2016 Oddero Barolo

“The Figli Luigi Oddero 2016 Barolo is a wine of enormous depth and character. It delivers the best of the Nebbiolo playlist with sultry dark fruit at its core followed by lifted or high-toned aromas of dark spice, licorice, candied orange peel and spent embers. The aromatic intensity of the wine is fitted to the underlying power and focused tightness of the mouthfeel. This classic Barolo represents a blend of fruit from four sites spread over three comuni: Rive in La Morra, Scarrone in Castiglione Falletto and both Baudana and Broglio in Serralunga d'Alba. Some 25,000 bottles will be rereleased in October 2020. (ML) 94+” (07/2020)

“While the fruit is dried and ripe, it’s also very focussed and floral. Dried cherries, dried rose petals and orange zest spring into action. The tannins aren’t the most powerful, but they are beautifully integrated with nothing sticking out, one fine strand building over the next. Medium-to full-bodied and vertical and medium-chewy on the finish.” (09/2019)

“This red combines cherry, menthol, tobacco and sweet spice flavors with a viscous texture. A dense framework of tannins provides support as this winds down on the finish. (BS)” (11/2020)

“From the Bricco Chiesa and Capalot vineyards, both in La Morra, and Fiasco in Castiglione Falletto. Total skin maceration of 27 days. Grapes from the different vineyards are fermented and aged separately, the first year in Stockinger casks of Austrian oak, after which the wines are blended together and aged another year in large oak barrel, followed by six years in concrete. ‘We prefer to blend the wines when they have aged a little’. Mid ruby with orange tinges. A perfect amalgam of perfumed, sweet cherry and herb liqueur with saline hints and a touch of oak, but more like an afterthought than anything else. Succulent cherry, which ends on sour-cherry notes. Firm, finely grained bitter-sweet tannins. Concentrated and tightly knit and enormously long. (WS)” (11/2019)