Score: 91/100
This D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) wine from Bruno Rocca Rabajà is made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes coming from vineyards the village of Neive.
This is obviously from the Piedmont (or Piemonte) region of Northern Italy.
Soils there are clayish tuff with some sandy veins..
The wine was vinified in stainless steel tanks before being aged for 18 months in French oak barrels (barriques).
Tasting Notes:
The wine is of a surprising rather-pale orange red color. It looks like an almost pale Pinot Noir, but less purple than a PN would be, more on the orange/yellow red hues. Curious!
Mid-intensity nose, with notes of coffee liqueur, herbs (thyme, rosemary), sour cherry, and a light smokiness.
The palate is much more powerful than appearance and nose suggested. The wine is full-bodied, filed with grippy yet velvety tannins, and good acidity. These grippy tannins, well go increasingly gripping your taste buds up to a drying finish. Despite a certain rusticity, they’re well coated in oak tannins and feel smooth enough. Just a granulous texture that suggests the wine needs to be enjoyed with food preferably.
The wine is filled with ripe fruit flavors, cherry and pomegranate. There’s a wealth of oaky notes too: vanilla, chocolate, clove, and a marked smokiness again. Plenty of exuberant herbal flavors too, pronounced tobacco as well as the tarry element typical of the Nebbiolo grape.
Long and layered finish.
Overall
Not always an easy exercise to look beyond the color of a wine.
This one gives too much preconceived ideas away in its appearance. Despite the relatively light color, it’s a solid wine delivering body, richness, ripe fruit, loads of herbs, and a wealth of grippy tannins. The whole comes together rather harmoniously in an overall warming and satisfying feeling.
Wine Pairing
Pair it with subtle yet tasty herbal meat dishes or grilled meats, and it will go an even longer way.
Please let me know your thoughts