2004 Brovia Barolo
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Tasting notes
The 2004 Barolo is a real stunner. Still deep, dark and intense, the 2004 impresses for its power and pure volume. Dark cherry, plum, spice, new leather and menthol are some of the many notes that open up in an ample, full-bodied Barolo long on class and personality. At ten years of age, the 2004 remains an infant. In this vintage, the Barolo is 70% young-vine Nebbiolo from Brea. Readers who can still find the 2004 should not hesitate, as it is a real overachiever.
Critic scores
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2004 Barolo opens with a spiced, floral nose followed by sensations of small red fruits. This medium-bodied wine offers excellent length and tons of style in a fairly approachable package for this bottling. The tannins are unusually refined here as well. The Barolo is made from a combination of the estate's vineyards (typically younger vines averaging 15-25 years of age) plus the wine that is leftover after the French oak casks used for the single-vineyard wines are filled. The juice is approximately equal parts Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga, and is aged in Slavonian oak.
The 2004 Barolo opens with a spiced, floral nose followed by sensations of small red fruits. This medium-bodied wine offers excellent length and tons of style in a fairly approachable package for this bottling. The tannins are unusually refined here as well. The Barolo is made from a combination of the estate's vineyards (typically younger vines averaging 15-25 years of age) plus the wine that is leftover after the French oak casks used for the single-vineyard wines are filled. The juice is approximately equal parts Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga, and is aged in Slavonian oak. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2022. This is a superb set of wines from Brovia. For reasons I can't quite understand Brovia remains incredibly overlooked considering the quality of the juice they put in the bottle. In recent years Brovia has been making terrific wines in an enlightened traditional style that is immensely appealing. The estate favors long fermentations. The single-vineyard Barolos are aged in French oak casks, while the Barolo (made from young vines) is aged in Slavonian oak. The resulting wines offer notable complexity and tons of site-specific detail, which makes them great choices for learning about some of Piedmont's top terroirs. Even better, prices have remained exceedingly fair in relative terms, although US importer Neal Rosenthal declined to provide pricing on the 2004 Barolos. Readers should be aware that Brovia has decided to hold back the release of the 2004 Barolo Villero as they believe the wine needs more time. These are some of my notes from a barrel sample of that wine I tasted in April 2007: -stunning .... sublime .... elegant.- Simply put, Brovia is on fire. Readers won't want to miss out on these exceptional wines. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchants, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990
Good full, deep red. Slightly high-toned aromas of herbs, licorice, menthol and flowers, with a whiff of leather. Supple, broad and dry, with plum and menthol flavors along with a slightly artificial floral element. Finishes rather austere and dry. A classically styled Barolo that strikes me as a tad rustic.