2006 Barolo (Trattoria One Fifth, NYC.): [Opened around 3pm to check it was sound, so it got just a bit of air.] Stunning nose of black fruit, cloves, and licorice. Sweet red and black fruit in the attack and in the long, complex finish. Expansive and stunningly complex. WOTN.
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Drank blind next to mastroberardino taurasi radici riserva 1998. Very close in terms of quality, but the taurasi had the slight edge in terms of freshness. What this barolo slightly lacked in freshness, it made up with even greater structure and aromatic depth. Perfect maturity and balance, no need to wait any longer for this beauty. Drink and enjoy :)
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BBR Piedmont deep dive (BBR): 85-100 yr old vines. Light ruby; almost no garnet whatsoever. Nose is amazing: full of roses and florality. On palate, tannins are almost imperceptible; cherries (almost confected? sweetness from somewhere). This is absolutely brilliant, and so unique/expressive. Not sure I've tasted anything like it!
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Annual Pilgrimage to Piedmont - 2023 Edition; 10/20/2023-10/22/2023 (Piedmont, Italy): Decanted for a good hour and then served blind. The nose is pretty but the palate of this wine was really singing. We went with Gaja from the 1990s such well developed and elegant the wine was but also with a lot of fruit still around. The wine is really the best we have tried from Roagna and came to silence Andreas like a slap from Will Smith as he usually runs away from the pricy hype. This was majestic as a wine, rich and elegant well developed fruit , dark fruite yes but ever so elegant light dark fruit, light tar, no sight of oak ( maybe this should have pushed us away from Gaja but hey blind tasting is a tough mistress) . A superb wine , 96 and with a lot more capacity to develop and gain further.
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Vinous Piedmont Icons Dinner @ Legacy Records (Legacy Records, NYC): The '06 Riserva Pira was a mindblowing wine, especially after tasting the very rustic '96 Pira and '00 Crichet Paje. The generational change here resulted in a massive difference in the style of the wines, and in my view, a huge improvement in quality.
On the nose, the '06 Pira was quite exotic and primary, showing none of the oxidative and more rustic notes of the earlier wines from Roagna. The fruit is super bright and expressive, with hard-candy like red fruits, exotic, blood orange and citrus fruits, spices, and tobacco. On the palate, the '06 Pira is pure silk, with almost no perception of tannin at all, perfectly balanced from end to end.
The '06 is very primary but is also so expressive and finessed today that I can't really imagine it improving, only changing, with more time. That said, the wine should hold for decades in the cellar.
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This ultra-limited Riserva version of the Pira 2006 was aged for 5 years in cask and other 10 years in cement. Only 2413 bottles were produced and released in 2021. Super classic in all its heart and soul, with a darkish, tarry core and potency - very much in the style of 2006. Blackberry, plum, licorice, smoke, grilled herbs, pipe tobacco are lifted by a firm tannic spine and numerous elements of structure. The 2006 Riserva black label got 10 years less in wood (instead cement) than the former version, 1996. This detail provides much more of the typical Roagna weightlessness and finesse. Tasted the 2006 for the second time… what can I say: what a wine and archetypical Barolo! Loved it to the bones.
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Ruby red. crystalline and transparent. A beautiful color. Nose is quite forward with red cherry, violets and floral notes. Secondary scents of earth and something dark but still quite pure with great freshness and lift. On the palate this wine contains a unique combination of power and intense structure (tannin and acidity) but also a softness and ripeness that is both young and old. Really amazing and delicious. Ripe red cherry, fresh plum, sweet red berry notes. Silky in texture with good density and precision in the mid palate. A long and haunting finish. This is a baby but also just wonderful right now.
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This ultra limited Riserva version of the Pira 2006 was aged for 5 years in cask and other 10 years in cement. Only 2413 bottles were produced and released in 2021. A real powerhouse, a true representative both of the classic “old school” Barolo fraction and the grand 2006 vintage, which is marked by tannic, hugely structured and sort of immortal Barolos. Roagna crafted a textbook 2006 Barolo here. The flavors here are quite tarry, leathery and overall darker. Blackberries, plum, road tar, licorice, botanical herbs, pine, grilled herbs, tobacco leaf are some of many aromas in this very young Barolo, which seems so far away from being 15 years old. There is a lot of heft but also an extreme level of purity and inner harmony. Once again I notice, that I am quite a big fan of cement used as a container/tool for the (longer) ageing of Nebbiolo. This is a hauntingly beautiful, super classic Barolo. I loved it and hope to re-taste it again soon.
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3/13/2024 - kenv Likes this wine: 98 Points
2006 Barolo (Trattoria One Fifth, NYC.): [Opened around 3pm to check it was sound, so it got just a bit of air.] Stunning nose of black fruit, cloves, and licorice. Sweet red and black fruit in the attack and in the long, complex finish. Expansive and stunningly complex. WOTN.
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3/12/2024 - Sebran Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank blind next to mastroberardino taurasi radici riserva 1998. Very close in terms of quality, but the taurasi had the slight edge in terms of freshness. What this barolo slightly lacked in freshness, it made up with even greater structure and aromatic depth.
Perfect maturity and balance, no need to wait any longer for this beauty. Drink and enjoy :)
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11/9/2023 - Jamieson12o Likes this wine: 96 Points
BBR Piedmont deep dive (BBR): 85-100 yr old vines. Light ruby; almost no garnet whatsoever. Nose is amazing: full of roses and florality. On palate, tannins are almost imperceptible; cherries (almost confected? sweetness from somewhere). This is absolutely brilliant, and so unique/expressive. Not sure I've tasted anything like it!
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10/20/2023 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
Annual Pilgrimage to Piedmont - 2023 Edition; 10/20/2023-10/22/2023 (Piedmont, Italy): Decanted for a good hour and then served blind.
The nose is pretty but the palate of this wine was really singing. We went with Gaja from the 1990s such well developed and elegant the wine was but also with a lot of fruit still around.
The wine is really the best we have tried from Roagna and came to silence Andreas like a slap from Will Smith as he usually runs away from the pricy hype. This was majestic as a wine, rich and elegant well developed fruit , dark fruite yes but ever so elegant light dark fruit, light tar, no sight of oak ( maybe this should have pushed us away from Gaja but hey blind tasting is a tough mistress) . A superb wine , 96 and with a lot more capacity to develop and gain further.
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10/17/2023 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Vinous Piedmont Icons Dinner @ Legacy Records (Legacy Records, NYC): The '06 Riserva Pira was a mindblowing wine, especially after tasting the very rustic '96 Pira and '00 Crichet Paje. The generational change here resulted in a massive difference in the style of the wines, and in my view, a huge improvement in quality.
On the nose, the '06 Pira was quite exotic and primary, showing none of the oxidative and more rustic notes of the earlier wines from Roagna. The fruit is super bright and expressive, with hard-candy like red fruits, exotic, blood orange and citrus fruits, spices, and tobacco. On the palate, the '06 Pira is pure silk, with almost no perception of tannin at all, perfectly balanced from end to end.
The '06 is very primary but is also so expressive and finessed today that I can't really imagine it improving, only changing, with more time. That said, the wine should hold for decades in the cellar.
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3/28/2022 - wineswithmuscles Likes this wine:
This ultra-limited Riserva version of the Pira 2006 was aged for 5 years in cask and other 10 years in cement. Only 2413 bottles were produced and released in 2021. Super classic in all its heart and soul, with a darkish, tarry core and potency - very much in the style of 2006. Blackberry, plum, licorice, smoke, grilled herbs, pipe tobacco are lifted by a firm tannic spine and numerous elements of structure. The 2006 Riserva black label got 10 years less in wood (instead cement) than the former version, 1996. This detail provides much more of the typical Roagna weightlessness and finesse. Tasted the 2006 for the second time… what can I say: what a wine and archetypical Barolo! Loved it to the bones.
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2/2/2022 - SB5784 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Ruby red. crystalline and transparent. A beautiful color. Nose is quite forward with red cherry, violets and floral notes. Secondary scents of earth and something dark but still quite pure with great freshness and lift. On the palate this wine contains a unique combination of power and intense structure (tannin and acidity) but also a softness and ripeness that is both young and old. Really amazing and delicious. Ripe red cherry, fresh plum, sweet red berry notes. Silky in texture with good density and precision in the mid palate. A long and haunting finish. This is a baby but also just wonderful right now.
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10/21/2021 - wineswithmuscles Likes this wine:
This ultra limited Riserva version of the Pira 2006 was aged for 5 years in cask and other 10 years in cement. Only 2413 bottles were produced and released in 2021. A real powerhouse, a true representative both of the classic “old school” Barolo fraction and the grand 2006 vintage, which is marked by tannic, hugely structured and sort of immortal Barolos. Roagna crafted a textbook 2006 Barolo here. The flavors here are quite tarry, leathery and overall darker. Blackberries, plum, road tar, licorice, botanical herbs, pine, grilled herbs, tobacco leaf are some of many aromas in this very young Barolo, which seems so far away from being 15 years old. There is a lot of heft but also an extreme level of purity and inner harmony. Once again I notice, that I am quite a big fan of cement used as a container/tool for the (longer) ageing of Nebbiolo. This is a hauntingly beautiful, super classic Barolo. I loved it and hope to re-taste it again soon.
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