2000 Barolo Falletto Vigna Le Rocche

I found it at least slightly surprising that ultra-traditionalist Giacosa prefers the 2000 vintage to 2001. "It's best when a vintage is great and easy, like 2000," he told me, adding that 2001 produced a tougher style of wine. "Two thousand is similar to 1998, which is easy to drink now or in the future but has better acidity than 2000. In fact, 1998 combines the best traits of 1996 and 1997. Nineteen ninety-nine, in comparison, is difficult to drink now and needs aging. Sugars were actually a bit lower than those of 2000 and 1998, but this vintage is the deepest in terms of coloring matter." At the time of my visit, Giacosa did not expect to be able to make Barolo or Barbera in 2001 (unlike most of his colleagues in the Langhe, Giacosa has never been loath to express reservations about a vintage): "Even before the hail, the season was terrible. We had no warm sun since the beginning of June and we had a lot of rain for a full month during the middle of summer."