Azelia - Barolo Bricco Fiasco 2016 (750ml)
Vinous: 96 Points
The 2016 Barolo Bricco Fiasco is a glorious wine. Sweet red cherry mint iron rose petal and blood orange are some of the many aromas and flavors that grace this exquisite beautifully layered Barolo. A wine of subtlety nuance and grace the 2016 has so much to offer. I don't remember ever tasting a Bricco Fiasco with this level of finesse and nuance. Two thousand sixteen is the first vintage in which the Bricco Fiasco is aged part in cask and part in barrique. All I can say is: Wow!
vWine Advocate: 96 Points
Of the four single-vineyard wines presented by Azelia this is the only one that draws its fruit from Castiglione Falletto. The other three see fruit from Serralunga d'Alba. It makes sense then that the 2016 Barolo Bricco Fiasco marches to the beat of its own drum when compared to its siblings in this portfolio. This wine is set apart by the precision of its aromas and not by the overt power that you get in Serralunga d'Alba. Instead you get linear and direct aromas of wild cherry dried blueberry smoke licorice and crushed limestone. This Bricco Fiasco is beautifully assembled elegant and laser-focused. Luigi Scavino's grandfather planted this vineyard in the 1940s and the average age of the plants is 85 years old today. The site has more sand in its soils compared to Serralunga d'Alba and this explains the bright fruity and sometimes floral characteristics of the wine. This is a 5800-bottle release. Luigi Scavino's Azelia is celebrating a big milestone this year with its centennial anniversary (1920?2020). Five generations of the family have carried forth this winemaking legacy. To mark the occasion Azelia is releasing a new single-vineyard wine the 2016 Barolo Cerretta. In 1992 Luigi and his father Lorenzo started leasing a 2.5-hectare parcel in Cerretta (in Serralunga d'Alba). The father and son team replanted the site completely installing new trellising poles and wires and they ripped up the soil and added rainfall drainage. The Scavinos did all this work and made all these investments at great personal cost since the land lease would expire one day. However 12 years later in 2004 the family succeeded in purchasing the parcel. This site is very special to them as it is the first vineyard created completely from scratch with massal selection by the Scavinos. Initially the fruit was used in the classic Barolo blend (a blend of seven crus). Now nearly 30 years later Cerretta is finally bottled as a single-vineyard wine just in time to blow out 100 candles on the winery birthday cake.
Wine Spectator: 96 Points
Scented aromas of rose cherry strawberry and currant are the hallmarks of this elegant Barolo which is grounded by underlying hints of tar and iron while the lively structure shows fine integration. Long and resonant on the finish. Best from 2022 through 2042. ?B.S.
