Barbaresco

I took a bottle of wine with me on the recent California trip because one of the folks I was having dinner with out there is fan of northern Italian wines.  It was more than well received.

The wine was a 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Ovello Riserva.  It got about an eight hour decant before being appreciated.  The wine was still very young looking in the glass and was very closed when it went into the decanter.  A small sample got a couple of minutes of swirling before sipping.  Tightly wound but full of flavor, it definitely needed the decanter time to soften some tannins. 

By the time dinner was ready the wine was blooming in the glass.  The cliche' of tar and roses was in full effect, but there was a subtlety to those aromas.  They sat on top of a bouquet of clean, dry earth and dark red fruits.  The tannin had subsided to a supporting roll and the fruit and earth flavors were wonderful  The acid was great and the body was muscular and fit without going to any extreme.  The drying tannins kicked in again at the every end and the wine just begged for another sip or two.  The only regret is that I didn't take my second bottle with me, because it would have disappeared as quickly as the first one.  Great stuff.

2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Ovello Riserva.  14% alcohol and $55 several years ago.