2007 Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba

The good news here is that Dante Scaglione, Giacosa's long-time enologist before leaving in March of 2008, is now back as a consultant, to help out young winemaker Francesco Versio beginning with the 2011 harvest. But I did not have a chance to see Giacosa himself, as he was in the hospital following a recent fall. Scaglione described 2009 as "similar to 2007, a warm vintage that's between the more structured 2008 and the less classic 2007 in style." The wines, he went on, will drink well early. "The 2008s are more classic and fresh and will have a longer life. But they're very young today. The 2007s were more drinkable at the same stage."

My annual tasting with Bruno Giacosa encompassed all his 2008s and 2009s, plus the 2000 Baroli and Barbareschi, which will be covered in a subsequent article. Vintage 2008 and 2009 are both interesting, but don't look to be as consistent across the board as 2007. Never one to say much, Giacosa is quite reserved and even severe with his own wines, with the exception of the occasional wine that crosses his lips and elicits a ‘this is good.'

Bruno Giacosa stirred up a shitstorm in the Langhe when he was quoted by a wine journalist saying that he didn't much like the 2006 vintage and did not plan to release any Barbarescos or Barolos under his own label. Giacosa, after all, is an icon and an opinion leader in the region, and many of his colleagues in Barbaresco were immediately concerned that they'd have trouble selling their 2006s-wines that many of them consider to be outstanding. What Giacosa actually said may never be known, but what's clear is that the year has bad associations for him. He suffered a stroke early in 2006 and was hardly in shape to worry about vineyards and harvesting in the subsequent months. Happily, he was in much better form by the time I tasted with him in September 2007 and on my most recent visit he was quite excited about his young 2007s. The best proof of this enthusiasm was his feeling that this vintage will yield two riserva bottlings. He compared 2007 to 2000, which fans of Giacosa's wines know was a great vintage for him. In 2005, all of his Barbarescos and Barolos were bottled with white labels (i.e., not riserva) but I had the impression that he now views these wonderfully perfumed wines in a better light. "At the beginning," said Giacosa, "we didn't think the 2005s could be long agers. Now they still don't have hugely concentrated color, but it's clear that they can certainly age." Giacosa admitted a preference for Barolo over Barbaresco in this vintage, despite that fact that a higher percentage of fruit was harvested in Barbaresco before the damaging early October rains. Incidentally, long-time winemaker Dante Scaglione left in March of 2008 and was replaced by Giorgio Lavagna, who was previously head winemaker at Batasiolo in La Morra.