Judicious blend of Nebbiolo grapes from the finest hillside sites in the commune of Barolo (Liste, San Pietro, Cannubi, Cannubi Boscis and Brunate. It has great substance and is intended to age for many years to arrive at the ultimate goal of balance and harmony. Alcohol, acid and tannin fuse together to form a ful-bodied (sic) structure and the bouquet shows great complexity. An elegant Barolo with true presence: an important wine for important occasions.
Upon opening the bottle a couple days ago, it showed brilliantly with a meal of monster-sized steaks; specifically a porterhouse and a bone-in New York strip, accompanied by sauteed broccoli, a medley of sauteed mushrooms and onions, and some onion rolls. I added some 2005 Barolo to the medley and used the rest of the juices to make into a sauce with more wine and butter to serve on top of the steaks and also added some to the broccoli. A nice little trick I learned from years in the industry is to add some of the wine (same varietal, ideally from the region) you plan on drinking to your sauce.
This is so well-balanced and food-friendly it's making me hungry just tasting the wine, a lovely dance between acidity, fruit, and tannins. A steal at $60. Wine Spectator ($) gave it 94 points in 2007 at a 1997 retrospective tasting:
Ruby-garnet. Aromas of strawberry, lilies and plum. Opens up beautifully. Full-bodied, with very soft and round tannins. Viscous and tannic. Still needs time to polish the tannins. Very concentrated.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Best after 2010. –JS
No comments:
Post a Comment