Wine Advisor
Elio Grasso, Barolo Riserva Runcot 2006
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2006 Barolo Riserva Runcot is a huge, structured wine bursting at the seams with fruit. The French oak (100% new) is beautifully integrated. Today the wine is understandably quite reticent but its pedigree is hard to miss. Flowers, licorice and minerals linger on the finish. The 2006 Runcot needs time, most likely lots of it. Let me just say I can’t wait to taste this powerhouse once it has had more time in bottle. It is a dazzling effort. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2031. Elio Grasso remains the most under-appreciated of Piedmont’s top growers. Make no mistake about it, these wines can easily hold their own with the best from the region. When one factors in price, these are easily some of the finest ageworthy wines on the planet. Importer: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Langdon Shiverick Imports, Cleveland, OH; tel. (213) 483-5900; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA; Admirality Beverage Co. Columbia Distributing Company, Portland, Oregon; tel. (503) 289-9600; Oliver McCrum Wines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 654-9159
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Racy wine with a leanness but elegance that makes my mouth water. Full to medium body with racy tannins and a long and salty finish. So beautiful. One of the best 2006s. Opening now.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2006 Barolo Riserva Runcot is a huge, structured wine bursting at the seams with fruit. The French oak (100% new) is beautifully integrated. Today the wine is understandably quite reticent but its pedigree is hard to miss. Flowers, licorice and minerals linger on the finish. The 2006 Runcot needs time, most likely lots of it. Let me just say I can't wait to taste this powerhouse once it has had more time in bottle. It is a dazzling effort.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(this spent 45 days on its skins, and was then aged entirely in new French barriques for 40 months with minimal racking; Grasso's other two Barolos are aged in 25-liter Slavonian oak casks): Good deep red. Expressive aromas of cherry, redcurrant, raspberry, violet, mocha and spicy oak, with savory and leathery nuances. Broad, dense and very dry, with lovely inner-palate minerality. There's excellent ripeness here but today the finish of this uncompromisingly dry, classic Barolo is cut off by its big, dusty tannins. "This vintage was second-best to 2008," noted Gianluca Grasso, "with 96% phenolic maturity."
About the Producer
Elio Grasso’s History Born within an old family of Monforte d’Alba with substantial vineyards in the prestigious parts of the town, Grasso may seem destined for a career as a Barolo producer . But instead he chose a different path, at least in the early stages of adult life, choosing to work in the world of finance and living an urban existence that was decidedly different from that of the rural world in which he was born and raised. The wines of Elio Grasso The call of the land, however, eventually proved strong, and the return to Monforte d’Alba was probably only a matter of time. And what he returned to was in fact an impressive patrimony: 18 hectares of vineyards that include first-rate sites such as Chiniera , Casa Matè , and Runcot . Grasso, in fact, just in 1978, decided to ferment and age on his own the grapes of his best plots and was a pioneer in selling both a regular Barolo and also a series of crus . As a producer, Grasso has always been attentive to tradition, but, given the important experiences linked to the numerous generations of his family in the area, he has never wanted to radically transform his wines: both Chiniera and Casa Matè are aged in barrels; only the Runcot , a Riserva , ages in small barrels. Innovation, on the other hand, is represented by two other wines from the line: the excellent Barbera Martina aged in barrels and Educato , a Chardonnay fermented in barrels.
