2000 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato

The 2000 Barolo Ornato bursts onto the palate with sweet spices, leather, licorice, dark fruit and French oak. This modern Barolo has aged exquisitely, and while I don’t expect it will last decades, it will continue to offer highly rewarding drinking for the next decade or so. If anything, it still has some tannin to shed. A rich, expansive finish rounds things out in style. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2020. Pio Cesare’s 2000s have matured gracefully, although they appear to have limited upside from here.

(80% new barriques Saturated medium ruby-garnet. Subtly complex aromas of redcurrant, truffle, tar and underbrush; I never would have guessed the vintage. Silky on entry, then wonderfully intense but supple, with flavors of dark cherry and iron. A huge, seamless wine of great thickness and richness. Incredible slow-building, classy finish really stains the palate. Any coffee and chocolate from the oak is hidden by powerful minerality. Boffa told me this wine boasts 37 grams per liter of dry extract, which is higher than either the '99 or the '01. A knockout.

Bright ruby-red. Subdued but aromatic nose of rose petal, tar, leather and chocolate; cleaner than the classico Youthfully tight and backward, with a penetrating quality and an austere menthol component. Very fresh but currently hiding its opulence and thus difficult to assess. Conveys an impression of strong acids but here the tannins seem riper than those of the basic Barolo. Finishes with a suggestion of exotic fruits.