Community Tasting Note
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Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 94 points
July 10, 2021 - Note made about 4 hours after opening and decanting.
Colour shows some of what I regard as characteristic Barolo bricking (you can see it in quite young Barolo and it doesn't mean the wine is starting to enter its later stage of life), with a deep garnet centre, fading as you tilt the glass with a noticeable clear edge.
Wonderful, arresting nose of plum, strawberry, candied peel, something slightly medicinal (some people might find this off putting - I don't) and a hint of dried herbs. Heaven.
Palate delivers on the promise of the nose and in spades. This wine has great intensity, tremendous length and drive and the tannins are fine and ripe, albeit plentiful. This is drinking pleasure. What on earth was I doing drinking a budget price Pinot last night? Clearly dabbling in social democrat tendencies, when I should have gone the full Partisan and stayed with my Brigate Ross roots. If this wine doesn't have you wanting to belt out 'Ciao Bella Ciao' then you must be dead (or deserve to be). Dare I say it, this is damned near better than battery and far less exertion.
There was a moment of serendipity here as Neil Young's 'Pocohontas' came on my sound system as I was gargling and the ethereal elements of this wine sat nicely with the whimsical and even dream-like elements of Young's Pocohontas.
Sarmassa tends to develop a bit more power than Cannubi and you see it in this wine. The 2013 vintage delivers yet another really good, relatively early drinking pleasure. A vintage worth hunting out whilst you wait for the 2010's to really develop.2 people found this helpful 1,873 views