2004 Fontanafredda Serralunga D'alba Barolo (Piedmont, Italy)

I consumed this as part of my birthday lunch along with a 2008 PHI Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley. The Pinot won wine of the day (see original note and updated comments here), but the Fontanfredda was also impressive and provided me with the Nebbiolo hit I was after.

At 10 years of age those famous Serralunga tannins have softened somewhat and the acidity has integrated, but both remain prominent enough to deliver a wine with a great sense of texture. Classic flavours of liquorice, sour cherry, and tea leaf. There’s also an interesting and appealing orange peel note. Tends to earthiness through the back palate though perhaps doesn’t quite finish with the length to push it up there for higher points. Very enjoyable now, but will also continue to age well, turning increasingly savoury over the next 10 years.

Rated: 4 Stars
RRP: $80-90
Closure: Cork
Drink: 2014-2024
Website: http://www.fontanafredda.it/web/en


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2005 Borgogno Francesco Brunate Barolo (La Morra, Piedmont)

My visit to Borgogno Francesco in 2009 remains one of my most memorable winery visits. I wrote about it in detail in a post back then - (Link). It was one of those experiences that beautifully brought together family, vineyard, and wine.

Having bought a couple of bottles of their 2005 Barolo for the cellar (I wanted to buy a case, but of course you can only bring back a few bottles into Australia), I’ve often wondered whether the wine when opened would live up to the memory. Having a great winery or cellar door visit often puts a wine in its most positive light, and I thought the Borgogno Francesco to be a beautiful wine at the time, especially at 16 Euro. But had I got caught up in the moment and overrated the wine?

No, not a bit of it. Upon first whiff, I’m back in Piedmont, looking up the hill at the Brunate cru, and chatting with Francesco over a glass of his Barolo.

Brunate is one of the great vineyards of the La Morra Commune within Barolo, and is situated on a beautiful south facing slope heading up towards the town of La Morra, a beautiful hilltop town itself. The vineyard soils are calcareous clay marl, high in magnesium, and tend to produce slightly more structured and powerful wines than that of other crus within La Morra, which is renowned for producing the most perfumed and approachable of Barolos.

The Borgogno family’s approach to making their Barolo is both a traditional and a proud one, following a process that has been repeated annually by three generations since 1930. The fruit sees a long maceration period and is aged in large format slavonian oak

The bouquet is deep and enticing, and I love it. Yes, classic aromas of tar and roses, but beyond that notes of liquorice, cherry/strawberry, tobacco, and leather. At 7 years of age it still has plenty of primary fruit on the palate, but the beautifully ripe and mouthcoating tannins, while still prominent, have softened from 3 years ago when I first tried it. Intensity and complexity in equal measure. Drinking it over a couple of days it developed a lovely earthiness too. It still has many a year in front of it. Stunning value, and a real pity that no one imports this wine into Australia. 4.5 Stars.

Rated:

 

 

 

RRP: 16 Euro at cellar door

ABV: 14.0%

Closure: Cork

Drink: 2012-2022

Website: http://cantinaborgogno.com

 

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Some Sexy Italians . . .

The old and the new are both exciting in Italian wine at present. Iconic regions of pedigree like Barolo are seemingly producing as wonderful wines as ever, while numerous less well known regions, like Mt Etna in Italy, are just starting to gain cachet in the world of wine. Below are two wines that I’ve really enjoyed while out and about of late.

2001 Gastaldi Barolo – Retail RRP - $90 – Consumed at 121 BC, a wine bar in Sydney. Of the classic tar and roses flavour profile for Nebbiolo, this is very much tar dominant. It’s from the Serralunga d'Alba commune and accordingly is a powerful and tannic rendition of Barolo, even at 10 years of age. It opened up nicely over 2 hours, revealing increasing savoury complexity with time. Tremendous length on the finish. I’d love to see this wine in another 10 years.

2006 Benanti Rosso di Verzella Etna – Retail RRP - approx $45 – Consumed at Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney for our anniversary dinner ($88). Mt Etna. As both a volcano I’ve been reading about since high school Ancient History, and a volcano that is also still very active, it is a fascinating place to be growing wine (a random lava flow at vintage must pose the odd difficulty). That it is a high altitude, cooler climate site in Sicily, making wines from unfamiliar grapes like Nerello Mascalese just adds further interest. This wine is a blend of 80% Nerello Mascalese, and 20% Nerello Capuccio.

When I try a new varietal or style of wine for the first time, I find it natural to try and reference it against wines I’m more familiar with. My initial assessment is that this wine was something akin to a cross between a Cabernet Franc and a Nebbiolo. The reality though is that it was none of these things and was both complex and unique. It had a sense of weight but was light on its feet. Good acidity with a nice touch of grip, all lead to a lovely sense of texture. Flavours included cherry and plum, earth, tar, and a touch of barnyard funk, and finally an appealing herbal grassy note. A great food wine and the seal of approval from the Missus. My first Etna and it certainly won’t be my last.



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2006 Pio Cesare Barolo (Piemonte, Italy)

Sticking my nose into this wine instantly took me back to my visit to Barolo. It had a classic nose of roses and cherry, with some lovely earthiness and notes of polished wood. Unfortunately I don’t get to stick my nose into enough Barolo. While it’s reasonably priced when you’re in Italy (this wine would roughly be $50 when there), once it gets to Australia it pretty much doubles in price thanks to the costs in bringing it out here (understandable), but also because of the taxes on imported wines (protectionist and ultimately counterproductive). I decided to open, however, one of the 3 bottles I had bought for the Open That Bottle Night - http://www.openthatbottle.net/ -
an event that gives me the excuse to open an expensive bottle of wine without the requisite special occasion!

The wine smelled beautiful, as Barolo is wont to do, but then the palate was all class as well. In Barolo terms, it is medium-bodied and not overly tannic, and in that regard it is quite approachable now. However, to be drinking it now is to be drinking it years before its peak. It is a superbly balanced and structured wine with everything in its right place. It’s predominantly savoury, with drying tannins, but also has some lovely cherry fruit and that beautiful lick of liquorice that is Barolo to a tee. It’s all underpinned by a fine acidity. It’s a wine that feels like the complete package and just needs to be given a numbers of years in a cool cellar to express itself.

I was initially 4 stars with a “+” sign for the future on this wine, but as I had the last few mouthfuls on the second day of it being opened, it delivered that intensity and persistence that mark it out as something a bit special, so I decided to give it a nudge.

4.5 stars.

Rated:

RRP: $100

ABV: 14.5%

Website: http://www.piocesare.it/

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