December 2, 2023 - One of the more Burgundian renditions of Barbaresco I can remember having in my glass. I have only had the Roncagliette in the 2014 vintage before, and this 2019 seems more elegant, redder and lighter.
I think I am finding some sandal wood, conifer forest and mushroom that talks to me about pinot noir, but there is definitely more Nebbiolo notes here, cherries, raspberries, roses and lavender, tar and mint. Had some truffle salt in the mushroom risotto that accompanied the wine so maybe I was confusing origins but I think I found some truffle in the wine also.
I think this is good now, and I’m not completely sure about real longevity but the balance and purity should give some hope for medium term development.
October 4, 2023 - At Petricore in Alba. This was quite burgundian - ripe red fruit, game, spice. Medium bodied, soft tannins, raspberries and strawberries and game again, fresh acids, medium/good length finish.
September 2, 2023 - This was drunk at a wine bar with no real air. Even then, holy cow is this perfumed right away! The nose is so lifted, vibrant, and complex with strawberries, raspberries, spice notes, earth, tobacco leaf, crushed rocks, and violets. The Full bodied feel is silky, deep, and refined with mouthwatering, high acidity and silky (but sneaky), high tannins. I don't come across Bondonio often and I "needed" to try this. This is clearly a baby and there is a lot of room for this to grow. I can easily see this getting a lot better with time as this has everything there for that to happen.
June 18, 2023 - PnPed - this has a soaring nose of roses and light red fruits, some earth and a bit of tar. Really perfumed and fragrant. Crunchy red fruits and a savory herbal-green-menthol note, almost citric. The palate is crunchy with red fruits, earth, cinnamon, near-citric and some almost menthol. Very complex and enjoyable - a bit wound up to start. The menthol-herbal dominates the end palate into the finish - which is long and savory and also shows some red fruits.
With time in the glass (2 hours) the nose has become more muted with hints of roses and wild strawberry, soil, a hint of cinnamon, and a bit of tar. The palate is silky and fragrant - tart wild strawberry, rose petals, soil - light and nearly translucent. Some tannins come out towards the end palate that have some grip to them - the finish shows the chewy tannins, tart red fruits, some minerals and savory herbal like notes. If I wanted to show someone a neo-classical Langhe wine, this would be it. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5-5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16.5-17.5/20.
August 11, 2022 - Ballistic Barbaresco and Barolo Tasting (PNV): Floral and red cherries, herbs and plum - quite open aromatically. Even with a taut palate profile, there is good length and poise. Really nicely composed and classy.
July 6, 2022 - The '19 Roncagliette is a gorgeous young Barbaresco. This is the first wine from Olek Bondonio I have tasted. It's super young, and I found it pretty closed off on the palate, not showing much, but I'm impressed by the aromatics and by the texture. Whether it's a very good wine, as I've scored it, or an exceptional wine deserving of a higher score depends on what level of complexity lies in waiting on the palate in my opinion.
On the nose, I found expressive fresh red rose and blood orange notes above a core of rich, pure red raspberry fruit, with a touch of fresh cool herbs and spices as well. The nose stood out for the beautiful floral notes and the somewhat exotic fruit tone, with sweet citrus standing out above the red fruit.
On the palate, I found the wine richly textured but finessed, with the tannins largely buried under the fruit, emerging a bit at the back end. The acidity level is medium to high. I found the palate much more closed off than the nose; I found a relatively simple expression of rich red to dark red raspberry fruit, and a hint of orange peel and earth.
February 3, 2022 - lively nose, but needs time to soften on the palate, very traditional barbaresco