Cantina del Pino Barbaresco 2007

I decided to open this baby Friday evening. It was my only bottle of this, but after reading a bit about it on Antonio Galloni's forum I thought I would give it a try. As it was a last minute decision it was not given any pre-drinking treatment - so a pop and pour.

In the glass the color was ruby red with a core which was somewhat darker. In the nose I felt that it was initially dominated by alcohol, however after some time in the glass this seemed to evaporate. It then displayed dark cherries, licorice and a slight touch of mint or menthol - all very classic nebbiolo scents. When I tasted it I initially felt it was very loyal to the vintage, with loads of overripe fruit and again slightly alcoholic and in general a bit out of balance. Luckily with time in the glass this feeling of disharmony dissappeared and more classic notes of nebbiolo surfaced. The dark and sweet cherries were there and so was the menthol. In terms of structure the wine was relatively feminine and the few tannins that were there were soft and sweet - so very true to the vintage. I enjoyed half of the the wine over the course of the evening and then left the rest for the day after. It clearly improved with air and it was even slightly better the following day as this touch of alcohol was completely gone. In general it was a wine that was made in a very polished style, and I must admit that I found it to lack a bit of personality. Anyway it was a very nice wine, which was charming with its warmth and it was very approachable due to the lack of a big brooding tannc structure. I'm not sure it is a wine that will keep for many years, but it definitely is worth a try and I like the fact that it was so true to its vintage.