This is a rather delicious Barolo from Mauro Veglio. Aired for at least an hour, it opens to powerful aromatics of licorice and florals. The palate has firm acidity, very firm tannins and great length on the finish. This wine can be approached now, but will be best in a decade or more. Rating: Very Good. Abv: 14.5%. Price: $85. Website: http://www.mauroveglio.com.
Tag: Nebbiolo
This is a good Langhe nebbiolo from Benevelli, particularly at $28. An aroma of sour cherry, chalk and potpourri. Fruity, for nebbiolo. The palate has good length, firm acidity and a youthful spritz. A quibble: one bottle corked (four tasted). Rating: Good to Very Good. Abv: 14%. Price: $28. Website: n/a.
Topper’s Mountain’s Bricolage Rouge is an unorthodox blend of tempranillo, nebbiolo, tannat and shiraz. Ruby in colour, its aroma reminds of red fruits, smoke and minerals. The palate is medium bodied, with some chalky tannin and good length, and flavours reminding of red fruit, with a savoury, almost Italianate sour cherry aspect. The winemaker sure can blend, as these are not obvious blending partners. This is an enjoyable and very good wine that is ready to drink now. Rating: Good to Very Good. Abv: 13.5%. Price: $30. Source: Sample.
Topper’s Mountain in New England have produced an approachable rendition of nebbiolo in the 2014 vintage. It opens to aromatics of florals and red fruits. The palate has pleasant if dialled back acidity and grip. Ready to drink now, this wine can be approached over the next 5 years. Rating: Good. Abv: 13.4%. Price: $20+. Source: Sample.
This is a good rendition of a nebbiolo from Rowlee in Orange. It has restrained aromatics that remind of actual cherries. Decant this wine, as the palate really improves with time in the glass. There are quite firm fine tannins and good length and balance, and – no mean feat – the impression is varietal. A well made local nebbiolo. Rating: Good. Abv: 14%. Price: $40. Source: Sample.
From the highly regarded Bruno Giacosa, the newly arrived 2015 vintage of the Nebbiolo d’Alba is a very good wine. The knowledgeable team at East End Cellars in Adelaide put me in this wine’s direction. In the glass, there are sour cherry and earthy aromas. The palate has grippy tannins softened by an edge of sour cherry fruit, fresh acidity and mid range length. Double decanted several hours prior to serving. I would just decant it next time. Rating: Good to Very Good. Abv: 14%. Price: $80+.
This is a very good Barbaresco from La Ca Nova. The 2014 vintage has rose and floral aromatics. The palate has great length, towards a full body and fresh acidity. I could drink this all day. With a price in the $60s, it’s great value too for the appellation. (Alc: 14%, Region: Barbaresco, Piemonte, Italy, Rating: Very Good, Drink: now to 2027+, Tasted: August, 2017)
Read more:
lacanova.net
Other vintages reviewed:
NA
This is a well made Barolo from Boroli in Piemonte. My texts do not reveal much on this producer, although you can fossick around on their website at the link below. The 2010 vintage, a great one in the region, tasted here has typical nebbiolo aromatics of roses, dried roses and sour cherry. The palate is balanced in expression, with high acidity and grippy tannins. For circa $50, a good buy.(Alc: 13.5%, Region: Barolo, Piemonte, Italy, Rating: Good, Drink: now to 2031)
Read more:
www.boroli.com/en/
This is a very good Barolo from Massolino in the Barolo subregion of Serralunga d’Alba. There’s a bit more about Massolino in this interesting article from Stephen Brook in Decanter on some of the top Barolo and Barbaresco producers (see the link here).
The 2012 vintage has aromatics of herbs, roses and bright cherry. The fruit tastes delicious, the tannins are built to last and the length really quite long. Classic Barolo in a firm Serralunga style. One to buy. (Alc: not recorded, Region: Barolo, Rating: Very Good, Drink: now (with decanting) and well into the future)
Read more:
www.massolino.it
I suspect I am late to the party, but I have been very impressed by some recent nebbiolos. First came an excellent tasting a couple of months ago (my notes are here) and then, more recently, I presented three nebbiolos blind to get an objective view and was really pleased with them. The first wine I have reviewed previously and was Traversa’s Starderi Barbaresco from the 2010 vintage. I really cannot recommend this wine highly enough (for my earlier review see here).
The second wine was Luigi Baudana’s Barolo also from the 2010 vintage. With the benefit of a decent decant (~2 hours), this wine showed classic aromas of tar, roses and licorice. The palate has high acidity and towards long length. Fresh and delicious, this Barolo has a long life ahead of it. The third and final wine was a ring in from the Yarra Valley – a nebbiolo from Luke Lambert and the 2014 vintage. A tiny amount of this wine is produced – only 1367 bottles – but it is worth tracking down. Tasted blind, many were confused by its pinot noir like characters and, to be honest, I would have been too. It has pungent aromas of fruit, roses and fresh soil. The palate shows an acidity and balance that more closely resembles a Piemonte expression of the grape than most of the Australian nebbiolos I have tasted to date.
Read more:
www.lukelambertwines.com.au