(2024) A traditional Barolo that spent three years ageing in large oak casks, then six months in bottle, before release. Medium-pale in colour and density, the nose has an attractive perfume with small floral notes over tobbaco spice and chestnut. The palate has good fruit, but it stays in a very savoury spectrum, tannins quite chewy and dense, a twist of bittersweet acidity, and lively length balancing raspberry bright fruit and a darker liquorice stripe.
(2024) The Boglietti winery was established in 1991, and remains in family hands. Twenty-one hectares in La Morra are farmed by Renato, while son Enzo is winemaker and manager. This Barbera spent nine months in older oak, but there is just a faint charry note against firm red fruit. It has a gravel and cedar sense of taut precision. In the mouth there is plentiful red fruit that is dry and savoury too. A keen raspberry and cherry edge to the acidity, firm, tight-grained tannins and just that touch of creaminess from the barrels add up to a very grown-up, modern and well-balanced wine with time ahead of it.
(2024) From producer Luigi Scavino, a wine made in a combination of barriques and large botti, with minimal new oak. The colour has an elegant age, with amber on the rim of medium-pale garnet. The nose is lovely, rose-hip and violet nuances oven through raspberry and a touch of cedar. The plate is medium-bodied and quite firm, the acid relatively prominent along with spicy wood and firm, endive-like tannins. But there is most certainly fruit too, with small red berries and a slightly sauvage quality of bramble and wild strawberry. The finish is again quite grippy with that tannin and acid axis. I don't know this producer and wine well enough to guess at its potential longevity, but it drinks really well, if a touch lean, at time of review.
(2024) A selection Dolcetto grown within the two Barolo appellation vineyards, Coste and Fossati. The family specifically chose plants that had red stems, so even the stems where full of polyphenols. Briar and cherry are the driving notes from a wine with long skin contact but gentle extraction with the cap not submerged, made in stainless steel. There is an intensity to the palate, the concentration of the fruit, acid and the tannin gives a spicy grip in the mouth. There is lovely freshness here in a dry wine that has a juiciness, then ends with a lightly chalky tannin. Though Giuseppe believes this ages nicely for a few years, he stresses that it is not meant to be a Barolo, it is ready to drink.
(2024) Giuseppe talks about the three phases of this wine, once a single vineyard from Bricco delle Viole, but Barbera is sensitive to Esca, a grapevine trunk disease, and the Barbera in that vineyard was lost. Now it comes mostly from another vineyard planted in 2000, which is very steep and terraced. Deeply coloured, it is a highly aromatic wine, the violet and cherry-kirsch notes more pronounced than the Dolcetto. Ageing in large Slavonian oak casks adds and another element of softness in the mouth, though that comes mostly through very fine fruit tannins is delightful, sweetly-edged but with that bittersweet and tart character that ends with a little spice and a lovely balance.
(2024) Freisa is a local red wine grape variety, taking its name from the Italian word for strawberry, once used extensively in making Vermouth. Now Giuseppe describes it as 'endangered'. It is a long-stemmed variety, that is often not protected well by the leaf canopy, so farming is key, but still rain and bad weather can severly reduce yields. Again there is a fragrance here touching into violet, a blue-black fruit quality and firmess, but fruit is to the fore. There's a rustic grip to this, certainly in contrast to the Barbera, with sandy tannins coating the mouth giving a chalky dryness. It's an intriguing wine - most definitely a food wine - though the balance here is so fine, the acid retaining freshness and the savoury fruit never lost. In some ways a baby Barolo, which will no doubt benefit from decanting or, even better, some time in the cellar. No UK retail stockists listed at time of review.
(2024) The newest of Vajra's various Cru Barolos, first released in 2015. From very sandy soils, which Giuseppe believes adds a red fruit aromatic intensity. A dark but quite translucent colour to this, notes of chestnut at first, but an unfurling bouquet, a higher fragrance that has floral and gently leafy green herbs, but there's a real finesse and lightness to this, a brightness and elegance. Yes, the tannins are there, but very fine, so their impact is felt but not oppressive. So taut and polished through the mid-palate, intense, and yet the harmony is what strikes. To be honest this is drinking beautifully right now, though clearly it has substantial time ahead of it. At time of review most stockists offer this wine only by the case.
(2024) Giuseppe describes this vineyard as having 'lasagne soils,' referring to layers of iron oxide, which he thinks adds a weight to the tannin structure. Aged 28 months in various sizes of Slavonian oak, the colour is a quite transparent ruby, and aromas leap from the glass, all in the floral and cherry spectrum, violet and even a hint of lily, with some ground ginger in the mix. In the mouth it simply bursts with sweet but featherweight red fruits, so juicy and ripe, but all the time tensioned by its taut structure of fine tannin and elegant acid grip. It is medium-bodied and deliciously drinkable now, but once again there is no doubt this easily has 10 years+ of cellaring potential. At time of review most stockists offer this wine only by the case.
(2024) Bricco delle Viole is a high vineyard peaking at 450 metres. It is planted on distinctive chalk soils with iron oxide and manganese. Giuseppe Vajra believes that gives a more restrained personality, from very old vines, some dating back almost 100 years. There's such a polished, luxurious quality to this wine, that begins aromatically with mocha coffee underpinning ripe, dark vine fruits. I tasted this wine twice, not decanted, but the bottle sealed over a couple of days, in which time highlights of violet and a hint of patchouli fragrance emerged, but the calm and collected elegance remained. In the mouth the tannin and acid profile is tight and firm rather than aggressive, spices join the black fruit flavours, with nuances of Seville orange and liquorice adding to the complexity. At time of review most stockists offer this wine only by the case.
(2023) 100% Pinot Nero from vineyards at 410 metres, this spends three years on the lees. Lots of toasty brioche, spnething that reminds me of fairground toffee apples. The palate feels just a touch astringent; the acid a little too pithy for its own good perhaps, but that doesn't detract too much from a salt-licked, bracing wine with some mid-palate texture and ripeness.
Bricco delle Viole is a high vineyard peaking at 450 metres. It is planted on distinctive chalk soils with iron oxide and manganese. Giuseppe Vajra believes that gives a more restrained personality, from very old vines, some dating back almost 100 years. There's such a polished, luxurious quality to this wine, that begins aromatically with mocha coffee underpinning ripe, dark vine fruits. I tasted this wine twice, not decanted, but the bottle sealed over a couple of days, in which time highlights of violet and a hint of patchouli fragrance emerged, but the calm and collected elegance remained. In the mouth the tannin and acid profile is tight and firm rather than aggressive, spices join the black fruit flavours, with nuances of Seville orange and liquorice adding to the complexity. At time of review most stockists offer this wine only by the case. 