Wine Advisor
G.D. Vajra, Barolo Bricco delle Viole 2015
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The 2015 Barolo Bricco Delle Viole is a delicate and pure expression of Nebbiolo. The wine shows its naked beauty with pride, provocatively semi-dressed in lacy, floral aromas of wild rose and pressed violets. At this young age, the wine exhibits a gentle mix of fruity and floral characteristics that merge into the bouquet with intrepidness. The fruit from this vineyard within the Barolo township has maintained its freshness and crispness despite the heat of the 2015 growing season. I think it would be a lovely match for a veal piccata and cream sauce, with parsley and capers.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The flagship Barolo Bricco delle Viole is quite understated and gracious in 2015. Medium in body, with the persistent tannins that are so typical of this site, the 2015 is lithe, focused and full of energy. The warm vintage notwithstanding, in 2015, Vajra's Bricco delle Viole is distinctly sinewy and tense. It will offer considerable appeal to readers who find some of the other 2015 Barolos too open and giving in their youthful stage. Kirsch, rose petal, mint and chalky notes build into a finely cut finish. Time in the glass softens some of the youthful, austere contours, but this remains a 2015 Barolo that needs time in bottle to be at its very best.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The flagship Barolo Bricco delle Viole is quite understated and gracious in 2015. Medium in body, with the persistent tannins that are so typical of this site, the 2015 is lithe, focused and full of energy. The warm vintage notwithstanding, in 2015, Vajra's Bricco delle Viole is distinctly sinewy and tense. It will offer considerable appeal to readers who find some of the other 2015 Barolos too open and giving in their youthful stage. Kirsch, rose petal, mint and chalky notes build into a finely cut finish. Time in the glass softens some of the youthful, austere contours, but this remains a 2015 Barolo that needs time in bottle to be at its very best.
About the Producer
GD Vajra was born out of a revolutionary spirit. In 1968, 15-year-old Aldo Vaira was evicted to his estate in Barolo after becoming involved in political protests. Aldo's youthful energy soon turned to agriculture, and within a few years he had taken over the family estate. GD Vajra exemplified this revolutionary spirit when it became the first winery in the Barolo region to adopt organic farming in 1971. In addition, they were the first to plant Riesling in 1985. Vajra is the champion of some of Piedmont's less popular native grape varieties, including Dolcetto, Barbera and Freisa. They also make three single-vineyard Barolo wines, including the incredible Bricco delle Viole vineyard, which at 1,500 feet is one of the highest in the commune of Barolo. Today Aldo, his wife Milena and his children Giuseppe, Francesca and Isidoro still run the estate on organic principles. The soils here are sedimentary and most of the vineyards are in what I like to call the Tortonian valley which is actually the valley between the Bricco delle Viole area and the Barolo area at the foot of the hill and then another part of the area The side valley is Castiglione Falletto.
