Beautiful Barolo

Having recently been rather snowed under with work (note to self - blogging must take a higher priority!) I haven't had the opportunity to taste my way through quite as many wines as I'd usually like. Wine Wednesdays and Fine Wine Fridays have sadly given way to microwave meals, early nights and falling asleep in front of dubious catch up TV. So earlier in the week, I decided to stop the rot and to crack open one of the wines in my stash that I'd had my eye on for some time. Alongside the meatball ragu I'd cooked, the wine I chose was the Reverdito Barolo Castagni 2010, which was kindly purchased for me a couple of years previously from Steep Hill Wines (www.steephillwines.com) in my adopted hometown of Lincoln.

Truthfully, I was slightly hesitant before opening the Barolo - partly because I'd been holding onto it for so long that I wasn't really sure what occasion I was waiting for - but also because 2010 was such an incredible vintage in Piedmont that it was sorely tempting to leave the wine resting in bottle for further years before uncorking its magic. Additionally, on previous occasions when I've drunk relatively young Nebbiolo, I've nearly always regretted broaching it in its youth: it truly is a grape which stands the test of time and becomes increasingly ethereal and complex as the years tick by. Furthermore, from chatting with wine people in the know, there is a strong school of thought that says one shouldn't even consider drinking Barolo in the first decade of its life; doing so being tantamount to wine infanticide. Nevertheless, so much in the wine world is based on instinct, and my gut was telling me to take the plunge and crack the Reverdito open.

Fortunately, I made the right call, and was not disappointed. In the glass, the wine's identity is instantly recognisable, with the classic Barolo pale garnet hue just fading to brick at the rim. The nose is aromatic and fruit-driven, dominated by blackcurrant, violet and crunchy redcurrant, with background notes of old oak, iodine and tar. On the palate, the fruits present on the nose are joined by not unpleasant stalky tones, which take on a medicinal edge with aeration. Perhaps the most impressive aspect though is the wine's structure: full-bodied, with intensely powerful acidity and grippy, mouth-drying tannins, yet with a beautiful delicacy of flavour which persists long in the mouth and on the finish. For me, the wine represents an excellent example of the Barolo style, and one which - like all good Italian wines - really did sing alongside a richly flavoured tomato ragu.

On the evidence presented by Reverdito's 2010, it's not hard to see why the vintage has long been heralded in Barolo and why there are confident predictions for incredible development as the best wines age. Certainly in my opinion, the Reverdito would evolve comfortably in bottle for at least a decade more, and probably long after that too. Having decided to drink the wine only six years after vintage and subsequently enjoying it so much, I am now avidly searching for a duplicate bottle to bury away for a considerable amount of time. Do I regret opening it so soon? Not a chance! Brilliant wines like the Reverdito Barolo serve as a reminder to all wine lovers of the joys of our passion, and the incredible experience that wines can offer at every stage of their life cycle. Saluti!