2011 | Bruno Giacosa | Albesani Santo Stefano

A medium-bodied and structured wine that exhibits strawberry, dried cherry, tobacco and spice. The finish presents lifted fruit aromas and is especially well-balanced.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: This 2011 Barbaresco Albesani Vigna Santo Stefano is on the market since February and has had ample time to flesh out over the last six months of bottle aging. The wine opens to a light garnet color and immediate fruit tones that veer towards the jammy side with sun-dried strawberry and raspberry. It shows a good level of freshness and acidity to counter the warmer tendencies of the bouquet. The tannins deliver a smooth, silky quality and the wine starts to show pretty aromas of wet earth and black truffle after a few minutes in the glass. Drink: 2015-2030.

• James Suckling: A wine with silky tannins and pretty bright fruit of strawberries and sliced plums and hints of flowers. Full body, fine tannins and a wonderful clarity. Lovely length of fruit. This is the last vintage of Santo Stefano for Giacosa after many decades of success. Needs at least four or five years to soften. Try in 2016.

Producer Information

Bruno Giacosa is a famous wine producer based in Piedmont, Italy. It is particularly known for its intensely perfumed, textured wines from the Barolo and Barbaresco appellations, made from the Nebbiolo grape variety. Giacosa himself famously began in the wine trade buying grapes for his father's wines at the age of 15. By 1960, he was ready to begin his own business and soon became one of Barbaresco's principal producers, along with Gaja and the Produttori del Barbaresco cooperative. In 1964, Giacosa was the first producer in Piemonte to bottle a single vineyard "cru" from the Santo Stefano vineyard. Giacosa's standards remained high throughout the 2000s: the 2006 and 2010 wines were sold off in bulk as they were not seen as being up to standard, even though most producers did not regard these as poor years. Accordingly, Bruno Giacosa wines are among the most expensive of their kind. Many of Bruno Giacosa's wines come from trusted growers, rather than estate vineyards. However, in the early 1980s, the house purchased the Falletto vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba and a winery was built in Neive. That was followed by plots in La Morra, and in parts of Barbaresco. The vineyard holdings now total 20 hectares (50 acres), and wines made from these vineyards are labeled 'Azienda Agricola Falletto'. Wines from partner growers feature the phrase "Casa Vinicola" on labels. Giacosa's wines are aged in traditional 5000l botti, though these are now made of French rather than the traditional Slovenian oak. In exceptional years, wines may be released as Riservas which are given a red label.

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