I first tasted the '09 of this wine on a visit to the cantina in 2011. I couldn’t believe how fruity and sappy this was. More like a cru Beaujolais or a Dogliani dolcetto than a freisa – a grape that, in the wrong hands, can have all the tannin and acid of nebbiolo without the charm. I asked Fabbri Alessandria how he did it and he said the trick was to pick fairly late.
The '18 isn’t as ripe as I recall the '09, but, man, does it give a lot of pleasure! Some nebbiolo scents but also dark fruits (blackberry, black cherry). In the mouth this has the chewy, sappy quality I remember from my first encounter. There’s substantial tannin here, but it has rounded edges. Although freisa is closely related genetically to nebbiolo, apart from the aroma here, you’d never guess a connection. The color is darker, the fruit profile is toward the darker end of the scale, and it’s much fruitier than any nebbiolo I can think of. Perfect with a bolognese sauce on linguini – packed with fruit yet structured enough to stand up to mean and reduced tomatoes. I paid $19 at Bottle King in New Jersey, which was a total steal. Which I’d loaded up the trunk now (I didn’t see any at the Bottle King in Wayne on Friday.) It’s still a good deal at $25-$27.
Sounds delicious. There’s a bottle king by me I should check and see. Amusingly they are trying to open one my town and everyone is up in arms. Not surprisingly one of the main people fighting against it for “traffic” reasons happens to be married to the owner of a wine shop the town whose prices are…let’s say…not competitive.
I have one of these that I randomly purchased in Italy in the Fall of 2018, mostly because of what seemed like positive reviews across the board for the 2016 vintage for Piemonte.
John - Glad to read your positive notes on this wine. Will need to move the bottle to the “open soon” shelf.
I find it hard to not enjoy most wines from G.B. Burlotto. I have to be in the mood for the Dolcetto, and I think the Freisa performs better about a year after release, but other than that, I find it hard to keep my hands off the Barbera (both bottlings), Pelaverga, Nebbiolo, and of course–the Barolos–which go directly to the cellar.
I find it hard to not enjoy most wines from G.B. Burlotto. I have to be in the mood for the Dolcetto, and I think the Freisa performs better about a year after release, but other than that, I find it hard to keep my hands off the Barbera (both bottlings), Pelaverga, Nebbiolo, and of course–the Barolos–which go directly to the cellar.