Terre del Barolo Barolo Monvigliero Riserva 1990
14% imported by Halby Marketing, CA
20,000 bottles made, this was #14194.
The Monvigliero vineyard is in the commune of Verduno, to the north of the main Barolo areas. It is a historically important vineyard that is currently getting recognition for its quality after languishing in obscurity for a time.
I thought Monvigliero, since it was north of La Morra, would resemble La Morra wines with their flowery, light and complex flavors. But Monvigliero seemed more like a combo of the Castiglione Falleto commune and the Barolo commune.
This is number two from the Terre del Barolo lineup from 1990. I've already had the Parrusi Riserva (Castiglione) and still to come are the Baudana (Serralunga) and the Codana (Castiglione) Riservas. This is a fascinating chance to try 4 diverse, historic single vineyards from the same year and winemaker! The producer suffers from a bad rep and indeed their Castello 1978 was not great but the 1990 Parussi Riserva was extremely satisfying and very true to terroir.
Huge rose nose. Fantastic correct fruit. Rich, concentrated and deep. Intense, dry. Light at the same time. Tea, zingy raspberry, forest, mushrooms, caramel, strawberries. Very balanced, smooth, ripe, perfect. New world friendly feel to it. Not a lot of structure. A Brunate feel to it. Everybody says that the last glass is the best but this one...whoa it was good! The last few sips were rich and intense and off the charts. Not the most complex, not the layered kind of wines you sometimes find. In that, it was similar to the Parussi, but this was a little more special.
I guess you can tell I liked it. Very highly recommended. Should keep for awhile but probably at peak now.
Thanks
Fraser
Edited by fraser (07-27-2015 07:28:41)