Barolo Vigneto Monvigliero 2004

This benchmark wine undergoes a traditional vinification and by that I mean not only that it is macerated for a full 60 days, virtually unheard off nowadays, and fermented in those open top tini, with cappello sommerso but all the work is done manually, or pedaly as the case may be! Tread by foot, an anachronism in Piemonte for sure but there is a reason behind this seeming madness. By using only soft feet to crush the grapes, and thus keeping the seeds intact, one avoids extracting their hard, astringent tannins that can dominate a wine that has enjoyed such a prolonged maceration. This throwback technique allows Fabio to extract the maximum from his musts without throwing the wine off balance! After the fermentation is completed the wine rests for 30 months in neutral oak botti then it’s allowed to rest for an additional 2 years after bottling. Huge intensity on the nose here with an initial blast that is almost bacony. Richly perfumed with notes of leather, rose stems, a bit of dried pork, very perfumed and almost Christmas holiday spice like in nature with a touch of ginseng. Big plummy fruit emerges with time, as does the trademark black olive note, very complex if atypical. Approachable and elegant with good acidity and very refined tannins that never get in the way of enjoying the depth of the wine. Opens with fine notes of tea and tartuffi, then dark fruits balanced by aggressive minerality, not overly fruit driven but there is plenty of dark plum fruit and a slight candy apple top note. Tannins are so soft and ripe that this almost feels like animal fat in the mouth! The finish is long and savory with a slightly peppery fruit just peaking out on the finale. This may very well close down in the bottle but is a brilliant effort! 94pts

Olives and spicy green middle eastern tones immediately greated the nose with this wine and were joined by notes of hung game, moist tobacco and sweet, candied root, angelica root tones after several hours of air. This was initially quite bitter and beef bloody with lots of candied raspberry fruit tones that gradually added some vegetal, cucumber like notes and a very big flourish of fresh green herbs that set up the palate for this green/red fruit tension that was very intriguing and lead to a crisp clean finish with some subtle pignoli nut bitterness. After several hours air the big herbal element remained as did a very quinine like medicinal tone that framed the red fruits. The mouthfeel remained both zesty and polished and I appreciated the great complexity and sneaky finish but this is a very distinctive Barolo, something I applaud. 91pts