My Mom is a big fan of barolo, so her just-in-time decision to come over for steaks allowed for only a quick two-hour decant.
I have had other bottles from this producer in this general time period, and honestly I have not been overwhelmed.
This bottle, however, reminded me why we place barolo on a pedestal. The wine overall just had a palpable sense of gravitas about it. Nothing slutty here – this was all class. Definitely on the “traditional” side of the barolo spectrum.
The aromatics are classic barolo – tar and roses, supplemented to some extent by orange peel, black tea and maybe a hint of cinnamon. One thing I love about traditional nebbiolo is that, at its best, it smells and tastes like no other grape I know of.
In the mouth, the tannins are softening enough to allow just a hint of the wine’s charms to be revealed, but they remain firm enough to remind us that this is still a relatively young wine. (The too-short decant probably did the wine a disservice.) The finish is VERY long, and smooth.
The wine was old enough to be starting to strut its stuff, but I suspect it has at least two decades left in it.
All told, a very nice positive surprise. Another endorsement came when my 6-year-old gave me a thumbs-up after taking a sip, with a tiny piece of steak. And Mom loved it too! 94
