This wine… This wine was so complex and sophisticated, so utterly satisfying and challenging, that I’ll give over my poor powers of description and let the good folks at K & L in San Francisco give their report, citing Tanzer and Parker, because I can’t better it.
93(+?) points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Nov/Dec '00: "Very good deep red. Complex aromas of plum, black cherry, menthol, leather, game and smoked nuts. Sweet, rich and chewy; conveys an almost saline impression of extract. Lush and sweet but with powerful underlying spine. Finishes with substantial but harmonious tannins and superb persistence. Two years ago, this wine appeared to be more accessible than the San Rocco; today it the other way around." 91-93 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 1996 Barolo Bricco Fiasco explodes with tobacco, balsam wood, cedar, tar, and the tell-tale cherry fruit. In the mouth, toasty oak makes an appearance. Full-bodied, tannic, deep, and powerful, with a huge impact and density, this modern-styled wine has the body and force of a more traditionally made Barolo. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2020." (08/99)
All I can add is that Tanzer’s description is spot on.
With such magnificent wine, a kind of wine that could easily mesmerize you into cradling and sipping all night attempting to penetrate its mysteries and plumb its depths, the accompanying food had to step up. It did.
