Community Tasting Note

• Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 96 points

  October 15, 2020 - The '13 BdV continues to be a gorgeous wine, even if it's showing only a fraction of its potential today. On the nose, I found dark red cherry fruit, plum, violets, lavender, exotic spices, and minerality. The nose is cool in tone and the profile of the fruit suggests an almost hard-candy like sweetness, On the palate, the wine was less giving at this stage, but showed a beautiful inner sweetness and great finesse in the tannins, with a texture packing a high concentration of fruit into a mid-weight, elegant package. A wave of sweet dark red fruit and violet tones flowed across the palate, culminating in a finish that was long with exotic spices & saline minerality.
  
  While I found the '13 Vajra BdV is more shut down than it was a year ago or on release, the quality of the wine is clear. It's an incredibly beautiful wine, and not only one of the best QPRs of the 2013 vintage, but one of the top wines at any price.
  
  I tasted the '16 BdV last week. I think it's hard to declare a winner, and they're both incredible wines. I think the '16 BdV is a bit more explosive and concentrated than the '13, while the '13 is a touch more finessed. They are both elegant wines in an absolute sense, and both possess striking levels of sweetness both in the aromatics and on the palate. Both have shown abnormal complexity at an early age - the '16 is a bit more expressive and obvious today, but so was the '13 at the same age.

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8 Comments

• SARED commented:

  10/15/20, 8:37 PM - " think the '16 BdV is a bit more explosive and concentrated than the '13, while the '13 is a touch more finessed." I think this probably the case for the vintage generally? And the trick is finding finessed 2016s for what is a warmer year than 2013. I just happened to buy a lot of 2016s already though, so my hunt is over and I will see how things shake out in a decade...!

• Robmcl920 commented:

  10/16/20, 6:07 AM - I'm inclined to say yes given the alcohol levels are a bit higher (for example, while who knows how accurate, this '13 BdV is marked 14% while the '16 is marked 14.5%). I do think the '16s have been richly textured wines that are more giving in the early going. I don't think it's a bad thing, as the best '16s, the BdV being one of them, are more richly textured than the '13 but still have plenty of elegance. I think it's the same with the Vietti Rocche which I just had the '13 of the other day. There though, I think the '16 is clearly the better wine, which might be the only case where I've tasted both vintages from a top producer and think the '16 is clearly better.

• SARED commented:

  10/16/20, 7:10 AM - I thought the Grasso and Brovia 16s were clearly better than the 13s. Perhaps Burlotto as well. Sounds like Cogno and Cavallotto getting more buzz in 2016. Sandrone maybe as well? And Scavino? Curious about Fratelli Alessandria.

• Robmcl920 commented:

  10/16/20, 7:18 AM - With Brovia I thought it was a mixed bag. I thought the Villero was better in '16, but the '13 Rocche was probably the best wine of the bunch for me and in my view the '16 isn't at the same level. Nice wine in '16 but I thought the '13 Rocche was more intriguing.
  
  Grasso you might be right, but I also think the wines in '13 are just more shut down at this point so can't really do a side by side. The '13 Gavarini was incredible at times closer to release; a bottle a year ago was very shut down. I think I'd give the edge to the '16 but with some of these I think it'll take time to figure out.
  
  Sandrone is getting more attention in '16, but I thought the '13 Le Vigne was just as good. Didn't take a note to compare, but I doubt quality has changed much.
  
  Scavino - I have no experience, but I think they've been toning down the oak. So that may be example of a producer changing style / improving.
  
  I guess maybe the only thing you can say for sure at this point is they're both great vintages, and both with a lot of wines worth stocking up on. With rare exception you can't go wrong in either vintage.

• Robmcl920 commented:

  10/16/20, 7:20 AM - On the Fratelli Alessandria, I opened a Monvigliero last weekend. I liked it but wasn't floored. AG just rated it 97 in his second roundup of 2016 Barolo. I might be underestimating it but I didn't think it was at quite the same level as Vajra, Grasso, etc in '16. It is a very different flavor profile however, so it's clearly worth owning some for diversity.

• joostentamara commented:

  10/16/20, 8:02 AM - And Flavio Roddolo didn't even release his Barolo Ravera 2012.
  I am sure that Flavio's Barolo Ravera 2013 and 2016 will be the best of all.😂

• SARED commented:

  10/16/20, 11:50 AM - I pulled a 2016 Brovia Rocche to compare...

• joostentamara commented:

  10/16/20, 3:24 PM - Way too young!
  We enjoyed a Barolo Bricco delle Viole 2012.
  We had risotto with gorgonzola dolce, radiccio, hazelnuts and a great piece of meat from the grill
  with it.
  It is also a matter of combining with food.
  And ofcourse it is a matter of taste.
  More important than buying a topnotch wine.
  Anyone could do that.😂😂😂😂😎😉

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