2008 G.D. Vajra Barbera d'Alba Superiore

Community Tasting Notes (19) Avg Score: 91.6 points

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  2/5/2022 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Dark maroon colour. Notes of blackberry, black plum, smoky barbequed meats, espresso and dark chocolate on the nose. A rich and full bouquet of ripe dark fruit. A velvety entry to the palate. Dense, concentrated and powerful. Smooth fine grained tannins. Ripe dark plums, black cherries, graphite, crème de cassis, clove and black liquorice. Savoury, earthy nuance. Fresh acidity. Good length. Seemingly drinking at, or near, its peak.
  
  In my opinion, Vajra's Barbera d'Alba Superiore is one of the top Barberas in all Piemonte. The 2008 is the best Vajra Superiore I have had, although, with time, the 2016 may surpass it. 93+.

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  5/24/2021 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 93 Points

  I haven't had this in a while. Still deep purple color, with just some lightening up towards the rim. Open, aromatic and full of finesse (in the context of Barbera), this is showing really nice notes of just ripe black cherries, some black currant, spices of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, also some crushed violets, graphitey minerality and some herbal notes too. It's medium+ bodied, with excellent mid-palate persistence, it has high acidity providing almost electric tension and low tannin that has pretty much melted away. Long finish with excellent freshness. A beautiful, finessed and elegant Barbera to drink now and over the next 2-3 years. Love it!

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  9/22/2020 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Another bottle. Similar thoughts to in my earlier 2020 TN. Ideally it needs 3-5+ more years but still classy Barbera now.

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  1/13/2020 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 93 Points

  A very serious, high quality, relatively backward Barbera (typically - as here - one of the best Barberas from all of Piemonte). Black red colour. Threw a lot of sediment. Drunk over two evenings, much more open and better on the second. In the next few years, give this wine plenty of air. A powerful bouquet with notes of dark spices, black currants and blackberries, earth, hung barbequed smoky meat and graphite. In the mouth, intense, powerful, structured, plush and full. Black plums, dark cherries, espresso, dark chocolate, earth and red liquorice. Quite persistent acidity. Fine grained tannins. Some secondary development. Fine and polished, not at all rustic. Even on the second evening, still a little closed and austere. Obviously however more open than reported in my 2015 TN. My 2015 drinking window of 5-8 years was - with the benefit of hindsight - weighted a little short. It is (very) drinkable now, but I suspect it will be even better in 3-5+ more years.

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  9/15/2019 - ILarsen wrote: 92 Points

  We really liked it not a lot to add to my last rating - happy to stay at 92.

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