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2017 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (3/7/2020)
A first taste at Festa Italia, the annual (though I think they do it more frequently) Italian wine tasting at Zachys. We were in Piedmont in October 2017 and it was dry. VERY DRY. At Cavalotto, the family member who took us around said that they had records going back something like 200 years and in 2017 they picked two weeks earlier than they had ever picked before. Ricardo at Paolo Scavino likewise bemoaned the low volume of fruit due to the lack of water, but both of them, as I would have expected, said that the intensity of the grapes should result in a great wine. BUT you never know whether you are hearing the party line of a salesman or an accurate assessment.
I have thus been waiting to try a 2017 Nebbiolo since we returned. It had rained for the first time in over 4 months just as we pulling in to Malpensa to catch out flight. Although the Barbaresco and Barolo World Tour should have been the best shot, no one I went to was pouring 2017. Thus, my first chance was yesterday with hardly what would be considered a bottom of the barrel wine. In fact, in 2017, we had stayed at a vineyard only about 6 miles from Giacosa’s “winery” in Nieve, a nondescript door in a wall you would never stumble over by accident. We did not get to visit them then (they tried, but were too busy), BUT the wine was worth the wait.
Obviously an infant, but great balance and smoothness with red fruit and earthiness and a bit of violet on the nose. Not very tannic under the circumstances and surprisingly approachable. A bit of roasted spice, but not roasted as in excess heat. Although the flavor was intense, it was not so in a bad way, but more in the sense of complexity. (93 pts.)
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