'93 Barolo, Falletto di Seralunga, Bruno Giacosa

'93 Barolo, Falletto di Seralunga, Bruno Giacosa

My first Giacosa wine (as all my bottles are fairly young, as this one still is!). I was expecting something deep and extracted, and maybe some other vintages will be, but this had the color of a light Burgundy, like a Pernand Vergelesses or Savigny les Beaune maybe. But oh, the flavors. And the nose! Ripe sweet red fruits and a beautiful floral bouquet! The palate likewise was delightful, with intense but very graceful sweet red fruits and nicely integrated flavors rather unique to Nebbiolo. Still fairly youthful in impression, and the slight tannins are very gentle and harmonious. I'm looking forward to trying more from Giacosa!

I pulled the cork on this bottle around noon, took out a tiny taste to enlarge the surface area a bit, and then let it slow-oxygenate in the bottle for about 6 hours. Served without decanting. The results were excellent!

[David M. Bueker]

I'm glad that you bought your Giacosa in the mid-90s. I only have a single bottle myself (the 2000), and have essentially written off being able to buy them anymore.

Sounds like a really fun bottle.

Paul, thanks for the timely note. I promised to open an "older" Giacosa for a friend next month and I'm leaning toward the '93 Santo Stefano.

David,

I suppose it's no surprise that top Italian wines have followed Burgs and Bordeaux in terms of price escalation!

Dan,

Be sure to give your wine plenty of air time. I'm told that Giacosa's style is NOT dense and extracted (and my bottle certainly wasn't) so I think it is probably best to stand the bottle up for a week or so, then open very early, to aerate the "slow-O" way, without decanting it, for 6 - 10 hours. I know with Burgs this approach better preserves freshness and vitality while allowing the wine to develop depth and complexity. I always take a tiny initial taste too, to enlarge the surface area to something like silver dollar size.

Paul,

Nebbiolo is very much like Pinot Noir in that the best wines often show very pale red color. This is particularly true of the traditionally made wines like Giacosa. But your tasting note shows that you understand that pale color in Nebbiolo is no indicator of depth of flavor.

I usually decant so as not to have to strain the last glass through my teeth.