To drink wine is to form a relationship. That's how I understand it, and to help my clients grasp that idea is part of my life's passion. Many people drink wine and talk about cherries, berries, and tannins. They sip the wine, utter a few buzzwords, give the bottle a score and go on. This is nonsense. These people are missing the goal, for the goal is the experience itself. It's not an empirical, categorical result; it's the living, breathing, evanescent moment.
Drinking a wine is not unlike spending time with a person. With both people and wine, you understand that for better or worse, for a short duration or a long evening, you are stuck together. The time is finite, and you try to make the best of it and have a few nice moments. You decide how much of yourself you want to give to this wine, and the wine also offers itself up to you--or not. It's a relationship, and like all relationships, some are better, stronger, more interesting, or more passionate than others.
Just as when you find a person who is extraordinary, when you discover a really extraordinary wine, you start engaging differently. An encounter with a special wine becomes less about the wine than it is about you. When you drink a really exceptional wine, you surrender yourself. It becomes a chase; it's about how you treat the wine, even how you treat the glass. How you swirl, when you taste, whether you decide to prolong the bottle and see the wine evolve, or drink it quickly in an exuberant burst--all these choices come into play. You do more than build a relationship with that bottle; you court it. Yet a truly outstanding bottle of wine will do even more. It'll seduce you. And that's exactly what the wines of Bruno Giacosa do. They start the engagement, they give the chase, and they demand your interest.
This week, I'm delighted to offer you an array of Bruno Giacosa's wines, including the newly released '08 Barbaresco Santo Stefano and Barbaresco Asili. Every one of these bottles is a testament to the man who made it--and to the bond between the people drinking it. Open a bottle when you have the time, the company, and the luxury to be pleasurably bewitched.
My Best,
P.S. You can now follow me on Twitter: @Italian_Wine_SE.
Featured Bruno Giacosa Wines
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive
This is Giacosa's premier Barbaresco cru, from the Santo Stefano vineyard in Neive. For a variety of reasons that only Giacosa himself knows, he chose not to release the '06 Santo Stefano. Therefore, today's offer comprises the three most recent releases of this wine. On par with the greatest wines of Angelo Gaja, this wine will continue to evolve for over a decade. The perfumed nose of rose petal, strawberry, cinnamon, currant, and licorice typify the wine that finishes in a rich, velvety mouth feel. There's no going wrong with Giacosa's prize Barbaresco.
Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive 2008, 750ml, $175**
Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive 2007, 750ml, $175
Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive 2005, 750ml, $145**
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili
This second cru Barbaresco comes from the first vines Bruno Giacosa purchased in this region. However, beginning in 2007 (Giacosa skipped releasing his 2006 Barbarescos and Barolos), the master vintner redrew the boundaries of his vineyards and incorporated his parcel known as Rabajas into his Asili bottling-an action that Piemonte's creative use of "cru" allows that the government-dictated rules of Burgundy do not. Giacosa's Barbaresco Asili has always been a rich, opulent, and complex expression; however, since 2007, it has grown yet more layered and nuanced. Typified by a nose of roses, menthol and herbs and a palate of currants and raspberries, Asili is gorgeous wine that requires patience to reach its most expressive stages, but if you've the self-control, the wine will reward amply.
Barbaresco Asili di Barbaresco 2008, 750ml, $175**
Barbaresco Asili di Barbaresco 2008, 1500ml, $350
Barbaresco Asili di Barbaresco 2005, 750ml, $150**
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco
Among the best Barbarescos produced by this devoted traditionalist, this wine is cellar staple and will easily age for the next two decades. A swirling mélange of licorice, sweet tobacco, and red fruit, this wine has tremendous balance of bright, almost racy, acidity and structuring tannins. Drink now and watch it evolve in your glass, or cellar it until 2020.
Barbaresco 1998, 750ml, $99**
Bruno Giacosa Barolo del Falletto Serralunga
Azienda Agricola Falletto di Bruno Giacosa's "basic" bottling from the Falletto vineyard is a lovely expression of Nebbiolo that's actually anything but basic. Pure, fresh, and lyrical this wine is less potent than Giacosa's Le Rocche, but it's still round, and full of flavor, finesse, elegance and harmony. Expect layers of strawberry on a bed of roses and smoke, all underlain by a striking balance of fine tannins and mouthwatering acidity. Beautiful, age-worthy, and quintessentially Giacosa.
Barolo Falletto Serralunga 2005, 750ml, $176**
Barolo Falletto Serralunga 2003, 750ml, $157
Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto
It seems hyperbolic, but this may be the most legendary wine from one of the greatest masters of Barolo. Le Rocche del Falletto constitutes a small plot of Giacosa's Falletto cru that's situated at the vineyard's apex and containing its oldest vines. While it needs years before it is ready to be approached, Le Rocche del Falletto's elegant profile is like no other. Fistfuls of ripe raspberries and strawberries are kissed by roses, tobacco and new leather in this massive wine whose superfine tannins will amaze and delight your palate. Drinking 2014-2030.
Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto 2005, 750ml, $182
Bruno Giacosa Barolo
Giacosa's cuvee from '05 is a glorious testament to what a great producer can do with a very good year. Nuanced yet muscular, floral yet savory, finely tannic yet bouncy with acidity, the '05 Giacosa Barolo is a stunning study in contrasts. Lots of ripe red fruit rests on an ethereal framework of smoke and roses. Touched by tar and flecked with licorice, this wine is breathtaking. Drinking 2012-2024.
Barolo 2005, 750ml, $150
Bruno Giacosa Spumante Extra Brut
The famed Barolo producer, Bruno Giacosa also makes a terrific spumante. It's fashioned from Pinot Noir grapes grown next door in the Oltrepò Pavese region of Lombardia (once part of Piemonte). It's an elegant, dry sparkling wine that is Italy's best answer to Champagne-and the price reflects the wine's ambitious quality. White stone fruit, apples, lemons and a sprinkling of bread yeast comprise the flavor profile of this sparkler, whose strong spine makes it a very food-friendly wine. Drinking now to 2015.
Spumante Extra Brut 2005, 750ml, $50.10
Everyday Wines Under $50
Bruno Giacosa
Nebbiolo d'Alba 2007, 750ml, $37.00**
Giacosa's Nebbiolo cuvee, sourced from several vineyard sites in Roero, which is located north of Barolo, has a gorgeous floral nose, a cherry-like liqueur palate, and swirls of cinnamon and licorice. This plush, yummy and balanced wine is an approachable introduction to Nebbiolo, and it's drinking incredibly well right now.
Bruno Giacosa
Barbera d'Alba 2008, 750ml, $35.16**
We often talk about wine being "food-friendly," being "the perfect dinner companion," or being the "quintessential value" wine. But, seriously, the '08 Giacosa Barbera d'Alba-all ripe red fruit, jaunty acidity, and ephemeral floral aroma-is a food-friendly, perfect dinner companion that will make you recalibrate what "value wine" means. Uncomplicated, straight-forward, and delicious: it's dinner, and it's drinking now.
**Indicates pre-arrival.
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