2018 Barolo, Rocche dell'Annunziata, Riserva, Mauro Veglio, La Morra, Piedmont, Italy

The 2018 Barolo Riserva Rocche dell’Annunziata is a powerful, dense wine that mostly shows an intent to make a wine more in line with the style favored here in the past. Black cherry, plum, mocha, leather, licorice and espresso are all dialed up. The 2018 shows the more mid-weight structure of the year and some of the more restrained approaches that has become the norm here, and yet the oak is intrusive. To be fair, new oak is way down to 30%, but still, French oak tannins are discordant with the natural finesse of Rocche. All that said, this is still a very good wine. But it could be more than that.

Drink 2024 - 2034

Heady aromas of crushed red berry and violet mingle with whiffs of botanical herb and sun-warmed hay on the stunning 2018 Rocche dell’Annunziata Riserva. Taut and tightly wound, the savory, elegantly structured palate features succulent raspberry, wild cherry, star anise and coffee bean set against a backbone of fine-grained tannins.

Drink 2028 - 2038

This is my favourite wine in this group of new releases from Mauro Veglio. The 2018 Barolo Riserva Rocche dell’Annunziata a limited release of 2,500 bottles) offers dark fruit and dried blackberry with elegant hints of dark truffle or tar. Slightly evolved aromas give this wine a leg up in terms of complexity. However, the wine also grows in finesse, showing dried currant, rose tea and iris roots the longer it stays in the glass.

I found this tasting to be quite difficult. Most of the wines had a very hard time opening, and some never opened completely, despite repeat tastings from the same bottles. I noticed the same issue last year. In other news, this estate has recently completed its first harvest of its Timorasso from vineyards in Berzano di Tortona and Monleale. The white variety was planted in 2021.

Drink 2025 - 2038