1997 Giacosa, Bruno - Barbaresco Santo Stefano Nebbiolo - Italy - Piedmont - Barbaresco - Neive - Red

Medium red, orange at the rim. Superripe, perfumed aromas of cherry, redcurrant, smoked meat, cinnamon and dried flowers, plus an exotic whiff of amaretto. Supersweet, dense and smooth but with lovely vinosity. Not as deep as the '98 version but already offers superb inner-mouth complexity. Finishes sweeter than the Rabaja, with substantial tongue-dusting tannins. The fermentation was difficult and protracted, said Scaglione, and the fermentation of sugar ultimately finished at the same time as the malolactic, leaving 2.5 grams of residual sweetness.