Piedmont (Piemonte)

This is at peak it would seem.  Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, roses, chocolate and a bit or orange peel.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this has a nice complexity.  Cherries, some dried cherries over forest floor with some fresher notes, slight mushroom and char.  Nice backbone of acidity.  Nice finish.  This begs for food.  Mushroom pasta in a cream sauce would be a nice choice.  Long finish.  Drink over the next five to seven years.  

This is a white from the Piemonte region of northern Italy.  Light silvery gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with a bit of pear and nice minerality.  On the palate, this took some time to open but eventually, the pear come thru as does the minerality.  Nice, slightly oily texture.  It could use a bit more acidity but nevertheless worked nicely on its own and with some Bruschetta.  Drink over the next few years.  

Great showing for this wine.  Pop and pour, it is close to fully mature but not quite.  Medium ruby in color.  The nose took about thirty minutes to open.  Cherries, slight roses, slight menthol, tar and spice.  Full bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, plenty of cherry fruit, some dried cherries, underlying spice and dry earth.  Lots of energy.  Nice balance.  Delicious.  Long finish.  This should easily do another ten and probably 15 more years.  It drinks well on its own, but is better with food.  It went nicely with a Spinach Lasagna.  

This was a relatively inexpensive Barolo on release ($30) from an excellent vintage.  Solid showing although not as good as a bottle a couple of years ago.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, dust and slight tar.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, this has some cherry fruit.  Light tannins.  Moderate finish.  It works better with food and would make a nice meal with pasta.  Probably best to drink this sooner than later.  

This bottle was bought at auction although there were no overt signs of poor storage.  Tasted over two days.  It was good, but we had hoped for more.  Garnet in color, mostly clear.  The nose has cherries, slight tar and dust.  Not very big on the nose.  Medium bodied.  Tannins mostly resolved although slight tannins remain.  On the palate, there are cherries and slight sour cherries.  One dimensional.  On Day 2 a brown sugar note emerges.  This can often mean heat damage in its life or in this case, maybe just old age.  Moderate finish.  This is drinking fine but was probably better ten ye

From one of the best Co-Ops making wine anywhere in the world, this is their base level Barbaresco.  And, as they seem to do a few times every decade, they nailed it in 2016.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with cherries, spices, forest floor and slight mint.  On the palate, this has a lovely lush texture.

This is drinking well right now.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose has black cherries, plums, roasted meats and slight tar.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, the black cherries come thru with an underlying charred meat quality.  Good acidity.  Nice structure.  Light tannins.  The finish is moderate.  This probably should be consumed in the next five years or so.  It works better with food.  A nice mushroom pasta dish would be a good choice.  

Vietti makes some great value wines and some top Barolos.  This one is their entry level Barolo and it is a very nice value and a very nice Barolo!  At age 19 from a great vintage, this is showing some maturity but certainly not all the way there yet.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim with no browning.  The nose is nice with cherries, black cherries, spice and tar.  Medium to full bodied with light tannins.  On the palate, this has a nice complexity as the layers unwind in the glass.  Flavors of cherries over a bit of forest floor and damp earth.  Very smooth.  Nice finish.  This should con

This is a lightly sparkling (frizzante) red wine from Italy.  It is made from Brachetto grapes.  This is meant to be an easy, low alcohol (5.5%) fun wine and it achieves that goal.  Ruby in color with a pink froth.  Clear and bright.  The nose has cherries and sour cherries.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, this is sweet with cherries, strawberries and candied cherries.  It is easy to drink and probably a bit better on its own that with food although it will work well with chocolate.  Drink over the next year or two.  

 This is another fun wine from this producer.  It comes in attractive packaging although the screw top actually has a tiny leak in it and left a small pool in the fridge.  No worries, the wine was sound and it is only the second time I have seen such a closure fail.  This is a lightly sparkling (frizzante) rose that checks in at 5.5% abv.  It is a blend of Moscato and Brachetto grapes.  Pale salmon in color a white froth.  The nose has pink grapefruit and strawberries and slight simple syrup notes.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, this is semi-sweet with nice watermelon notes.  Great acidity