2007 - Barolo Brea Vigna Ca'mia, Brovia

The 2007 Barolo Ca’ Mia explodes from the glass with ripe dark fruit, smoke, incense, menthol, spices and tar. There is an exotic quality to the Ca’ Mia that is totally intriguing. Here, too, the richness of the year provides a lovely foil to the firm, underlying structural components that are very much present. The pointed finish gives the wine tons of drive and sheer energy. This is a striking Serralunga Barolo. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2032. Brovia’s 2007 Baroli are just as impressive from bottle as they were when I tasted them from barrel late last year. The straight Barolo is always the last to be bottled. I will report on that wine as soon as I have had a chance to taste it. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchants, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Very deep, fresh red. Knockout nose combines cherry, flowers, camphor, spices, mint and licorice. Thick and densely packed, but with terrific inner-mouth floral lift energizing the primary dark cherry and camphor flavors. A huge version of Ca' Mia offering a rare combination of size and fresh fruit. Most impressive on the very ripe but classically dry, unflagging finish, which stains every square millimeter of the palate. The chewy, building tannins build inexorably, with a saline quality contributing to the wine's tactile mouth feel.