San Giuliano Barbaresco 2005

A beautiful summer day and a $45 bottle of Barbaresco.

EXPERIENCE

The cork is nothing but earth and (surprise!) cork. The nose has a very obvious cherry aroma with some earth tones. The first taste is right inline with the nose, cherry (almost hinting at a cherry liquor) and a dry finish. As the wine opens it becomes less earthy on the nose, less dry, and a bit more tart with the cherries more on the finish. The tart flavor is not overwhelming nor is the hint of cherries, rather all of the flavors are nicely balanced.

VERDICT

GREAT VALUE. At $45 this wine is on the high end of our middle price range, but the price is really justified by the experience. An interesting wine that is well balanced and easy to drink. The "cherry" flavor is prevalent but not overwhelming, just a really nice flavor to keep coming back to. Its like when a butterfly lands on your head... you know it's there but you aren't scared.

FACTS

Barbaresco is made from nebbiolo grapes and the San Giuliano is classified DOCG. The winery is located in Neive in the region of Piemonte. There isn't much information out there on the internet, but IWM has a nice page. Of note: the wine is aged in oak "botti" for 18 months. A little googling taught us that "botti" are much larger barrels than the popular French "barriques", and are supposedly making a comeback in Italy.

Bruno Giacosa "Falletto" Dolcetto d'Alba 2006

This may be the first Bruno Giacosa wine we've posted, but we've been a fan his wines for a while. We hope this $32 bottle has a lot to offer, but with expectations comes scrutiny...

EXPERIENCE

The cork has a dark spice to it, more peppery than aromatic. The nose is much like the cork, but also hints at black berries. The taste is somewhat muted and soft at first, then the spice comes through with a moderately dry finish. As the wine opens, you get slightly more fruit and less spice, but overall the change is subtle. The wine is never really sweet nor tart, but consistently smooth and spicy. A uniquely complex flavor that you can explore as you drink.

VERDICT

GREAT VALUE. $32 is a small price to pay for this wine; in fact, before we went back to check how much this bottle cost, we were thinking it had been around $50. We'd happily pay that much, but thankfully we (that means you) don't have to! We aren't reliant on too many wines in the $20-$50 range, most we've tried seem to taste "cheaper" than they cost, but this wine is an exception. 

FACTS

This 2006 DOC Dolcetto d'Alba is part of Giacosa's "Azienda Agricola FALLETTO" which solely uses grapes from their private vinyards. The winery is located outside the village of Neive, about 100 miles southwest of Milan in the Piemonte region of Italy. For more information, check out their website.