Ron Siegel

9.4

A wine of elegance & structure showing beautiful aromatics of red cherry, dried herbs, savory spices, floral & tobacco notes. Loved its balance & polished texture — 12 days ago

John Malcolm

9.2

Delicious wine. Full-bodied. Ripe strawberries, raspberries, and cherries, with a bit of dark chocolate, coffee, and tobacco. Decanted for about five hours — a month ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Previous tasting note was nearly 9 years ago in December 2015. The wine now shows menthol, mint and a little tar. Medium weight, earthy and very Tuscan in my experience. Dry fine savoury tannins. Galloni gave this 96+ points and said when first reviewed “it should be a gem in another 5 to 10 years “ and I can advise it is singing at 14 years of age but could still go on for at least another 5 years. Next night - very silty, earthy and savoury. M+ intensity. Could not be anything but Sangiovese from Tuscany. — 2 months ago

Vasanth Balakrishnan

9.1

I can see the wine professional acclaim for this wine. Tons of energy but takes time to open up. Black cherry, dense earthy notes on the nose, drinks very well with a slight chill. #nerodavola #sicilianwine — 3 months ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

2010 a strong vintage & still accending. Costco Ribcap vs Allen Brothers.

Sofia & I stayed in downtown Alba in 2015. Arrived early evening & sadly after their big wine festival. Pio Cesare was around the corner and down two blocks from our hotel. Historic as hell.

I bought this at Costco for around $49.

Nebbiolo young is a huge tarry grape. The Italian’s ferment this with a lot of new wood. They actually hold Nebbiolo/Barolo in bottle and extra year or more before release. Also, longer than most other world regions based largely on the grape & even more their wood use.

This is drinking nicely after a four hour decant, but it is still ascending and another 10-15 years of good drinking ahead…properly stored.

Even with this age, its tarriness is the first descriptor. Followed by heated dark spices, slightly, dry b lackberries, dry, slight tart, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, some strawberries, tea leaves, black licorice to anise, sandstone, limestone, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil & brush, dry herbs, dry tobacco, light; clove, nutmeg & hints of vanillin, forest floor w/ dry leaves, some mint, dry, withering, dark, red flowers framed in violets, excellent acidity with a nicely evolved, well; structured, tensioned, balanced, smartly polished finished that goes on & on! — 4 months ago

Daniel M

9.1

More than a 1000 review of this wine, I feel like I'm coming late to the party 😅
The nose felt a bit oxydized at first but it blew up after a while. Then came red cherry, wet forest soil, mushrooms, soy sauce, black tea, almond... Wow the complexity of that nose... The palate is marked by a great acid drive, some fruit, with cherry notes, some tea touches, a good width with some matter and almost a meaty thing, some rather harsh and drying tannins (as one could expect) before a long, very long, meaty, juicy, tannic finish that goes on and on and on. A bit more textual and meaty than I expected, a good experience of a cru barolo that I'd like to revisit in other vintages. — 19 days ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of two days. Best on Day 2. The 2019 pours a pale garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of Morello cherries, red roses, tangerine, pomegranate, talcum powder, dried sage, truffle, and dried stony earth. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory. A lovely expression of 2019 Barbaresco. Drink now with patience and through 2049. — 2 months ago

Vino Joe

9.5

Stunning wine. Lots of depth and earthy heft. The fruit is quite mature but in balance with the chewy tannic base. This wine is in the zone. Also the right compliment for mom’s homemade lasagna! — 3 months ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.9

This was over a month ago, but with my dad back in hospitals / rehab / generally drugged and delirious (2024 has been one helluva ride), I can’t stop thinking about the last bottle we shared when things were better and, for a flash, almost normal.

And what a bottle it was. Fennel, strawberry, balsamic… still so young…constantly evolving in the glass.. brick dust… sage and oregano on the finish.

My dad and I have always had a challenging relationship, but he’s always shown me what’s good in life and for that I am grateful. He postponed his last round of chemo a day to share a special birthday bottle with me and there’s no one else in the world I’d rather have shared it with.

I’ve just had a lot less to say about wine lately (and a lot less to say generally) despite tasting so many things most weeks. It’s just a fucking beverage. But, then again, it’s also so much more.

My sister shared a note she found on the floor of my dad’s office. We think it’s from the day he received the diagnosis… or got the divorce papers from my mother. He made a printed list titled, “Things that don’t suck” Nebbiolo was number 5. No actual humans made the list, so my sister was a little bummed. But I understand. We disappoint; Nebbiolo rarely does.

Salud. — a month ago

Jay Kline

9.4

This is my 3000th tasting note on Delectable so I suppose I should celebrate by opening something fun. Flaccianello? Ovviamente!

While it’s labeled an IGT and colloquially considered a Super Tuscan, Flaccianello delle Pieve could legally be labeled as a Chianti Classico Riserva. However, Giovanni Manetti of Azienda Agricola Fontodi opts not to do so (despite the fact that he’s the current Chairman of the Conzorsio). The name, “Flaccianello delle Pieve” comes from the eponymous single-vineyard; the original source of grapes. However, around the turn of the millennium, Flaccianello became a blend of Fontodi’s best fruit throughout the estate. Over all the years, despite the changes in fruit source and aging regimen, Flaccianello remains 100% Sangiovese and 100% Panzano in Chianti.

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a couple of hours. The 2011 pours a deep, translucent garnet with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and dried Morello cherry, raspberries, red flowers, leather, mushrooms, cigar box, menthol, organic earth and wonderful fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acidity. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long, delicious and warming as the alcohol is pretty elevated. But whoa…what a beauty.

Okay, yeah…this is a modern take on Chianti Classico but my goodness, this is undeniably delicious and unabashedly Italian. Back in 2011, Flaccianello was aged in a combination of barriques from Troncais and Allier, all 100% new; an era that was arguably the most modern for this wine. Over the last 10 or so years however, there has been a shift towards less time in new barrique and large casks have now been introduced for the last six months of cellar aging. While I look forward to trying some of these more contemporary examples, I am very impressed with this 2011 and expect it will continue to show well through 2035. — 2 months ago