This red label Riserva was made in 2012 and 2014 and will be released in 2016 and 2017. Bruna Giacosa and her team skipped over 2013 and 2015. However, the current release is the 2014 Barolo Riserva Falletto Vigna Le Rocche, and well, there's a lot to take in. Simply put, this is a beautiful wine that unfolds slowly with amazing intensity and complexity, delivering delicate notes of violets and candied orange peel that cede softly to darker tones of licorice, dried blackberry and savory spice. Give the wine the time it needs to open in the glass. This vintage flaunts its most elegant side, with fine tannins and soft fruity fiber that remains everlasting and pure. This estate is known for taking its biggest chances in the so-called off vintages. Betting on 2014 has turned out to be a brilliantly contemplated move.
The 2012 Barolo Riserva Falletto Vigna Le Rocche (red label) was bottled last September and has already eased into a comfortable and promising stage in its very early evolution. Bruna Giacosa tells me that this wine will be made in 2014 and 2016, so future supplies are plentiful. The jury is out on whether the wine will be produced in 2015, but Bruna tells me it is unlikely (albeit by no means confirmed at this point). Fruit selection was extreme in 2012. This is a warm vintage expression, and the wine is beautifully rich and velvety as a result. That textural richness is what stands out most. The primary fruit is bold and very well defined. There is a point of dark cherry ripeness, but it adds to the generous fiber and softness of the mouthfeel. Of the many beautiful vintages I have tasted of this wine, I suspect the 2012 might be faster in its evolution.
Here we have the venerated red label. The Bruno Giacosa 2011 Barolo Riserva Falletto Vigne Le Rocche commands attention and respect. The wine successfully, and somewhat magically, turns the tables on the overdone exuberance of the warm vintage and the natural heft that is inherent to Serralunga d'Alba. It does a great job of reining in all that power and transforming it into streamlined elegance instead. The wine opens to a dark and penetrating color and an immediately expressive bouquet. Thick layers of dark fruit, iron-rich earth, balsam herb, Darjeeling tea, dried ginger and cherry cola rise from the bouquet. The wine's Falletto signature is very strong. This is a Grande Vino with the proverbial capital G and capital V.
