Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili Riserva (3 Liter Bottle) 2014
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Incredible aromas of violets, roses and blue fruits. So perfumed. Never smelled a wine like this before. Full body, perfectly integrated tannins and bright, vivid acidity. Extremely long and endless. A seamless and great one. An evocative wine that makes you think. Needs three to five years of bottle age on release. Unique red. Available in 2019.
-
Wine Spectator
Fluid and juicy, with savory notes of menthol and juniper, matched to the cherry and currant fruit. Underlined by a mineral element, this features a serious whack of tannins on the finish, yet the lasting impression is of sweet, ripe cherry and berry flavors. Wonderful length. Best from 2022 through 2045.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Packaged in its distinctive red label (red is for Riserva), the 2014 Barbaresco Riserva Asili represents a tremendous effort in a challenging but ultimately very rewarding vintage. This wine will be released in February 2019. The previous edition was 2011, and Bruna Giacosa tells me that it will be produced in 2016 and possibly 2017—although this has not yet been officially confirmed. In a normal vintage, production is 11,000 bottles strong, but because of reduced yields in 2014 we can expect some 8,000 bottles instead. Growing conditions in 2014 were cause for concern up until the end of August because of humidity and below average temperatures. Those conditions changed suddenly in the nick of time, bringing strong sunshine and warmth during the final stage of grape ripening. Ultimately, 2014 proved to be a long growing season with healthy fruit in reduced volume. The Rabajà cru sometimes shows a harder edge with more mineral definition. Asili, in comparison, offers gorgeous intensity and profound depth. This Riserva shows seamless integration of wild fruit, blue flower, spice, balsam herb and pencil shaving. This is a complete and complex expression with an enduring sense of dimension and structure. I can’t wait to taste this wine one day in the far future when it is further along on its promising evolutionary track.
-
Decanter
A magnificent result for 2014, but then this is a legendary wine: a top bottling from a top estate. The nose is rich, juicy, and exuberant, with piquant raspberry aromas. It's undoubtedly rich and full-bodied, and there's no lack of volume or concentration. The tannins are bold and fleshy, and the wine overall is surprisingly succulent and approachable. Very long, grainy finish.
Other Vintages
2016-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
One of the legendary winemakers of the world, Bruno Giacosa crafted the most prestigious single-vineyard Barolo and Barbaresco wines during a career that spanned nearly eight decades. He joined the family business at the age of 15, representing the third generation of his Langhe winemaking family. Giacosa’s unfailing pursuit of perfection, his unrivalled palate and his intimate knowledge of vineyards in the Langhe quickly drew recognition and helped establish Piedmont as a leading wine region. In 1982, Giacosa began to acquire prime parcels in Serralunga d’Alba, La Morra and Barbaresco to produce wines that are rightly regarded as the finest expressions of Nebbiolo.
His legacy rests with daughter Bruna, who continues to uphold her father’s winemaking philosophy to respect traditional techniques while using the best of modern technology. The goal is for each distinguished site to produce articulate, unique wines.
The “Azienda Agricola Falletto – di Bruno Giacosa” label represents wines made from estate vineyards. The “Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa” label appears on wines made from purchased grapes that are made with the same care in the Nieve winery.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
A wine that most perfectly conveys the spirit and essence of its place, Barbaresco is true reflection of terroir. Its star grape, like that in the neighboring Barolo region, is Nebbiolo. Four townships within the Barbaresco zone can produce Barbaresco: the actual village of Barbaresco, as well as Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio.
Broadly speaking there are more similarities in the soils of Barbaresco and Barolo than there are differences. Barbaresco’s soils are approximately of the same two major soil types as Barolo: blue-grey marl of the Tortonion epoch, producing more fragile and aromatic characteristics, and Helvetian white yellow marl, which produces wines with more structure and tannins.
Nebbiolo ripens earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo, primarily due to the vineyards’ proximity to the Tanaro River and lower elevations. While the wines here are still powerful, Barbaresco expresses a more feminine side of Nebbiolo, often with softer tannins, delicate fruit and an elegant perfume. Typical in a well-made Barbaresco are expressions of rose petal, cherry, strawberry, violets, smoke and spice. These wines need a few years before they reach their peak, the best of which need over a decade or longer. Bottle aging adds more savory characteristics, such as earth, iron and dried fruit.