Blind tasting, day 3: Villero wins the day

Posted on 11 May 2011

Went through 62 Barolos today (all tasted blind). We’ll be tasting over 150 wines from the acclaimed 2007 vintage, subdivided into production zones. Today, wines from Verduno, Barolo and Castiglione Falletto. I love Verduno wines: they are so fresh, elegant and distinctive. All were a joy to drink, especially the Burlotto Acclivi and Castello di Verduno Massara, one of the very best Barolo buys. I’ll talk more about this tomorrow when I go to Verduno for a special tasting.

Barolo from Barolo town is usually the appellation’s most elegant, with a distinctive red fruit bouquet and soft tannins. In warmer vintages such as 2003 and 2006, however, it’s prone to overripeness and many wines can taste rather flat. It’s not the case in 2007, a vintage that allies attractive ripe fruit with good freshness, although there are not so many great wines – perhaps fewer that I expected from grands crus like Cannubi or Brunate. My top picks are Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate–Le Coste (my favourite winemaker, and even blind tasting cannot obliterate that), Marcarini Brunate, and Francesco Rinaldi Cannubbio.

On the whole, Castiglione Falletto has fared definitely better in 2007. The wines have some extra freshness and minerality that make them more engaging. The top vineyard of the vintage so far appears to be Villero. From the five Villeros on tasting I’ve given top marks to three: Cordero di Montezemolo Enrico VI, Livia Fontana, and Giacomo Fenocchio. Another superexciting wine is Roccheviberti Rocche di Castiglione. In a time when huge extraction still is the fashion to many Barolo producer Claudio Viberti is making outstandingly elegant wines.

Here is a selection of wines I really liked today:

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Disclosure

My trip to Piedmont including flights, accommodation and wine tasting programme is sponsored by the Albeisa association of wine producers.