Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della
Briccolina 2006 (WS95 pts., $75.00, SKU 329425) Forgive me for writing about
another expensive wine, but this was another spectacular value. I had my eyes on this Italian wine for
a few months as it was a great deal: $75 for a 95 point wine. But it was not on
the shelves at the LDB store. So I asked one of the wine consultants and she
found out that there were two bottles on hold for three months. Since the
person did not pick it up, I was able to purchase them. Wine Spectator
indicated it will mature between 2014 to 2030, another of those wines that should
be put in the cellar and forgotten. I knew that Barolo wines needed lots of
time in the cellar, typically ten to twenty years. However I could not resist
my urge to taste a high rating wine before it was ready to see how wine tasters
could see into the future. So I bought an extra bottle and opened it with the
help of one of my tasting panel members. He opened it at 11:30 a.m. and left it
in the bottle and decanted it at 2:30 p.m. He remarked that it initially tasted
like soya sauce but evolved nicely over the next six hours. By the time dinner
was served at 6:30 p.m. the wine was coming into its prime. Barolo were
generally a rougher wine that needed some tasty food. We served it with a Moroccan
style lamb shank and some beef ribs with a heavy sauce. The wine was a full
body heavy hitter. There was a surprising amount of fruit even though it was so
young. The tannin was strong, so it should do well in the cellar for the next
fifteen to twenty years.
LDB website indicated there are 80 bottles
in the system. There are no more at 39th and Cambie and two bottles at Alberni
and Bute . Ironwood has 4 and Park Royal has 17
bottles. Again this did not fit my usual criteria for my blog but the value was
irresistible. The U.S.
release price was $90 and it was only $75 here. Try to get your wife to buy it
for your birthday or your children to buy it for Father's Day. Then put it at
the back of your cellar and mark it for one of your milestone birthday or
anniversary.