Score: 92/100
This D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) wine from Bruno Rocca 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 color is quite pale, red slightly orange to the rim. It does look quite pale for a Nebbiolo wine.
The nose is relatively intense though, first dominated by spicy notes of clove and nutmeg. At swirling the wine, both the fruit and the oak aromas are revealed: ripe sour cherry and blackberry liqueur, and vanilla and dark cocoa.
On the palate, the wine is full bodied, with velvety tannins that turn a little drying on the finish. There’s solid acidity that becomes a bit sharp in the end.
The aromas detected on the nose turn into an explosion of intense flavors: oak and plenty of spices. It also very herbal: thyme, rosemary, laurel, sage marry intense and warm red berry fruit characters.
Overall:
A charming Barbaresco wine that satisfy by the freshness of its fruit characters and its marked herbal notes. The relative lightness of its body and tannins make it approachable, easy to enjoy and drink despite a detectable warmth from quite high and alcohol (14.5% on the label). But the aromatic and flavor intensity of a good and solid Barbaresco are there and unmistakably delivered.
When to drink?
It’s already very good to drink now to enjoy the wine’s fresh fruit character. The color and the aromatic profile the wine’s matured already giving out a great complexity.
With the acidity that it has though, chances are it will develop harmoniously and develop further complexity and savory notes over the next 3 to 5 years.
Please let me know your thoughts