One of my favorite wines in the world is Barolo. This northern Italian DOCG wine is 100% nebbiolo by dictate. It’s dark, it’s powerful, it goes well with Airwolf.

The Barolos I’ve talked about in the past, the 2004 Ceretto and the 2005 Renato Corino are better than this wine. But that’s all relative. There’s no plonk here, nothing for anyone to be ashamed of. The mark is just missed barely by the 2006 Pira.

The 2006 Luigi Pira Barolo (not to be mistaken for its big brother, the Luigi Pira Barolo Marenca) is a very pretty ruby red in the glass, with significant clearing to the edges, common among Barolo due to the DOCG-mandated 3 years (2 in oak, 1 in bottle) minimum aging.

On the nose is an almost-rubbery earth note. Seems like the alcohol is a bit out of balance and showing off here. There is a hint of moss here, and some—but not much—red fruit. On the palate the dark fruit of Barolo appears and greets you heartily. Blackberry, raspberry, kirsch and black cherry. The wine is medium bodied, and the finish is mid-level as well. The tannins are tight (tight tight tight) and the wine really feels like it needs more time.

Perhaps it’s simply a bit too young, but I was a touch disappointed by this Barolo. That having been said, it’s still delicious, bold wine. I love Barolo, and I can still recommend this one. I can also recommend, however, if you do pick it up: lay it down for two, maybe three years. Should drink marvelously around 2014.

Price Point: $30-$40

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Sometimes a wine embodies, figuratively but overwhelmingly, a certain feeling. After I reviewed the ’07 Soffocone, Josh Sweeney (@wineaccguy) referred to my review by saying “@stevepaulo drinks a rustic Italian landscape bottled and poured.”

Sometimes wine is just that descriptive. This is one of those times. All I can do is try to relate it to you.

The 2004 Ceretto Barolo Zonchera is dark. Dark. Dark.

Wonderfully, sumptuously, hauntingly, exasperatingly, frighteningly, delightfully dark. If you wanted to pair a wine with a poetry slam by brooding, self-important Parsons students held at precisely 3:00am in a TriBeCa loft on the night before Halloween, I would suggest this Barolo.

So what’s it like? Guess what it looks like… time’s up… yes, it’s dark, a dark blood red core that does lighten a bit to ruby at the edges. The nose bounces about with chocolate and espresso notes, along with some tobacco, leather and a hint of maple sweetness.

On your palate this wine will come off–all together now–dark. Predominant chocolate and espresso notes meet a full-bodied wine with smooth tannins. As dark as it is, it really does feel like a sinful treat. It’s a joy to drink, actually, which makes it something of an enigma: how can something so dark make you feel so good?

Who knows? Don’t care. Drink up.

Verdict: 92/100

2004 Ceretto Barolo Zonchera

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I recently posted a collection of wine labels from my recent Mostly Italian Experience at Prima Ristorante on my personal blog, stevepaulo.com. One of the comments I got on Twitter when the post went up was about this wine. With good reason.

The 2005 Renato Corino Barolo is a fantastic wine. Period.

I almost feel like I should end the review here, but it would do this wine no justice at all. First, a caveat: the wine runs anywhere from $30-$45 per bottle retail, and this is a bit pricier than a lot of the wine I review. At under $35, however, I would still say this 100% Nebbiolo wine is a massively good QPR buy.

In the glass, the wine is a nice dark opaque red, that turns enticingly pink at the edges. There is a big, big nose on this wine: rose petals and hanging vines of violets mix liberally with cherry jam. Really gorgeous, and really big and bold. The floral aromatics are something else in this wine.

The wine is full bodied, with a wonderfully-velvety mouthfeel. There is good tannin and balance here, lots of structure. The major fruit notes are a ripe cherry, and a cool and clean red apple skin. Let me explain the last one: some appleness, but simultaneously bitter and sweet and sour, all kind of mixing together. It’s something special, and when I used that term to describe the wine, my wife didn’t believe me and wanted to try it herself.

Now she believes me. So will you if you come across this Barolo. Good, good, good stuff.

Verdict: 96/100

2005 Renato Corino Barolo

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