June 16, 2022 - China King. Color looks right for early maturity. Lovely nose. Palate not as expressive as I'd have liked.
August 27, 2020 - This wine is in a perfectly glorious place. I coravined off a glass, and immediately was overtaken by a voluptuous, intense, heady experience that is Castiglione di Falletto at its best -- red, red fruit, rusty iron, intensely aromatic, lifted, a bit of VA but just enough to bring tension and make this truly exciting. Reminded me of a similar impression with 85 Monprivato, but this was on the darker end of the red fruit spectrum. And on the edge of the bouquet, a solid ring of concentrated nebbiolo fruit that gave a sweet impression and held the sensations together. Just a blockbuster to savor and enjoy without any temptation to taste. The palate is perhaps more resolved than I would have expected from the bouquet, especially for the vintage. I'd be very curious to see what emerges when this is given some air time, because all of these impressions are based on less than an hour's time to breathe. If the fruit opens up the score above may prove to be conservative. I enjoyed this on a zoom tasting with some friends and promise done we'd drink together. Writing this note, I'm not sure the wine will survive past the upcoming holiday weekend, but it will be handled with great care. Great anticipation to see if the palate can be comparable to the bouquet. But even so, just a profound bottle of Barolo!
October 4, 2019 - And this is where the Giacosing of the evening gets really absurd. I KNOW this is a very good wine but because it is more savory it fades against the Giacosa. I mean what was really going on with the 1996s Red Labels? The crazy thing is that the 1996 Falletto and Asili taste more like each other than they do like other wines from 1996. It's that crazy, deep succulent fruit. I mean, what the fuck? I generally think that folks are say that only Red Labels are truly world class nebbiolo are asshats and probably bankers but maybe they're right, at least in 1996. I've also never had a Red Label from other vintages so thoroughly control an evening. I can't tell whether I'm thankful to Kirk or pissed off at him for opening this.
December 9, 2018 - Mature. Great nose of tar, petrol and hint of smoke. Still fresh with red fruit, mint, and earth. Wish I had another.
September 8, 2018 - Pretty stern day one, good balance and seems like it will be a good wine, but not offering much, even with grilled lamb chops. Substantial improvement day 2.
February 26, 2018 - Dinner at Formento's (Chicago, IL): This was somewhere between the Sandrone and Mascarello in terms of readiness. Only a 2 hour decant, which I don't think helped as it could have used another 4-5 hours of air. Nose is tight but shows very classic with loads of tar. Again, the palate is quite classic with tarry cherry for days. Still quite firm and grippy. More cellar time probably needed, but the ceiling on this wine isn't too high.
February 26, 2018 - Dinner at Formento's with Michael (Chicago, IL): Like Marcarini, Brovia is one of those classic Piedmont producers which I just don't get. This wine had everything I could want -- a nice red fruit profile, hints of earth and florals, decent acidity -- but it just doesn't excite me at all. It's a good wine, well made, but it seems to lack something to electrify it. I'll note, as well, that this is an incredibly structured wine, and quite tight, and it's possible I was on the receiving end of a really grumpy wine. I'd age my bottles more if I had any.
October 24, 2017 - Erbaluce. I thought the best of a "modernist" flight though not really in that camp. Anyway, expressive nose, nice bright dark fruit, very good depth, still plenty of tannin but drinking well with roasted duck. Drink now or for years.
October 24, 2017 - Italian Wines in Boston: Dark red. Spicy nose. Tight and tannic. Still needs time.
November 3, 2016 - You just have to love when you sit on an old bottle of wine - and it ages perfectly. This was it. Shared with a winemaker friend, who also found it to be quite outstanding.