2009 Barolo Terlo Costa Grimaldi

The 2009 Barolo Costa Grimaldi is painted with broader brush strokes. It delivers immediate tones of black fruit, spice and nutmeg. Give it time in the glass and a background chorus of cola, tar, licorice and brimstone slowly increase in volume and tone. The mouthfeel is forceful, but finessed, with bright acidity and integrated tannins. Despite the warm vintage, the wine is beautifully crafted and will withstand the years. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030. Luigi Einaudi served as the second President of the Italian Republic (1948-1955). In his younger years, in 1897, he purchased the San Giacomo cascina in Dogliani with 40 “days” of vineyard. In popular farming culture, the size of a piece of land was estimated by how many days it took to work the land with a pair of oxen. Today, the estate counts 52 hectares of vineyards (mostly in Dogliani) including seven hectares in Barolo and three in Barbaresco. Importer: Empson, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

A rich, broad-shouldered wine, the 2009 Barolo Costa Grimaldi is stylistically quite similar to the Terlo, but it is bigger and deeper. Sweet rose petals meld into herbs, dark cherries and flowers in the glass. Mint and licorice overtones appear later, as does the wine's minerality, expressed by clean veins of underlying salinity. This beautifully balanced, focused Barolo is without question one of the highlights of the vintage.