2004 Barbaresco Bricco Asili

Good medium red. Crushed raw red berries, rose petal, brown spices and minerals on the slightly reduced, sappy nose. Densely packed and tangy, with a peppery spice character contributing energy to the wine's sweet berry fruit and lingering impressively on the aftertaste. A step up in depth over the Bernadot, with more stuffing to buffer its oak and tannins. This will evolve slowly.

The 2004 Barbaresco Bricco Asili is the most beautiful wine I have tasted from Ceretto in a long time. The expression of fruit is wonderfully layered, and is enhanced by the smoke, vanilla and sweet toasted oak flavors that flow from the glass. The wine reveals stunning length and sweet, silky tannins that round out the fin ish. The use of oak is prominent and obscures some of the detail, but this is nevertheless a gorgeous effort from Ceretto.

The 2004 Barbaresco Bricco Asili is the most beautiful wine I have tasted from Ceretto in a long time. The expression of fruit is wonderfully layered, and is enhanced by the smoke, vanilla and sweet toasted oak flavors that flow from the glass. The wine reveals stunning length and sweet, silky tannins that round out the finish. The use of oak is prominent and obscures some of the detail, but this is nevertheless a gorgeous effort from Ceretto. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022. For the most part, this is a strong set of new wines from Ceretto. The 2004 single-vineyard Barbarescos are both outstanding and the Barolo selections aren’t too far behind. Unfortunately there is no Barolo Bricco Rocche in 2003. The wines still show a generous use of oak, but when vintage conditions are favorable, the wines can be beautiful, as the 2004 Barbarescos attest. My one criticism is of the entry-level wines. The Barbaresco Asij and Barolo Zonchera are both disappointing relative to best wines at this level. Ceretto certainly has the resources to do better. Importer: Moet Hennessy USA, New York, NY; tel. (212) 251-8200