The only problem last night with opening the bottle of Mauro Veglio Rocche dell’Annunziata Barolo 2003 I was just given by Mauro and his wife Daniela was that I wish I’d had a bottle of Giovanni Corino Rocche dell’Annunziata 2003 to open for comparison. I know where to get that but the decision was just slightly ill-timed … could have been extra interesting as well since, according to Antonio Galloni, the 2003 Barolos were the first Renato Corino bottled under his own label.*
Anyway, this wine is perfect now. It’s certainly a dark and brooding wine (it is from Rocche) and is touched with a tad of extra ripeness (… the 2003 vintage) but it’s pulled off elegantly and tremendously. The press overtly dogs 2003 but any producer who has pride in where he or she was raised, in the land where he or she comes from, in the family that made him or her who they are, is not going to release mediocrity to the world.
“Hey, look at how mediocre we are. Buy it now!”
No.
So without thinking about, “Oh but that was from 2003!” let’s look at what the wine really is. And let’s realize I am totally enjoying a wine that is eight years old, and I’d have no qualms about keeping it longer either.†
Mauro Veglio Rocche dell’Annunziata 2003. Barolo DOCG. This wine is a dark ruby red, not entirely reflective (a tad cloudy but not in any sort of problematic way‡). The rim is coral in color and clear. The nose is complex and changing. First came cocoa and coffee notes, opening later after some hours to unctuous cherry, tar, a lot of smoke, and a touch of green moss. In the mouth it’s full and lush with a dark plum fruit (but not cloying or hot in any way). It’s lifted and balanced by tannins smooth as a rose petal at first but becoming a little chalky in the finish (I like this.). It reminds me of a perfectly brewed cup of coffee from high-quality (fair trade) coffee beans precisely dark-roasted. ★ ★ ☆
… while I don’t believe I’ve yet tried the Corino 2003 Rocche dell’Annunziata Barolo, I certainly have a bunch of others to talk about. Stay tuned.
* The split of the winery Giovanni Corino into the brothers’ separate wineries, Giuliano Corino and Renato Corino occurred around 2006. Renato now produces the Barolo from the family’s previous holdings of Rocche dell’Annunziata under his own label.
† The point isn’t that I am enjoying it, but that it is enjoyable (“piacevole”) now. And it’s eight years old and supposedly from a bad vintage.
‡ Mauro Veglio doesn’t use filtration or clarification with his wines.
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