Barolo La Rocca e La Pira 2004

17.0 / 20

Producer: Roagna

Region: Piemonte

Country: Italy

I tasted one of the Barbarescos from Roagna last year and was very impressed. So i had high expectations about this, one of their Barolos from a highly regarded vintage.

Garnet/red in color, the bouquet is very intense, filled with leathery notes, spices, tobaco, wild flowers and beneath it all, a dash of red fruits.

On the first impact on the mouth, the high acidity and still strong tannins come through. Well structured, dry, quite austere, this is a classical old world wine, with a definite earthy, spices approach that leaves the fruit in the background. Long, persistent finish with notes of leather lingering in the mouth.

Due to the high acidity and hard tannins, I'd guess this will evolve for a couple of years. Actually, Wine Advocate indicates that the drinking window for this is 2014-2024 and, from this tasting, I believe the 3 year wait will be worth it.

Tasted on 2011-10-25

Barolo Marcenasco 2004

17.5 / 20

Producer: Renato Ratti

Region: Piemonte

Country: Italy

Light garnet in color with some brownish tinges on the edge, the bouquet is intense and full: flowers (roses), mixed with spices and some earthier notes - tar, maybe. Extremely powerful yet very balanced.

Amazing structure in the mouth, very lively tannins and a clear acidity. It's not fruit-driven at all, relying on a mix of spicier notes, some oaky notes and tying it up all together with almost a dried fruit feel. Great balanced and intense set finishing in a really long way.

Barolos are wines made to age for a lot of time and this one certainly showed that it is still an infant. Although being decanted for a couple of hours before dinner, it was still a bit closed and the tannins were still hard. But it will definitely cellar really well.

As with most italian wines, pair it with food. This is not a wine to drink by itself.

Worked perfectly along with a wild boar ragú, matching the complexity and richness of the stew flavors.

Tasted on 2011-04-25