April 11, 2024 - Lively nose right at the pop - intensity lowers after a bit but remains healthy and lovely. No decanting this time - doesn't need it - just drink it slowly - 30 mins in the glass. First word that came to mind was deep. After that, a dense wall of taste manifests. I mean this is a powerful Barolo. Visually, one of the more opaque renderings of Barolo. 50/5/18/12/8
March 8, 2024 - This is quite advanced with a soy, baslamic and mushroom nose. The palate is marginally better with a sense of depth and richness on the mid-palate, but it dries quickly on the finish. Advanced. NR.
August 23, 2023 - No formal notes. This was just outstanding. Drinks perfectly now. Double-decanted about 4 hours before serving which it needed. It will improve still from here so no rush
August 16, 2023 - Italian evening at Nick's (Chez Nick): This bottle also completely correct and beautiful in a way that only Barolo can be. This perhaps did not soar out of the glass in quite the same way but it was no less delicious for that. I have no notes, only memories of a floral and quite sleek wine that belied its age and was lovely to sip on a warm evening.
August 16, 2023 - Ferragosto feast! (Chez Nick): Had a similarly long decant to the Casa Mate, but to me felt readier at the end of that process, with a touch of savour added to the fruit on the nose. Sleekly textured on the palate, with lovely red fruit, crisp acidity and powdery tannins. I slightly preferred the authoritative Case Mate, but this is also an excellent wine.
August 16, 2023 - Nick’s Festa di Ferragosto; 8/16/2023-8/17/2023: Really exiting nose with pomegranate, light tar, red earth.
On the palate some umeshu and pomegranate
Perhaps a bit more elegant than the Casa Mate but today the latter edged it overall (though both at 94 points) though the stemware difference accounting for a lot. Great wine.
August 16, 2023 - Niccolo's Ferragosto Feast (Chez Nick): Richer, less expansive than the Casa Mate from the same vintage- although it's all relative because this has a great degree of transparency and aromatic depth by regular standards. Cherry, some fresh plum, violets, baking spice, a herbal note (fennel?). Bear in mind I was basically pickled by this point so my faculties may have been compromised…
November 1, 2022 - Ripe tar, roses, leather, all the usual suspects and wonderful. 2-ish hours to open. Dark red fruits
October 30, 2022 - The nose really draws you in with candied cherries and orange zest. The palate also has a candied cherry note with licorice and roses. Tannins start out soft but become fiercer with air. This is my last of 3 bottles purchased on release, and this one is the best, but it has a lot of life left.
September 13, 2022 - The ‘06 Grasso is an attractive wine, although it seems a bit muddled in comparison to the wines being made at Grasso since 2008. On the nose, I found dark red cherry fruit, menthol, sweet spices, licorice, and orange peel. On the palate, I found dark red cherry with a hint of dark chocolate, sweet spices, and licorice, with the finish highlighting the chocolate, spice, and herbal notes more so than the fruit. The wine had medium acidity with slightly grainy tannins, lacking some of the finesse the Grasso wines now show. The wine is a bit too dark and lacking freshness to be a truly great wine in my opinion; it’s somewhat monolithic.