On wednesday I was on a tasting of Barolos from Fontanafredda. Fontanafredda is of course one of the largest and oldest Barolo-producers. Most vineyards are in the Serralunga-area. The quality of Fontanafredda's Barolos has always been like a yo-yo. The early 90's were not good, but things started going better in the latter half. Before the 99-vintage a new winemaker, Danilo Drocco, was hired. Danilo Drocco is earlier know for bringing Prunotto back to the aristotelic golden middle road, as he was hired as winemaker in Prunotto when Antinori took over the firm in 1990. Danilo Droco's first vintage for Fontanafredda was the 1999. So we started with tasting 5 different Barolos from this vintage.
Barolo 1999
The straight Barolo was aged in botte only. The colour was ddep, but correctly brick. Nose was cherry and roses. Good body in the mouth, easygoing Barolo with nice cherryish fruit and some roses. Good fruit-character, seems like more on the cool side. Good acids, and tannic end. Slightly green tannins. A good standard Barolo.
Barolo Serralunga d'Alba 1999
One year in Barrique, of which 30-40% new. Slightly more depth in the colour than the normale, still very brick. More intence nose with oak and some dark cherries, more oak and less roses than the normale. More body, more tannins. A bit closed at this stage, but does not seems much more complex. Just slightly better than the normale.
Barolo Vigna La Rosa 1999
Same barrique-treatment as the Serralunga. Slightly more colour than the Serralunga, but still very brick. The nose is oaky, some spices and roses. Powerful in the mouth. Much roses in the fruit, some sweetness from the oak, but shows less than on the nose. A bit softer structure than the Serralunga. There's some good fruit in this one, but the oaking is too heavy for me.
Barolo La Villa 1999
This cru is from the commune of Barolo (I believe Cannubi, or close to Cannubi) Same barrique-treatment as the La Rosa. Colour equal to the La Rosa. Perhaps slightly less bricking. More fruity nose with some tobacco. Good body, less structured than the two previous. Fruity and rounder wine. Also here some oak, but seems to have adapted the oak better. But this is the most easygoing of the cru's.
Barolo Lazzarito Vigna La Delizia 1999
Same barrique-treatment as the La Villa. This comes from the Lazzarito-vineyard south in Serralunga. The vines here are grown at 400 meters and ripens ten days later than the others. The colour is equal to the La Rosa. The nose shows more tobacco, liquorice and cherry-stones. And the usual dose of oak, but this seems to handle it better than the La Rosa. The most powerful wine of the night. Very tannic. Masculine Barolo. Tobacco, liquorice and oak being most present in the mouth. My favourite of the 1999's.
Then we went on to do a vertical of older La Rosa, with a couple of others thrown in. All the wine seems to me to give textbook-examples of vintage-characteristics. They were also far less oaky than the 99's. So to me this does not seem good for the future of Fontanafredda.
Barolo Vigna La Rosa 1998
Colour equal to the 99 La Rosa. The nose is much more rosy with hints of dark berries and tobacco. Less oak. A lighter Barolo in the mouth. Good acid-structure and tannins. But a bit small in concentration. Tobacco and roses the most present in the mouth.
Barolo Vigna La Rosa 1997
Slightly lighter coloured and more brick than the 98. Nose is warm asphalt, mint and overripe fruit (prunes). Slightly rosy. Good body, slightly sweet fruit in the mouth. Low acids, but firm tannic end.
Barolo Vigna La Rosa 1996
Brick-red colour. The nose shos a lot of cool fruit. Cherry-stones, tobacco, liquorice, tartufo, some spices. Full-bodied wine and complex wine. High acids, tannic end. Very very good wine. My favourite of the night.
Barolo Vigna La Rosa 1995
Lighter than the 96, with more brick. More spicy nose with some roses, liquorice and mint. Medium bodied wine. The "smallest" of the day. Less concentrated, balanced acids and a tannic end. I would not wait very long with this one.
Barolo Riserva 1982
Made from a blend of vineyards. Brick colour. Very nice nose of tobacco, old wood, liquorice, cherries and high notes of roses. Full-bodied and concentrated in the mouth. Fruitier than the nose. More cherries. Seems quite young yet. Good acids, quite on the cool side and tannic end. Long and sweet finish with hints of tar. Surprisingly young. Very good wine.
Barolo Vigna La Rosa 1978
Light brick colour, more orange than the 82. The very nice and fragrant nose has tobacco, liquorice, tar and roses. Full-bodied and tannic wine in the mouth. Tannins seems unresolved and to much for the concentration of fruit. Lower acids than the 82. Harder structure, but a lesser wine than the 82. The nose is best.
Barolo 1967
Light brick/orange colour. Intence nose, minty with hints of old wood, tartufo and sweet liquorice. Good body. Concentrated wine and with rounded tannins. A lot of fruit. Quite a bit of Serralunga-character og tobacco, liquorice, tar and mint. Aromatically simpler than both the 82 and the 78. But great balance and nowhere neat fading.
Arnt Egil Nordlien
June-2003