Berserker darling wine I’d never have heard of otherwise. I have a tough time waiting long enough on these wines, but I do have two bottles of 2006 I’ve been able to hold off on diving into. Might be a good time to check in, thanks for the note!

Got to drink their ‘04, ‘05 & ‘06 side by side late this past September at a Miyazaki A5 wagyu dinner. All nice. The ‘04 was everyone’s favourite.
627B8F1A-3AEB-4F1C-B2DA-015D10501877.jpeg

Prices sure have come down a lot for this wine over the last 5-6 years.

Production expanded significantly around 2010 or thereabouts, and what used to be a obscure cult Italian with a few thousand cases and demand went to flooding the market with 10’s of thousand of cases, thus…market collapse in simple economics. These wines are great but they age glacially. I would expect them to (easily) be 30-40 year wines.

The 2008, surprisingly, has been very accessible (and delicious) over the last couple of years

For sure, I got the 14 for around $25(ish) from JJ Buckley this winter, and while its not going to crack a top ten for this producer, it was very fine if slightly rustic in its own right. 8’s and 10’s are in a deep slumber.

Thanks for the data points. I don’t think I have had one that seemed ready to drink. Sadly, no '04 in the cellar, but there’s an '02 somewhere buried, as well as several more recent vintages. It sounds as though I should wait some time for all.

Cheers,
Warren

I recently picked up a vertical of Lavoro: one bottle each of 2003 through 2008. Any thoughts on ranking those six vintages in terms of accessibility? Are any of them at or nearing peak?

Peak? I doubt it. These are 20-30 year wines. I’m more concerned with opening one prematurely and having a burly beast on my hands. This note on the 06 is from February:

Dark earth / blackberry / demi-glace / grilled meat / black truffle / gray sea salt / aubergine / black cherry. Long finish with a dank musty fruity backchannel note. Entering its window, better after an hour decant and with food. 94+ Good – but HOLD.

The 05 or 07 would be my guesses/choices for serving in the next few years.

A bottle of the 2002 on 12/16/2017 (Greg, I can’t remember if you were there hat evening in Harvard, MA) certainly seemed over the hill. CellarTracker notes range from too young to too old.
I have another bottle, so I’ll have another crack at it.

I have had the ‘08 twice over the past 12 months and each time it was more accessible than any other vintage that I’ve had. Lots of life lefty, but open for business with a couple of hour decant