2005 Barolo Cannubi

Good full, bright medium red. Medicinal nose hints at mint. Juicy but shy, delivering sneaky flavor intensity without any impression of weight. In fact, this rather backward wine could use more flesh. Good acidity and fairly fine tannins give this good structure, but I picked up a bit of heat as the wine opened in the glass. Brezza's crus spend 24 to 30 months in large oak casks, none of them new.

The 2005 Barolo Cannubi reveals spiced red cherries with lovely inner perfume and sweetness that carries through the mid-palate and onto the long finish, where floral notes provide a beautiful bookend. There is a wonderful classiness and freshness to this mid-weight Barolo. Brezza's vines in Cannubi are next to those of Einaudi. The estate purchased the plot in 2002 after renting the vineyard for a number of years. In terms of its personality, the Cannubi is similar to the Castellero but it is more deeply spiced than that wine, which is defined by a floral personality.

The 2005 Barolo Cannubi reveals spiced red cherries with lovely inner perfume and sweetness that carries through the mid-palate and onto the long finish, where floral notes provide a beautiful bookend. There is a wonderful classiness and freshness to this mid-weight Barolo. Brezza’s vines in Cannubi are next to those of Einaudi. The estate purchased the plot in 2002 after renting the vineyard for a number of years. In terms of its personality, the Cannubi is similar to the Castellero but it is more deeply spiced than that wine, which is defined by a floral personality. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025. This was my first visit to Brezza, located right in the center of the town of Barolo. For a time my experiences with Brezza’s wines were mixed, but the quality of several recent releases as well as two monumental bottles of the estate’s 1978 Barolo Riserva Speciale intrigued me, so I went to see for myself what was happening in these cellars. Proprietor Enzo Brezza is a reserved, soft-spoken man. His Barolos seems to reflect that personality in their understated expression. These are quiet, mid-weight wines made in a classic, traditional style that at their best offer very fine drinking. Brezza ages his Barolos in cask, using the younger barrels (5-10 years) for the first part of the aging, and then racks the wines to older casks (10-15 years) where they finish their time in barrel. The casks are replaced after 15 years. Brezza is definitely an estate to keep an eye on, and readers should give these fine wines very careful consideration. Importer: An Acid Inc. Selection for Angels’ Share Wines, Brooklyn, NY; tel. (917) 687-4848