Mike and I tasted with Luca Currado last January at his winery “Vietti” and was impressed as always with the excellent Arneis, fun Perbacco and tremendous array of Barbera. What I wasn’t ready for was the truly stunning quality of the 2003 Barolo. You’ve all heard of the heat and drought problems associated with this year, but the job that Luca did on his wines is truly stunning. Rich and full bodied yes but not any trace of anything even close to being overripe; In fact the wines are truly well balanced better so than most of the 2000 Barolo I’ve tasted which was previously thought to be the super ripe “100 point Wine Spectator vintage”. I loved the Brunate’s richness yet with the longer more feminine character that one gets in La Morra it balances out perfectly on the palate. The Rocche is mind numbing, so rich, so concentrated yet still retaining the essential Nebbiolo character that makes Barolo so…..well Barolo. The Lazzarito with its more inherent structure, the hallmark of Serralunga, is dense, powerful, more Rhone like, heady with darker fruit, tobacco and dried herbs. All the wines are stupendous and in very limited supply!
Greg St. Clair