Giacosa Fratelli Barolo Scarrone Vigna al Mandorlo Riserva 2012
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James
Suckling
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Garnet red with light tinges of orange. Complex and evolving. Floral notes of rose and fruity hints of blood oranges, but also spicy and ethereal scents of licorice, tobacco, and even white truffle. It is warm, persistent and well-structured on the palate, thanks to its high extract and consistent tannic texture. Amidst the fruity and spicy notes, an interestingly marked sapidity stands out, endowed by the sandy-marly soil composition typical of the Mandorlo vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This shows so beautifully now with ripe-fruit, rust, tile and chocolate aromas and flavors. It’s full-bodied, yet well-crafted and tannic with a nutty, dried-mushroom and fruit finish. Gorgeous is the word.
Giacosa Fratelli is located in Neive, just a few miles from Alba, in southern Piedmont. The winery was founded by Giuseppe Giacosa, who gave up the traditional work in the fields (his father was a sharecropper) to become a merchant, initially of grapes and later of wine.
After WWII, Giuseppe's son Leone expanded the business started by his father, devoting all his time to improving the vinification and aging techniques of Alba's typical wines: Barbera and Dolcetto. Those years of difficult and intense work laid the foundation for the future of the winery's activity.
In the 1990’s, Valerio’s son Maurizio and Renzo’s son Paolo took over the helm of the business and set their sights on increasing the vineyards owned in areas where the noblest wines of the Langhe region are produced. A fine family tradition, therefore, continued by Maurizio’s sons Alessandro and Mauro, and Paolo’s children Lorenzo and Anna.
Generation after generation, those at the helm of the business had two very clear reference points: naturalness and quality, leading principles at the basis of the company’s philosophy, found at every transformation stage of the grape, from the vineyard to the winecellar.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
An historic village situated right in between the famous regions of Barolo and Barbaresco, Alba is also the name for the larger wine region surrounding the village.
In a sense, “Alba” is a catch-all phrase, and includes the declassified Nebbiolo wines made in Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the Nebbiolo grown just outside of these regions’ borders. In fact, Nebbiolo d’Alba is a softer, less tannic and more fruit-forward wine ready to drink within just a couple years of bottling. It is a great place to start if you want to begin to understand the grape. Likewise, the even broader category of Langhe Nebbiolo offers approachable and value-driven options as well.
Barbera, planted alongside Nebbiolo in the surrounding hills, and referred to as Barbera d’Alba, takes on a more powerful and concentrated personality compared to its counterparts in Asti.
Dolcetto is ubiquitous here and, known as Dolcetto d'Alba, can be found casually served alongside antipasti on the tables of Alba’s cafes and wine bars.
Not surprisingly, given its location, Alba is recognized as one of Italy’s premiere culinary destinations and is the home of the fall truffle fair, which attracts visitors from worldwide every year.