January 15, 2023 - By the glass. Traditional bottle of Barolo on the nose of this well-known winery. Delicious fresh cherries on the nose with that expected bitter touch. On the palate it is excessively juicy, structured and quite long. Obviously it needs an extra time to develop its full potential.
Por copas. Tradicional botella de Barolo en nariz de esta conocida casa. Deliciosas cerezas frescas en nariz con ese esperado toque amargo. En boca se muestra excesivamente jugosa, estructurada y larga. Obviamente necesita de un tiempo extra para desarrollar todo su potencial.
November 28, 2022 - Piemonte: Back to the truffling!; 11/24/2022-12/3/2022 (Wineries and various restaurants): Pretty in style. This is dark and brooding and black fruits and more intense and 20-25% new oak (not a fan of this choice) which has an influence on the style. The fruit wants to get through and it almost does but not quite. 2 years barrique, 2 years bottle age. Lots of tannins. Give it some time. I like a number of other regions wine with time in oak with enough time after.
May 5, 2022 - Likely can go higher in time score-wise, but at this point the alcohol is poking out a bit more than I'd like, with also some distracting caramel that I don't love in Nebbiolo. But the fruit is concentrated as you expect from a 2016 (fruit concentration the hallmark of 2016s) with great depth, power and structure. Definitely a wine that needs to be left to find its potential over time - drinking it in the next 5 years (if not next 10 years) is surely a waste.
December 26, 2021 - Boxing day at NY Verden: Easy to tell that this was a young modernist Barolo - guessed 15 at first. At first I didn't like this so much as the oak on the nose was obstrusive and the alcohol was showing a little too much. When I revisited this a few hours later at the end of dinner, it had become much more integrated. Superb concentration of fruit and exceptional length. Has all the makings of a great wine but needs a lot more time, so am glad this was opened by a generous friend instead of my own.
December 20, 2021 - Some Barolo Stars: Three superstar Barolos from the 2016 vintage tasted side by side. All three showed the amazing potential of this great vintage. Winner was the Burlotto Monvilgiero (98 pts, tasted double blind) due to its singularity, purity and the most Burgundian structure. Close second, the Sandrone Le Vigne (97 pts, tasted double blind), highly complex, superb purity and an ultra-fine structure. Not far behind, the Vietti Ravera (96 pts), a mix between the two other wines in terms of aroma profile and structure. Like all three, already quite approachable with some time.
TN: With some time, the wine opened up nicely. Medium+ expressive, elegant nose with lots of rose water, tar, toeffe, caramel, earthy notes. As textbook Barolo as Barolo can be. On the palate there is a beautiful fruit core full of pure, fresh strawberries, around that layers of herbal notes, earthy aromas, roses and tar and again a touch of caramel. At first with one or the other edge, this became so round with ultra-fine tannins, a perfectly integrated, medium+ acidity, very light structure and feel. Good length with lots of fruit and earthy notes. Great balance and quite complete already, despite being this young.
Decanting: Decanted for 60 minutes, got better in the glass, so could even use a bit more air.
December 10, 2021 - If you have enough to try one now, the energy in this wine is breathtaking. Just hinting at what it will be when it all comes together. No idea what a “perfect” wine is, but feel fortunate I have enough of these to follow for the next 15+ years. I’ve had a few barolo as good, but only one I can say was better, and that’s on the margins. Magnificent.
December 8, 2021 - Goosebumps. Decanted 1h, more would definitely not be wrong at this stage but this actually worked quite well. Intense bright red berry fruit of cherry and raspberry, somewhat earthy, smoke, graphite and rose pedals, various layers of spice and seasoning. Develops more peppery and herbal aromatics that permeate the bouquet like ivy. Also adding a good amount of tobacco in the end. The nose immediately comes across very classic, archetypical Barolo. Palate is fresh, juicy with lots of structure and soft and round tannins. The detail here is absolutely fantastic, the precision is laser-sharp. There is an uncompromising adherence to purity, awe-inspiring linerarity. What it comes to Barolo, this is as good as it gets and I get bursts of joy thinking that this is only the beginning. In the direct face-off against Burlotto Monvigliero and Vietti Ravera 2016 this came on top for me, although the group may have favoured the Burlotto.
February 20, 2021 - Sandrone's 2016 Barolo Vigne is a wine of power with riper fruit than typical for the vintage, dried florals, cinnamon, and balsamic notes. Showing a bit more maturity than other 2016s at this point, too.
December 30, 2020 - This wine is so much more approachable than the Aleste. Its elegant classic rose petal cinnamon fruit cake thing going on. I think its the addition of Serralunga fruit.
December 27, 2020 - I drank the Aleste first and was not impressed rustic closed... This wine is so classic rose petal cinnamon cake fruit nose lovely ...