2011 Gianfranco Alessandria Barolo San Giovanni

Community Tasting Notes (2) Median Score: 90 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Rich289's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/16/2021 - Rich289 Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Drinking very well after 1 hour decant. Subtle vanilla, cola, cherry and berry. Nicely balanced with enough tannin to give structure. Smooth medium length finish.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View forceberry's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/9/2017 - forceberry wrote: 86 Points

  Aged for 24 months in French barriques (50% new) and at least for another 12 months in bottles before release. 15% alcohol.
  
  Luminous, translucent dark cherry red color. Quite sweet-toned and fragrant nose with nuanced aromas of ripe dark cherries, some dried or raisined dark fruit, a little bit of toasty oak spice, a hint of sweeter oak tones of vanilla and a touch of alcohol. The wine is very ripe, full-bodied and pretty warm on the palate with juicy flavors of sour cherries, some sweet oak spice, a little bit of leather, hints of dried pruney fruit and a touch of cherry marmalade. The structure relies more on the firm and still rather grippy tannins than on the acidity, which is more medium-to-moderate than high. The finish is ripe, rich and sweet with flavors of super-juicy dark cherries, pruney dark fruits, some alcohol warmth, a little bit of sweet oak spice, a hint of vanilla and a touch of woody bitterness. The ample tannins lend a quite grippy note to the sweet and rather warm aftertaste.
  
  A very ripe and juicy Barolo from the modern end. The wine shows the tannins and concentration typical of Barolo, but overall the wine really doesn't hit the spot, because it feels too high in alcohol, too low in acidity and - above all - too oaky. The oak hopefully will integrate with the fruit with time, but the high alcohol and low acidity can't be helped. The wine isn't too excessive on either one, meaning that the wine doesn't come across as boozy or too flabby, but it is definitely too sweet and warm for my taste. I assume the wine be much more harmonious and sophisticated after some 10 years in a cellar, but it isn't more than a quite good Barolo now and I seriously doubt it will ever be much beyond that.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.