April 30, 2024 - Excellent right out of the gate. A garden of flowers are opening up the nostrils at the first whiff. What a start! Underwood and a touch of anise is following, making the nose a real treat. The palate is coated with red berries and anise. The tannins are really present, and so are the acidity. Together with the forward fruit I believe this wine has a nice, long life ahead - but drinks beautifully now.
Sadly, only 2 more left. Wish I had more.
March 14, 2024 - Slow O'd for two hours, decanted for three. Tanzer, writing a dozen years ago, found "black cherry, dark raspberry and spices" and these have integrated well into what has become an expansive Barolo with fruit that leans red. Not especially sophisticated on a relative scale, but offering great drinking pleasure right now. Paired with grilled prime NY strip steak, mushrooms, carrots.
March 6, 2024 - Nice wine with good balance between red fruits and tannin. Drank nicely with rib eye.
December 2, 2023 - Fresh and good and benefilts from a 2.5 hrs decant.
Body, depth and a velvety feel of quality. Slightly tarry, rosey, beautiful and magnificent.
November 28, 2023 - Aroma of cherries and pine needles. Medium-bodied with copious tannin and brisk acidity. This is correct but unexciting. 89
October 21, 2023 - Obviously oxidized, despite a perfect cork, this is a disappointment.
August 19, 2023 - Penultimate of 4 bottles, last consumed a bottle about a year ago.
Enjoyed with bone-in ribeye's this evening, what a lovely pairing.
Tart red cherry and tobacco leaf, alongside anise and charcoal.
Resolving tannins, still showing some grittiness and staying power, with gorgeous acidity and a long, tart red cherry finish.
Drink through 2025+.
August 12, 2023 - This wine continues to be absolutely delicious. Black cherries, violets, and savory licorice tones. Tannins are totally integrated and the wine is a ton of fun to drink.
July 16, 2023 - Bright colour for its age: garnet with an orange tinge.
The aroma smells of roses and red fruit with a hint of green character in the background, something mint-esque. There is some earthiness but overall is quite bright and floral. The aromatic intensity is moderate, as Barolos go, nothing overpowering but really beautiful.
The tannins have a velvet texture that stick to the tongue but without lasting too long. The acidity is mellow but the wine comes out nicely tart, bright and smooth. The flavour of this wine is amazing and the complexity is good.
I expect this wine will keep another 8 to 10 years. As I understand it, Barolos go through a stage of floral aroma with some fruit and earthy notes before they age into tertiary flavours. I expect this to evolve to the tobacco, dried fruits and leather notes around 2030. This is a really really lovely wine, thoroughly enjoyed!
July 13, 2023 - Absolutely superb. Pop and pour- still ruby red but with a ferrous tinge compared to an open langhe Nebbiolo. Floral nose and frankly also a floral palate at the beginning- opened to reveal cool camphor and balsamic depths. For me this is at its peak and I’ll aim to polish the case in the next 18 months before it becomes too teriary. Albe, as it’s name infers, is an early look at what we can expect from a vintage- and I’d say 2010 is going to be glorious!