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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 3 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by ThijsV on 7/12/2023 & rated 93 points: [Tasting at Vietti, Castiglione] Combines power and elegance. Medium intensity with cherry, black cherry roses, rose petals, spices, raspberry and some leather. Medium+ acidity, (very) high tannins, very long finish. 92-94+
3200 bottles made. Oldest vines date back to 1940, the others are from 1950 and 1968. 30 months in oak. (2190 views) | | | Tasted by Jeremy Holmes on 5/19/2023: The star of the line-up. Understated perfection. The perfume of the wine draws you in. There are rose petals and red fruits and some Chinese 5 spice. It is stony and possesses exquisite balance. Tannins simply occupy a space and the wine has power but carries no excess weight. On the short-list for wine of the year for mine. (2110 views) | | | Tasted by Robmcl920 on 4/19/2023 & rated 95 points: The '19 Rocche is a beautiful young wine in need of a long time in the cellar. While it is an excellent wine on its own merits, I found it a bit disappointing in the context of how great this bottling has been in past vintages, particularly the 2016. My sense is the 2019 version of this wine, perhaps like the vintage in general, needs more time than the 2016 to show its cards. Perhaps with time, the difference in apparent quality will be reduced or the tables will turn.
The nose of the '19 Rocche was nicely perfumed from first pour, with a beautiful bouquet of exotic tropical fruit, pure red raspberry fruits, sweet, fresh red roses, exotic spices, and menthol. Compared to the 2016 version of the wine, the 2019 is more red-fruited and also less complex, but what's there is definitely high quality.
On the palate, the '19 is also beautiful with a combination of nice sweetness of the red fruit tones and energy from the medium to high acidity level. Texturally, the Rocche is a bit lighter than I recall the '16 and has less of a sense of textural 'creaminess', while the tannins here seem less well integrated at this stage. That said, again, in an absolute sense, the tannin quality here is very high, especially in 2019 where I notice a lot of the wines being quite tannic. The Rocche did not show much complexity on the palate, with pure red berry fruit, fresh red roses, spices, and a hint of orange peel.
Bottle was tasted immediately after opening and ~2 hours after opening. I will update the TN if later with additional air there is noticeable development. Bottle was purchased directly from the winery.
Update (~8 hours after opening): For the most part, I found the '19 Rocche to show similarly with air, but the aromatics are popping a bit more. As before, what stands out what this wine is more the quality of what is there rather than the complexity, at least for now. The fruit and floral tones are sweet and a bit exotic. On the palate, the wine has a lot of intensity and also shows good sweetness of fruit, but isn't that complex at this stage, and is finessed but not quite to the degree of the '16. (2179 views) |
| Vietti Producer website
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)NebbioloNebbiolo is a red grape indigenous to the Piedmont region of Italy in the Northwest. The grape can also be found in other parts of the world, though they are not as respected.
Nebbiolo is often considered the "king of red wines," as it is the grape of the famed wines of Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG, and Roero DOCG. It is known for high tannins and acidity, but with a distinct finesse. When grown on clay, Nebbiolo can be very powerful, tannic, and require long aging periods to reach its full potential. When grown on sand, the grape exhibits a more approachable body with more elegant fruit and less tannins, but still has high aging potential.
"Nebbiolo" is named for the Italian word, "nebbia", which means "fog", in Italian and rightfully so since there is generally a lot of fog in the foothills of Piedmont during harvest.
Nebbiolo is a late-ripening variety that does best in a continental climate that boasts moderate summers and long autumns. In Piedmont, Nebbiolo is normally harvested in October.
More links:
Varietal character (Appellation America) | Nebbiolo on CellarTrackerItaly Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorPiedmont Vignaioli Piemontesi (Italian only)
On weinlagen-infoLanghe Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Roero | Union of Producers of Albese Wines (Albeisa)BaroloRegional History:
The wines of Piedmont are noted as far back as Pliny's Natural History. Due to geographic and political isolation, Piedmont was without a natural port for most of its history, which made exportation treacherous and expensive. This left the Piedmontese with little incentive to expand production. Sixteenth-century records show a mere 14% of the Bassa Langa under vine -- most of that low-lying and farmed polyculturally. In the nineteenth century the Marchesa Falletti, a frenchwoman by birth, brought eonologist Louis Oudart from Champagne to create the first dry wines in Piemonte. Along with work in experimental vineyards at Castello Grinzane conducted by Camilo Cavour -- later Conte di Cavour, leader of the Risorgimento and first Prime Minister of Italy -- this was the birth of modern wine in the Piedmont. At the heart of the region and her reputation are Alba and the Langhe Hills. This series of weathered outcroppings south of the Tanaro River is of maritime origin and composed mainly of limestone, sand and clay, known as terra bianca. In these soils -located mainly around the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco -- the ancient allobrogica, now Nebbiolo, achieves its renowned fineness and power.
map of Barolo DOCG
An interesting thread on Traditional vs. Modern Barolo producers:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=106291 |
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