December 10, 2023 - From magnum. Medium ruby in color. Nose is red fruited, some raw cedar, raspberry, forest floor and floral notes. Medium bodied, packed with flavor and a bit spicy. Tannins are still chewy. Acid is medium plus. Finish is dry and longer than average. This can age longer in this format. Enjoyable but it can use a few years in the cellar to polish some edges.
October 18, 2023 - Early in its window, with engaging aromatics, minty and floral. Enough fruit to thoroughly charm up front, with cool mentholated notes, but there’s still lots of gritty tannin on the back end that needs to resolve for my liking. Revisit in 5 years. 92+ pts… Day 2, even better, great intensity, penetrating grip and flavor, more flashy than nuanced, but hard to resist as is.
September 20, 2023 - PnP, stunning. Heavily perfumed nose, well-balanced med>med+ body, with sweet, round tannins, avg++ complexity, and a long, elegant finish. This is in such a sweet spot just now that if you have several, it's really an ideal time to open one. If this bottle was representative, this has another decade of superb drinking yet ahead. Such a joy. RIP Renato. highly recommended
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May 18, 2023 - Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello 2004.
Blir bare bedre og bedre med tid i glasset.
Tørkede blomster, krydder og Swix sitrusrens.
Det utgjør en fin parfyme.
Smooth i anslaget.
Moden deilig frukt med en nedslipt struktur.
Deilig å drikke nå, men heller ikke noe problem å lagre videre.
Presis lang finish med delvis oppløste tanniner.
Fine med litt trøkk i seg fortsatt.
Skikkelig digg vin. 92p+
January 13, 2023 - Drinking nicely per "spendergast" note 12/7/22. My bottle showed notable tannin, though the wine is perfectly balanced. Recommend 2-4 hour decant. Very nice with beef bolognese.
December 7, 2022 - Decanted 90 minutes and paired with venison osso buco. Sadly, my last bottle. Dark ripe fruit, cassis, herbal notes, with well integrated tannins and long finish. Still drinking very well.
August 28, 2021 - I popped this open on a bit of a whim to enjoy with dinner (chestnut and wild mushroom pasta with Pecorino- a wonderful pairing). I wrote a tasting note (to follow below), but then looked up the wine just to find out more information and was saddened to learn that the winemaker Renato Vacca passed away last year. I actually met him once here in Connecticut! Somehow, my local shop arranged for him to host an in store tasting and he was offering a lineup of a few of his wines. I asked him what his favorite was and he said, without any hesitation, "Ovello". He added that though top quality Barbaresco can age for a long time, he thought the best time to enjoy them was with 15 years of age. So I went online and tracked down this beauty. I was not disappointed! Here is the tasting note:
Decanted for about an hour and then back in the bottle for dining al fresco. Very fine sediment that is a pain to separate, but I manage well enough. The wine looks wonderfully youthful: transparent, ruby colored, not a hint of bricking.
It is incredibly fragrant- pouring it into the decanter just filled the room with a lovely bouquet of raspberries, cherries, and flowers. There's a deep earthy note to the aroma, as well as some pleasant dustiness, though they are in the background. The aroma overall comes off as quite young.
In the mouth, the wine enters silky and smooth, the texture is just lovely. But then the lively acidity asserts itself, and you can feel the tannins stick the tongue to the roof of the mouth. They aren't unpleasant at all, but the tannins still have some fire to them. The fruits that were present on the nose are also present in the mouth, but they take a bit of a backseat to other flavors that for some reason are difficult to pin down; earthiness for sure, perhaps that classic tar, and then quite a strong herbal type bitterness that I find quite pleasant and refreshing. I struggle to pin it down- dried bay leaf?, cocktail bitters?, quinine? anyway, something along those lines. The finish is nice and long, and the fruit comes back to the front, mostly cherries.
What a fascinating wine with such a wonderful interplay of fruit, earth, and that beguiling bitterness. I can see why of all his wines, Renato Vacca's favorite is Ovello with 15 yrs of age. Beautiful.
May 19, 2020 - Seemed boring and lacked some excitement. Showing some development but still fresh fruit.
March 18, 2020 - Wonderful bold wine, decanted 2 hours. It has softened in the mouth, full but velvety experience, this was great
September 18, 2018 - Wow, what a gorgeous nose! Somehow it captures one of the best aspects of a freshly-released Barbaresco or Barolo after a good vintage - violets and rose petals galore! Normally I only get this fresh upon release (and particularly of the 2004 vintage, where it was overwhelming). Such a gorgeous nose - red fruits over the perfectly perfumed florals. The palate is still mostly acidic, strongly so, so the structure is still there. It's got a bit of weight to it, however, so I know this will be absolutely STUNNING with a juicy steak. Grippy fine tannins, very long finish. Spectacular.