2001 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato

The 2001 Barolo Ornato offers up an exciting melange of tar, licorice, mocha, smoke, plums and iron. The Ornato, which was so muscular when it was young, has developed into a much more graceful and finessed wine that I ever imagined. The French oak has integrated, while the fruit has become silky, fragrant and deeply expressive. Floral notes add brightness on the deep, textured finish. I especially like the way the Ornato just keeps getting better and better in the glass. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2021. Importer: Maisons Marques & Domaines USA, Inc., Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000

More big old non-French oak in this. Not much more orange than the 2006. Bright tawny ruby. More persistence in the nose than the 2006. Very piercing and charming. Lovely now. Real freshness and attack. A very good wine. Firm but fair. (JR)

Bright medium red with an amber edge. Very pure, complex but austere aromas of medicinal raspberry and truffle, plus a suggestion of raisin. The powerful fruit seems less primary than that of the 2004 but this is in a more austere, medicinal style, showing less easy sweetness (a lower percentage of new barriques here?) and finishing with considerably more clenched tannins. Notes of nuts, smoke, truffle and tar. This one needs extended aeration, service with food, or ten years in the bottle. In their different ways, these two outstanding wines strike me as very representative examples of these two vintages.