TN: 2016 F. Alessandria Barolo Monvigliero

Bit of sulfur on opening that blew off quickly. Something close to mint/tarragon, some tart cherries and blood orange, and black walnut on the nose. Very aromatic. Mid-weight but energetic palate start through to a long finish. Plenty of ultra fine tannins and plenty of zip. This is the most wound up 2016 Barolo I’ve had so far. Reminds me of the 2013. Should be a great wine one day. Highly recommended.

Wound up?

Sorry — on the palate, it is coiled up, tight, reticent, not giving everything…

Ok. Thanks. It could imply energetic, which is why I asked.

Yeah, poor choice of words!

This is one of the wines I am waiting to come in

Ditto

Thanks for sharing. I will give mine many years I hope. I think I’ll go with the Gramolere first for the Cru and start with the normale.

We will hopefully get the normal in Quebec early next year which will come in at $55CAD which is insane for the quality. Monica Larna gave it 95 and along with the Vietti Castiglione seems to be the two basic Barolo with the best ratings.

The Alessandria Classico 2016 is a rock star. Really lovely for the price. I need to pick up more… I think it certainly has the ability to age for a decade or two and improve.

I Think Pio cesare basis Barolo got 95 points
as well [cheers.gif]

Based on my own tasting style I am less excited by the Pio Cesare since it seems a little more old school but might try a bottle along with the Vajra, having had the Vietti and FA before I know these will be stellar

Pio Cesare was very much in the modernist camp back in the 90s. They’ve pulled back and now do long fermentations and age mostly in botte (large wood tanks), but they still age what they say is a small portion of each of their Barolos and Barbarescos in barriques, so I don’t think they’re uber-traditional. And the photos of their cellar show a lot of small barrels.
https://www.piocesare.it/en/categorie-vini/the-single-vineyard-collection/

Maybe one day a long way off? :slight_smile: I have only had something from this family once, at a lunch 5 years ago, but memorable? Absolutely memorable:

"1964 Alessandria Luigi & Figli Barolo

This, on the other hand, was singing, with a smokier, creamier nose, touches of funk and yet-lively tannins framed around tasty and delicious earth-edged strawberry and cranberry. These are the oldest baroli I’ve tried and I can hope and see where magic really is possible."

Another branch of the Alessandria family owns Burlotto.

well, that’s a TIL! can you please provide more details. super interesting.

As I recall, the Burlotto and Frat. Alessandria families are not-too-distant cousins. Verduno is a small village.

As you probably know, the same family names are sprinkled all over the Langhe. Schiavenza at the other end of the appellation in Serralunga has also descended through a family of Alessandrias – coming to rest with two sisters who married men named Pira and Anselma, whose families gave their names to other wineries in Serralunga.

And, of course, there are the two Mascarellos, two Rinaldis, several Borgognos … etc., etc. Azelia is owned by Luigi Scavino, a cousin of Enrico Scavino of Paolo Scavino, whose winery is nearby. (I recall hearing that Marco de Grazia asked Luigi to change the winery name so as to avoid confusion with the Paolo Scavino brand.)

Here’s Fabio Alessandria of Burlotto:

And of course all the various Conternos, though I recall some of them are not related.

I have very high hopes for these 2016 Piedmont wines. When wine tastes this good young, and it’s not f*caked up with a lot of spooficatiousness, good thing usually come down the line. Again, I’m a BDX guy. But I’ve gotta believe these wines are going to be in a really nice place in a 10-15 years.

The Giacomo Conterno and Aldo Conterno properties were run by brothers, Giovanni and Aldo, respectively, now both deceased. Giacomo was their father. When Giovanni and Aldo went their separate ways, Giovanni retained the father’s name and label for his winery.

I’m not sure their connection to Conterno-Fantini and Paolo Conterno, but they’re all in the village of Monforte, so you can be pretty sure they’re related.

We could also add the Grassos to the list: Elio and Silvio.