2004 Vietti, Barbera, La Crena, Piemonte, Italy

Decanted 4 hours and tasted over 2 days) Full throttle on the nose, with a hurricane of young irresistible fruit. Lots of glycerine from each new pour – otherwise the dominant notes are; sun mature black berries, liquorice, vanilla and marzipan. There is a still dominant influence from new oak here, which takes some of the deep seeking intellectual pleasure off. But if you weight the surplus of the fruit core and this oak influence there is nothing to worry about. On the palate you get significant confirmation and even a brilliant tickly mineral bite and dark berries on the closing. On the last sips there is still a fair amount of bitterness and the last oak perfumes, which will require 2-3 years to come fully together. Overall I liked it a lot.



(Glass: Riedel Sommeliers “Tinto Riserva” / Tasted Jul-2007)