2003 Barolo Bric del Fiasc

Enrico Scavino opted to ferment his 2003s at slightly lower temperatures than normal and shortened skin contact. In 2003 Scavino also used less press wine than normal in his final blends. Overall, the 2003s have aged quite nicely, although readers should be aware I tasted all of these wines from magnum, which makes a big difference in a forward, ripe vintage.

This set of new releases from Enrico Scavino is representative of the vintage. Because Scavino produces Barolos from so many different sites, including four single-vineyard wines as well as two blends, h is Barolos make for a particularly fascinating analys is of the 2003 vintage. Scavino has decided to release h is 2003 Rocche dell'Annunziata as a Riserva, so we will have to wait a few years to see that wine. My early tastings of that wine suggest it is not up to Riserva-level quality, but th is is a vintage with many surpr ises, so it will be interesting to follow its development in bottle. “In 2003 we worked with slightly lower temperatures in order to avoid over-extraction. We also used less of the press wine, which typically has the hardest tannins. After fermentation the wines were racked into French oak barrels (1/3 new) for a year, and then moved into casks for the second year of aging,” says Enrico Scavino. I tasted a number of prom ising Barolos from the 2004, 2005 and 2006 vintages, including the first wine El isa Scavino is making on her own. It is a 2006 Barolo from the Via Nuova vineyard in Barolo that was fermented with manual pumpovers and punchdowns and aged in 100% new Taransaud oak. It will be fascinating to watch the evolution of th is passionate, emerging winemaker.