G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco Delle Viole 2017
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The 2017 Barolo Bricco delle Viole is incredibly layered. The signature nose of purple florals, raspberry and small red fruits is interlaced with tones of rose, rhubarb, toffee apple and incense. Whiffles of marasca cherry, white truffle, Dimbula tea, lavender and anise also appear with air. In the palate, the wine is poised and classy, showing a core of red fruits supported by refined tannins and minerality. As balanced and expressive as it already tastes, the 2017 Bricco delle Viole promises a fantastic evolution ahead.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of underbrush, pine forest, woodland berries and cedar form the enticing nose. Full-bodied and savory, the structured palate delivers ripe Morello cherry, raspberry compote, star anise and cinnamon before closing on pipe tobacco notes. Tightly knit but refined tannins provide the backbone, while surprisingly fresh acidity for the hot vintage keeps it balanced.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Barolo Bricco Delle Viole is the darker fruited of the G.D. Vajra sites and has rounded floral aromatics of crushed roses, resin, and cranberry cocktail. The palate is ripe and inviting, with building structure and notes of fresh red cherry, blood orange, and clove. The warmth of the vintage is felt without sacrificing lift.
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James Suckling
Aromas of ripe strawberries and flowers follow through to a full body with firm, chewy tannins that are silky and very polished. That palate is very clear and precise. Attractive, if chewy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The G.D. Vajra 2017 Barolo Bricco delle Viole is packed with medium dark cherry fruit and plum. The wine also shows a savory side, with spice, hazelnut cream, licorice and lightly fragrant potting soil. This vintage sits solid on the palate, wrapping thickly over the senses, thanks to its creamy, fruit-driven consistency and well-managed tannins. These vines are high in elevation, ranging from 400 to 480 meters in altitude. Those higher elevations are key to interpreting a vintage that saw heat such as this.
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Wine & Spirits
This is the Vaira family’s last plot to be harvested, set on a high western hill of the Barolo commune where cool winds from the Alps refresh the vines and preserve delicate violet and laven-der scents even in warm vintages like 2017. It is an exciting wine with a midweight struc-ture and tannins that are impressively fine and polished, framing juicy, subtly spiced dark-cherry fl avors. Give the nervy acidity a few years to settle down.
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Wine Spectator
This silky Barolo boasts aromas and flavors of rose, black currant, cherry, raspberry and iron, with a touch of earth, showing terrific purity and length. This is more about finesse than power, though the tannins are present and should allow this to age. Best from 2024 through 2042.
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The Vajra family has farmed Bricco delle Viole, the highest cru in Comune di Barolo, since the 1880s. At the young age of fifteen, Aldo Vajra embraced the dream to revive his family legacy. Displaying a vision and commitment belying his young age he took over the estate in 1968, turning a new page.
Aldo soon acquired the first organic certification of the region (1971), created private biotype selections (selezioni massali) of Nebbiolo and Dolcetto, pioneered the renaissance of Freisa, a noble yet forgotten local grape (1980) and the cultivation of Rhine Riesling in Piemonte (1985).
Today, the Vajra family continues the vineyard research focusing on the influence of soil and climate change. The winery is trail-blazing the rediscovery of Chiaretto di Nebbiolo and the wines of the 17th century – long before Barolo was created - through two limited-production wines: “N.S. della Neve” (a champagne-method rosé nature) and “Claré JC”, a partial whole-cluster fermentation of pure Nebbiolo.
High elevation vineyards are a unique factor to the Vajra wines, for their ability to express finesse and remarkable complexity over power.
Attention to details and humility towards the nature, uncompromised efforts and humanity: so are Aldo and Milena, now joined by their energetic children Giuseppe, Francesca and Isidoro, and by an amazing team of young professionals, in their quest for an authentic expression of their land into the wines. G.D. Vajra is an independent winery, entirely family-owned.
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.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.