Community Tasting Note
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sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 92 points
November 6, 2021 - First of 3 ($42.99@) from online wine clearinghouse #2. On the fairly subdued nose and palate, herbal earthiness, light florals, red cherries and currants, a savory, saline note, and smoke. Medium garnet, light to medium bodied, medium legs. Powerful acidity, medium+ tannins, no heat. VG intensity, medium+ persistence, medium complexity. Time was, my cracking a 6 year old Barolo would signal time for a mental competency check, but with the usual excuses--have 2 more, CT reviews indicating readiness, and a general feeling that the '15 vintage is readying faster than many of its counterparts, away we go. This tumbled out the bottle electrically, with jolting but by no means unpleasant acidity, which after a couple hours of air, remained very present, although largely integrated. Super vibrant, food friendly (shining with both crab mac & cheese and a broiled pork chop and veggies) and shockingly balanced for a young barolo, nothing was out of place here, and this highly accessible wine was a pleasure to drink. But what this wasn't, at least at this point, was tremendously profound nor expressive. Much like your top of his junior high school class nephew who keeps interrupting his teachers and otherwise falling short in the social graces, this may well develop, and it could find some more interesting notes, but at this point, this enjoyable wine isn't qualitatively or quantitatively different than the '13 Ascheri barolo I reviewed recently, and, even at the clearinghouse price, was 40% more (let's not even go into the wine.com price), and it bears about as much resemblance to the earlier in the year '12 Vajra Bricco as my syntax in these TNs does to a Shakespearean sonnet. I'll hold off on my other bottles for a couple of years, but you're certainly not committing barolicide if you drink it now. 91-92
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2 Comments
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winepog commented:
11/7/21, 8:36 AM - One of the best reviews I have read. Cheers! My experience with Manzone is that they are generally more austere than other Barolos. It is my plan to give them 10-15 years minimum - I will report back in a couple years.
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sfwinelover1 commented:
11/7/21, 8:42 AM - Thanks, I live for comments like this! My first time with this bottling, and this producer for that matter. I'm not used to a barolo at under 8 (really, under 10, for that matter) drinking this easily, which made me unsure about its longer term durability. I loved the acidity, and if it can hold out while some more classic barolo notes come to the fore, this could certainly climb 2-3 points in my estimation. Cheers, and thanks again!