Wine Advisor
Bruno Giacosa, Barolo Falletto Vigna Le Rocche 2005
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2005 Barolo Falleto Vigna Le Rocche is a massive, towering Barolo loaded with tons of rich, primary fruit. The wine remains powerful, dense and muscular with superb length even if it is a smaller-scaled Barolo compared to previous great vintages. That said, when I came back to the wine after it had been in the glass for an hour or so, I found that the wine had grown remarkably. While the 2005 doesn’t have the explosive personality of the 2004, it remains an awesome achievement in this vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035. Bruno Giacosa seems to be in better shape each time I see him, but on my latest visit, in November 2008, he seemed particularly energized. We spent several hours tasting through the 2006s and 2007s from barrel, along with all of the 2005s and 2004s from bottle. As www.erobertparker.com readers know, I have been following Giacosa’s 2005 Barolos for several years and I have been fond of these wines for some time, as they have always demonstrated exceptional balance. Now that the wines are in bottle they are every bit as delicious as they were from barrel. Giacosa fans will want to give these 2005 Barolos (and the Barbarescos, too) careful consideration as 2006 is shaping up to be a weaker vintage here. On the subject of the 2005 Barbarescos, they are every bit as successful as my scores suggest, if anything I may have misjudged just how great the wines will ultimately be. As for the 2005 Barolos, the wines seem to have been helped quite a bit by the southern exposure of the Falletto vineyard. Importer: A Leonardo Lo Cascio Selection, Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620
About the Producer
Bruno Giacosa, located in the south and south-west of Piemonte, has been performing well for three generations, thanks to the careful selection of high quality grapes and the emphasis on traditional winemaking techniques. The vineyard covers 44.7 acres (18 hectares) and is planted with Nebbiolo d'Alba, Barbera and Dolcetto varieties. The average age of the vines is 15 years and the planting density is between 4,500 and 5,000 vines per hectare, with an average yield of 4,800 litres per hectare. In terms of winemaking, the owner has a classic quote: "For us, the philosophy of traditionalism means making wines that are not only strongly local to the vine and the grape variety, but also maintain the various local terroirs. We have always made single-variety wines. Our winemaking techniques have been improved and we also make use of gentle pressing, crushing operations, advanced rotary systems and optimised cold and hot treatment techniques." For Garcosa, technology and tradition are not necessarily at odds with each other. In the winemaking process, the grapes are first fermented in steel containers and then transferred to wooden containers for ageing, which varies slightly depending on the type of wine. Finally, the wine is bottled without filtering. The main wines produced by the winery are the Barbaresco Garina, the Barbaresco Santo Stefano, the Barbaresco Asili, the Barbaresco Wabasha and the Barbaresco Asili. Barbaresco Rabaja, Barolo Falletto and Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto. Some of the more recent vintages are 2001, 2000, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1990, 1989, 1982 and 1978. These vintages are often relatively closed and uninteresting when first bottled, but after 10 years in the cellar, they all show an irresistible magic.
