2006 Sottimano Barbaresco Fausoni - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (10/29/2014)
Colour deep, inky crimson. On opening, the bouquet was aggressive, with aromas of floor polish and big VA. As the bouquet settled, the aromas were all cherries, both red and dark, some fresh and some preserved, also reminiscent of cherry liqueur. There were other notes of blackberries, menthol and a hint of violets and other dark flowers. After two or more hours the bouquet settled down and mellowed, moving to black spices, dried mixed herbs, dried fig and a little black pepper, all around a centre of ripe berry fruit. Similarly on palate, the wine opened very aggressively but settled down and integrated into a seamless, polished, quite sleek and modern wine. After about two hours open the flavours seemed to coalesce around a solid, impenetrable core of dense and primary red and dark cherries, blackberries, dark raspberries and other berry fruit flavours, with hints of crème de cassis. Rich, ripe (but not over-ripe), with silky, fine grained tannins. The acids are present but in proportion. The alcohol is high (14.5%) but is relatively well integrated and I did not detect heat on the palate. A long, savoury finish. The wine invited a Burgundian analogy, perhaps closest to a Nuits St Georges 1er. The bouquet and palate did not change over the next 24 hours. This wine has a lot of life ahead of it. If I’m being super-critical, the flavour profile is presently a little linear and one-dimensional. This just shows that the Barbaresco really needs 5+ years cellar time. (92 pts.)
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