Bruno Giacosa, Dolcetto d'Alba, Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba

Madeirized

1998 vintage

A lovely smooth texture with lively acids and lots of black fruit and tar flavors. Youthful still but really grew in the glass and the layered finish with notes of asphalt, tar, roses, balsamic and smoky minerals is beguiling. 94+

2004 vintage

Still drinking beautifully. It has faded some. Tannins are resolved. Fruit was delicate. Slight kiss of rose petal.

1998 vintage

in a beautiful spot with some must on the nose but a very fresh palate with classic Italian earth and demure cherries in the background

2005 vintage

Expressive and mature, with a complex perfume of flowers, earth, truffle, and cocoa. Broad and deep on the palate, showing soft, resolved tannins and gentle texture. A touch unfocused, almost blurry. Really opened up after a few hours.

2004 vintage

Smells of truffles and smoke, undergrowth and ironstone. With air the perfume grows and you get decaying roses and menthol. It is quite silky in the mouth and there are dried fruits and earthy flavours. Tannins are relaxed and the wine finishes long, expansive and with all sorts of savoury nuance.

2004 vintage

Last of a wonderful case, double decanted around 1pm and served at dinner, medium bodied, lovely aromatics, mixing the cherry fruit with some spice, dried rose petals and more, this is what you want from mature Nebbiolo, it tastes youthful but when pouring shows a lot of bricking, could develop further, will definitely keep longer

1998 vintage

Agree with Burgundy Al. This wasn’t showing much on day 1 and never got to day 2. Was smoked by the 04 Conterno Cascina Francia in the next glass

2004 vintage

Beautifully open and soft. Better on day 2

2004 vintage

Leroy Weekend in Michigan; 8/1/2025-8/3/2025 (Asian Spice House - Buchanan MI) : Popped-and-poured, which is fairly fair for mid-aged Barolo, this simply didn't show much. I was told much more emerged on Day Two.

2004 vintage

Red fruited, fresh and very profound.

2004 vintage

Vertical Dinner Tasting of Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba (Bellevue, Washington) : Ruby. Medium+ weight, glossy round feel compared to any of the other 3 vintages. A bit of alcohol shows. Sweet, lush mixed fruit, only average acidity, substantial ripe tannins, some late tar. Lots of wine here, needs further time to unwind, but it tastes relatively simple compared to the rest, and I can’t really see it developing the more ethereal qualities of either the 1999 or 2001. …

2004 vintage

John’s Birthday Celebration (Noble Rot Restaurant, Wellington, New Zealand) : Classic Barolo that shows clarity, mouth coating tannins, florals and and density of fruit expression. It is just drinkable at the moment, but another decade of ageing will not go amiss. Drunk next the to the Conterno Francia of the same vintage, this was cleaner and more modern. Black tea notes. Both are a similar level of accomplishment, although this wine has slightly brighter fruit expression.

2004 vintage

In a weird spot with the fruit showing overtly candied and the palate lighter and disjointed. While this is at the end of the Bruno era, I still suspect it's future is bright / better than what it is right now. Shut down.

2005 vintage

Monday Dinner with Meursault, Clos Vougeot, and Barolo (Andros Taverna - Chicago IL) : Black and red cherry with good enough weight, lots of interesting spice notes, but slightly lacking the depth I want from Giacosa. Good now.

2005 vintage

Double decanted for 2 hours, med. ruby, roses & red fruit on the nose, red cherries on the palate, med. tannins, mod/long finish; outstanding & at peak, ready to drink, no rush

2005 vintage

Amazing / had with veal chops - prefect combination

2005 vintage

Wow this was good; the nose was absolutely incredible; truffle and mint, floral notes, ripe red fruit, anise and forest floor; palate is stunningly good with great length and depth. A wow wine all around.

1998 vintage

Northern Italy in the North End (Prezza) : Fainter nose, some dark dried floral petals. I was losing it a bit perhaps. Fresh plums and surprising lively fruit for its age, with a coal tar background and some slate/stone, and plenty of grippy tannins

2005 vintage

Recent purchase from a Gelardini & Romani auction in Hong Kong. Briefly decanted at the restaurant then drank over the next hour with very high end Neapolitan pizza and pasta. Dilute and fully transparent lamb's blood colour. Lovely nose of rose petals etc....everything that is typical Falletto Barolo. Palate is a bit too cranberries.... Burgundian cranberries… disappointingly thin and not what I expected even as an afficionado of Barolo much older than this...but fortunately a lovely lavender perfumed tone which …

1995 vintage

Bruno Giacosa Dinner (Ci Siamo, 440 W 33rd St Suite #100, NYC) : [Double-decanted around noon.] Sweet red fruit in the nose with hints of tar and licorice. Elegant. Fully ready to drink now. Sweet, long, lovely.

1998 vintage

Alt Festa Friday at Ci Siamo Same bottle as Ken's TN. Double decanted around noon. Savory and darker fruit profile with iron, and tar. It’s a little meaty, with darker Nebbiolo fruit and a saline, olive slant to the savory notes. On the palate, it’s structured and savory with more of the same from the nose with some porcini and ferrous notes. Long and sapid, outstanding and then some, just suffering amongst its company. Excellent with the meal. At peak, …

1998 vintage

This pours light garnet in the glass with medium plus bricking. The nose is quite odd on this showing VA, paper, wintergreen, red cherry, raspberry, and a touch of old furniture. The palate is much more enjoyable entering on bright red fruit with high tannin and high acid though the texture is quite well managed and the finish quite long with lovely ethereal rose petals and red fruit. On this night it was quite the contrast to the 1996 which …

1998 vintage

This is still very dense and structured, though the fruit is very pure, very concentrated, and attractively layered. Great typicity, with bright acids and tar, but this is really about the fruit. Very long. And a long runway of improvement ahead.

2004 vintage

Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume IX (Chicago, IL) : Handily my favourite bottle of the 1990s Giacosa white label lineup. Darker red fruit, with almost just a slight bit of a cough syrup note on the palate, but the overall profile is clean, crisp, and very intense. More full-throttled and powerful, and yet also more precise than the others as well, just an all-round, well-put-together bottle of textbook Giacosa.

1998 vintage

Steak, Truffles, Bubbles, and Barolo (Portland, Oregon) : This really unravels after seeing about 4+ hours of decanting. The nose is intoxicating and highly perfumed with fresh tones of red cherries, strawberries, licorice, herbs, crushed rocks, violets, rose petals, tar, savory spices, red berries, and some tobacco leaf. There is so much depth with a brawny quality to the tones, but without being too big or overpowering. The Full bodied feel is so balanced and fresh with great length and …

2004 vintage

Pulled the cork at 3pm, decanted around 7, poured at 9 and was beautifully open and fragrant, tasting at its peak now, no hard edges, just a beautiful classy Nebbiolo

1998 vintage

Really a pretty bottle, especially after a couple of hours of air. The nose started out red cherry fruited tinged with menthol, but that brightened and grew to be filled with roses, violets and strawberries. The palate had tart cherries and very good energy at age 19. Expansive well balanced finish, great with dinner (a simple pasta meal). Not the most complex palate, keeping this entering rarer air, but still a very very good bottle.

2005 vintage

Tasted blind. Decanted for 1h or so and then kept in the decanter through the evening. Right out of the gate a wine with humility through and through, playing hard to catch while constantly signaling the underlying greatness. The built up suspense finally releases an intense cherry and cranberry fruit with aeration adding layer after layer of complexity. Light floral notes, black tea and mineral notes of coal as well as dried herbs. Even elements of dried meat. Finally reveling …

2004 vintage

The one with open Italians (Imperial Paragon) : Pop and poured. This was one of the clearer wines of the night where on first nose, it was definitely a barolo from one of the great houses. Pre 08 Giacosa just hits differently and this was all that you expect it to be. Bouquet pretty pronounced with roses, dark plums, sandalwood and tea leaves. Palate had good structure and density, while culminating towards a silky and velvty finish. This has the …

2004 vintage

1 of 2. Not decanted. Quietly aromatic, showing dried red fruit, soil, tea with a touch of truffle and blood orange. Medium bodied, dried red fruit, extremely elegant with lovely transparency, medicinal notes, spice, fine but still lightly firm tannins, very good length finish. Excellent, drinking well.

2004 vintage

Chez Bruce Sundays - Simon's Cornucopia 2nd June 2024 (Chez Bruce, Wandsworth Common) : So much going on here and a think a better bottle that one at 67 Pall Mall a couple of months ago. Sweet chestnuts, soil tones, some sweet peas, rose petals and a touch of aniseed. Old mahogany dresser and a couple of ppm of fine balsamic vinegar. Some brown sugar, a hint of soy and some coffee grounds. Hints of giant Piccolino caper and hint …

1998 vintage

Double decanted a few hours before dinner I believe, this was stunning from the get go, the aromatics soared from the glass, cherry fruit, spice, a little touch of balsamic. The palate was complete from front to back and lovely acidity kept it all together through a delicious finish, at peak

1998 vintage

Decanted for 2 hours. This is showing very well. Nose of dried roses, anise and spice. Silky palate, surprising power delivered with subtle understated, earthy fruit and impeccable balance.

2004 vintage

Smooth - dried blue fruit with good structure but super well balanced

2005 vintage

Poured from magnum. Last time I had this wine was also from magnum in 2011, where it was tight as nails without too much fruit expression. Today it is not tight, but still dominated by its structure, and the fruit feels fully mature, if a bit passed. We decanted half the mag and left the other half in the bottle. The wine in the decanter went off incredibly quickly (a couple hours), and this note is coming from a fresh …

1995 vintage

Evoluído

1998 vintage

Had strong acidity still but really didn’t have the complexity I was hoping for. Felt last it’s prime and pushing tertiary notes

1993 vintage

This smelled great immediately after opening, but tasted pretty dusty. My plan was to decant for 5 hours, which turned out to be the right decision as it continued to clean up more and more the longer it was open. Lots of licorice and red fruit, and was ultimately quite clean and pretty after plenty of air. Not exactly fireworks, but still tasty.

1988 vintage

Very cloudy. Tart with VA.

1988 vintage

Nick's "Good Barolo and Barbaresco" Dinner - Friday 22 March, 67 Pall Mall; 3/24/2024-3/25/2024 (67 Pall Mall) : Needed some swirling to get going but this was lovely, dried fruit and a touch of pepper on the nose, lovely deep fruits on the palate. A fine tannic structure. Lovely wine.

1998 vintage

Nick A's "Good Barolo and Barbaresco" at 67 PM (67 Pall Mall, London) : Nose a little soupier that the Gaja this is served with. Some well polished dresser and some roasted chestnuts. Fine tannins. With air it gains focus and some roses emerge. Lovely acidity.

1998 vintage

Good Barolo and Barbaresco (67 Pall Mall) : A classic nose, with lift and soul, and a floral quality. Pretty acidity made the wine very refreshing. Delicate and unlikely to improve, but with beautifully mature flavour and holding up well. Just so tasty; I don't think my note has done the wine justice, as it was my WOTN and the group's #5.

1998 vintage

Nick’s Barolo and Barbaresco (67 Pall Mall, London) : 5/6. Pale mahogany. Quite developed, mushroon, truffle. Medium bodied, savoury with gamey notes, truffle again, fully resolved tannins, fresh acidity, finishes quite well.

1998 vintage

Decanted for 6 hours. This started out very light but evolved to be quite deep and profound. Nose shows some anise, black pepper and dried red fruit. Palate is deep and mineral driven, earthy with very fine grained and grippy tannins. Long citrusy finish. Excellent.

2004 vintage

Nez complexe sur la cerise, la réglisse, le cuir, la feuille morte, les épices et les fines herbes La bouche attaque d’abord sur la cerise, la réglisse, le chocolat noir, quelques épices. Cependant, le toucher lui est un peu déséquilibré par l’acidité et une pointe de tannins est perceptible. L’ensemble est fruité, vraiment ouvert, aboutit, puissant… ne serais-ce de cet amertume ce serait parfait Longue finale sur le chocolat, les cerises et les herbes Beau vin mais qui semble tellement …

2004 vintage

So different from the '04 Monprivato drunk alongside but no less captivating. This is all dark fruits and truffles and while the Monprivato could be mistaken for a Burgundy, this wine couldn't be anything but a Barolo with it's authentic notes of mushroom/truffle and smoky forest floor. It has a beautiful layered texture and a deeply satisfying finish. A fresh bottle with no flaws and while youthful, I love it right now for its balance of silky fruit and tertiary …

2004 vintage

Quite an ordeal with this bottle. Opened 8 hours in advance, cork disintegrated into the bottle, strained and double decanted. Despite this mistreatment, the wine showed wonderfully well. Medium ruby without much fading. Green herb, licorice, and tar aromas. Poised medium weight. Gently sweet black fruit, anise, and spice backed by a long soil foundation and piquant acidity with chocolatey tannins. Outstanding penetration and persistence. Gorgeous white label that is not fully expressed-give it another 5-10 years for full maturity.

2004 vintage

Very solid Giacosa! My first time tasting the 95’ vintage of this wine and it didn’t disappoint. Lovely bright red cherries & super fresh!

1995 vintage

Glorious bouquet right off the initial pour, and matching flavors: sweet cherry, and all the traditional Nebbiolo character (mentioned below) in a great evolutionary spot where the structure is resolved and the fresh acidity remains. It thrilled everyone and well stored bottles are better than the 92+ rating on this site. ps, I find I have a clear preference for the 98 vintage over 96.

1998 vintage

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Bruno Giacosa, Dolcetto d'Alba, Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba

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