Community Tasting Note

• Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 95 points

  June 4, 2021 - The ‘16 Asili is a captivating wine. It is the most refined of the ‘16 Riservas I have tasted. It opens with an intoxicating perfume of sweet red cherry fruit, red roses, exotic spices, blood orange fruit adding an upper register, and a bit of fresh herbs contributing freshness. On the palate, it is extremely concentrated as I’ve found all of the ‘16 Riservas to be, but the Asili is complete and refined in a way the others aren’t at this stage. As with the aromatics, the palate mostly features beautifully sweet and fresh red fruit, rose, and spice tones. The acidity is high and the tannins are strong, but I found them surprisingly finely textured and integrated. The Asili is already beautiful and it seems destined to be an outstanding bottle at maturity.

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4 Comments

• Seth Rosenberg commented:

  7/30/21, 6:45 AM - Just wanted to say that this is a great note.

• pods commented:

  10/3/21, 12:17 PM - I get the sense, for you, that asili might be the star of the produttori 16 lineup like the Rabaja was in the Produttori 13 lineup…..but overall the riservas are slightly overshadowed by other Piemonte producers in 16 (vajra etc)? Thank you in advance.

• Robmcl920 commented:

  10/3/21, 12:31 PM - I tasted the '16 Rabaja but didn't take notes unfortunately. I definitely thought it was an impressive wine, very dense and dark/spicy in profile. I don't know there is a clear winner between the Rabaja and Asili in '16. If I were to pick one to drink tonight it'd be the Asili. At least in this one showing, it was more perfumed and felt more like a complete wine than drinking raw material that has potential. If you're asking what is the better wine long-term, I'd probably guess the Rabaja, although it's always going to depend on what you are looking for (the Asili seeming like a prettier wine in this vintage with red fruit and floral aromas, the Rabaja black fruit, lavender, balsamic etc).
  
  In terms of '13 vs. '16 Rabaja, hard to say. I thought the '13 Rabaja was insanely beautiful when I first tasted it in 2019. I thought it was a powerhouse but not that enjoyable to drink yet, with pretty grainy tannins, when I tasted it in 2020. The '16 Rabaja was probably more like that second encounter, very raw and powerful, and I do love the dark fruit / lavender / balsamic flavor profile, but it's not ready for consumption yet. So which one is better - I'm not sure, if I was comparing my first tasting of the '13 with my tasting of the '16, I'd pick the '13, if I were comparing the second tasting of the '13 to the '16, I'd say they're pretty even or maybe a slight edge to the '16, seems even denser so maybe better long-term....

• pods commented:

  10/3/21, 12:56 PM - Thank you as always for sharing your insights! I bulked up on the normale…riservas have proved harder getting them in Canada. So trying figure out buying strategy.

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