Giovanni Manzone Barolo Bricat 2016
Collectors! Piedmont cognoscenti... Lovers of all things Barolo, have we got a doozy today! 93-POINT, single-vineyard brilliance from our friends at Manzone (going to visit them next month, WOOHOO!), all at our usual mind-bending, reality-distorting pricing -- truly astounding for a wine at this level!!
*** If only we got more! Sellout alert today! ***
We’ll say it again… 2016 vintage Barolo just kills it! Wine Spectator rated it as the best for the region in the last 30 years, and certainly one of the very best of all time. The ‘16s from Manzone are jaw-dropping – these are wines to make you jolt upright up, focus your attention, and let the complexity and warmth just stimulate and overwhelm your senses in the best possible way. The balance is just superb --- every sip gives you something different, something unexpected… pomegranate tea, dried cherry, sweet black cherry, floral rose petals, and inky minerals with barely there hints of smoky wood, incense, and a crazy long, uber-complex finish – all without being heavy. Just wonderful integration and harmony. Harmony! That’s the ticket!!
The Bricat parcel is a relative newcomer to the Manzone family. The one-hectare parcel borders their revered Gramolere vineyard and was owned by their neighbor Gigi Bricat until his death in the mid-90s. The Manzone family took on the vineyard and have been making this single plot as a standalone wine ever since. They revere the site for its production of soulful, complex, and elegantly powerful wines… AGREED! Utterly compelling at our price. A MUST if you love Barolo -- and who doesn’t, c’mon!! But as usual with this wine, very little to go around...so first come, first served!
Barolo Bricat is sourced from the oldest vines, in the highest, best-exposed parcel of the Gramolere vineyard. Although Bricat means ‘small hill’ in Piedmontese dialect, the name actually comes from the old owner of the vineyard purchsed by the Manzone family in 1989.
Technical Details
Country: ItalyRegion: Piedmont
Appellation: Barolo
Varietal: Nebbiolo
Vineyard: Gramolere
Farming: Sustainable
Alcohol: 14.50%
About The Producer
The Manzone winery was established in 1925 by Giovanni Manzone in Monforte d’Alba. A small, family-run operation consisting of 8.5 hectares located in some of the best crus in the Barolo appellation. In 1965, Giovanni and Stefano Manzone bottled the first wines and little by little they purchased important vineyards such as Gramolere, Bricat and Castelletto. With a traditional winemaking approach, the entire production focuses on quality and limited to just about 45,000 bottles per year. Manzone’s high-elevation vineyards (1,500 feet) and their extreme steepness foster naturally low-yielding vines which produce wines that are approachable while young, yet remain amongst the most concentrated and longest-lived of all Barolos.
Pairing Suggestions
Pair it with braised beef, roasts, truffle dishes and seasoned cheeses.
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