Burlotto Freisa - aging question

I’m a fan of Burlotto and just received a half case of the 2012 Freisa. Is anyone familiar with the winemaking for this? Based on some notes that it improved with air, my guess is it will improve with some cellaring, but how much? Nothing on their website or anywhere else. I don’t need them now, so will hold them if that is recommended.

Thanks!

Well, Al… I’ve not had any old examples of the Burlotto Freisa, but…hey…I’m a LosAlamos guy & can make stuff up!!!
I’ve had a couple of older (10 yrs or so) Freisas (forget the producers) and didn’t find they turned into anything particularly interesting.
I’m assuming we’re talking still/dry Freisa and not the sweet or frizzante versions. So…extrapolating from a mere two data points…I would suggest
you drink them over the short term. But I could very well be dead-wrong in the Burlotto case.
Tom

Tom,

Yes, Burlotto makes the dry/still style. I have had a couple other producers with a few years on them, but didn’t have those at release to see if there was any improvement.

I’m not suggesting Barolo or Barbaresco aging, but a few years…

Thanks!

Well, Al…what I like about young Freisa is that lovely perfumey/aromatic fragrance. The two older examples I had, about at 10 yrs,
had lost that perfume and not replaced it with anything particularly interesting. They wern’t dead…just not terribly interesting.
Tom

That’s a great observation. Young, it is.

Not sure Al. I had an '06 Cavallotto Freisa this year that was superb. It actually benefited from some extra years. Still very aromatic and great depth. That vintage and Cavollotto’s Freisa are serious.

On the Burlotto front I’ve had vintages where I thought the oak was showing so I’d would likely sit on them a bit. Short-term ager, potentially, 5-8 years. Maybe test run a bottle and make your decision.

It’s genetically related to nebbiolo, and some versions can take extended aging and evolve quite a bit of complexity. See the recent thread on freisa if you haven’t.

I had the 2012 recently and found it brutally tannic at first (notes), though it was much better the next day. I’m not sure whether they’ll develop along the lines of the Vajra, but the '12 Burlotto has a lot of stuffing and a fair deal of tannin, so I would guess it will age for some time.

You think it sees new oak?

Oddly, the cantina’s web site doesn’t list the freisa among their wines, so I don’t know how it’s aged.

The 2012 Burlotto Freisa is a burly wine right now. I would (and will) wait, perhaps another year or two. As for further ageing, I usually like best them in the 5-10 year window.

My thoughts exactly.

John, don’t know the oak regimen but when I tasted the last vintage with my rep, either 09/10 I picked up toast and allspice, notes I don’t usually associate with Freisa. So I assumed there was some oak. Of course my rep didn’t know…