Grape variety: Nebbiolo
Region: Barolo, Piedmont, Italy
Food pairing: Organic beef tenderloin
The 2004 vintage was such a fantastic one in Barolo (and in much of Italy, for that matter), that any winemaker worth their salt should've made killer wine. But Elio Grasso of Monforte d'Alba, a sub-appellation of Barolo, made his killer 2004, (all from organically grown grapes),
with a hefty dose of opinionated traditionalism to boot. His wines tend toward the old-school style of Barolo, carrying more tobacco-laden tannins than hedonistic fruit that's popular today. "We have a philosophy of our relatives who worked in the vineyards before us," he stated to one reviewer. "We need to respect that. We need to be honest with ourselves. If I was going to change, I would have changed 30 or 40 years ago. I'm 60 years old... why would I change now?" Fair enough.The 2004 Vigna Chiniera, a single-vineyard Barolo that's made only in great vintages, indeed carries that classic tobacco and earth-laden Barolo character that staunch traditionalists like Grasso so aspire to, with some dusty berry to smooth out the mid-palate.
http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/italy/06284.html
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