Barbera D'Alba

Sometimes the cellar yields a surprise, and that was the case tonight. The surprise was a 2005 Enzo Boglietti Barbera D'Alba. It was surprising because it apparently never made it onto the cellar list so there was no record of its existence. The current vintage is 2007 so the wine has been there for some time, resting peacefully.

It's the beginning of a weekend so there was a small steak on the grill and some oven roasted potatoes with fresh lemon thyme and rosemary. We pulled the cork out of the wine and poured a couple of glasses.

Dark red with dark cherries and strawberries in the nose balanced by a little bit of dry dirt lead to a tasty wine. Good acid and tannin played off those same fruits in the taste. The dirt (earth) was a little unusual as it really smelled and tasted like dry dirt that had just seen the first sprinkle of rain and was giving up some aroma that was a mix of both. I really liked that. There was a very good length of finish to the wine. The acid and earth played a nice game with the steak and potatoes. Good wine.