Castello di Barolo
Barolo is a minefield with so many producers that I take every opportunity to taste whenever I can. For the past 3 weeks, every Friday, there have been tasting dinners held at various Barolo restaurants with the wines of 10 different producers each evening. Sounds fantastic, and the restaurants were, but among 30 wines I struggled to find more than a handful that I truly enjoyed. Vintages included 2004, 6, 7 and 8, some were obviously young and needed time but even a couple of 2004s really weren’t worth making. 3 wines were served that had faults and had to be replaced. Thank goodness that the 2 restaurants we chose served really tasty menus: Rossobarolo and La Cantinetta opposite each other in Via Roma are both worth a visit.
Here are my top (sic) 3 from each of the 3 evenings in no particular order:
G.D.Vajra, Bricco delle Viole 2007
Cagliero, Ravera 2006,
Bergadano Cav. Enrico, Sarmassa 2007
E.Pira/ Chiara Boschis, via Nuova 2007
Giuseppe Rinaldi, Brunate Le Coste 2008
Damilano, Cannubi 2008
La Querciola Donna Bianca 2005
Lucione Sandrone, Cannubi Boschis 2007
Museo dei Cacatappi, Sarmassa 2007
Looking forward to the Castagnole Barbera Festival this week and Barbaresco a Tavola