Hi!! We tried a barolo a few days ago and I'm still trying to decide whether I liked it or not. We had it with home-made tortellini stuffed with ricotta and served with a very meaty tomato sauce. Thad Cox, at Ashes, recommended that if we wanted to drink it now, we should decant for at least 4 hours. Well, it was opened and decanted 2-3 hours before dinner. It was still very tight. In fact, I now know exactly what people mean by this. It was extremely rough when first opened, with harsh tannins and strong acid. It did soften a bit, but really it just never finished opening, even after about 6 hours. It seemed pretty well balanced to me, with firm tannins, bright acid, and dark cherry with a little licorice on the finish. It was quite pricey at $69 a bottle at Ashes. Really, I'd like to get another bottle and set it aside for 5-10 years.
Barolo is supposed to be an iconic wine from Italy, one that collectors take quite seriously. It's definitely a "big red" and is best served with meat ro meaty dishes. As you may know from previous blogs, this wine is definitely out of my usual price range. But, it was on the Matt Kramer list of Italian wines as a "don't die without trying it". It has quite a reputation as one of those eye opening wines that turn people on to drinking wine. I can't say that this Barolo had that kind of effect on me. But, it did make me realize how important aging is for some wines. I suspect that my impression of this wine would be very different if it aged 5-10 years or more. Some say these wines age well for 30 years or more. Really, I feel it's unfair for me to evaluate this wine. It's just too young. But, after drinking it, I now know just what that means.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment