2015 Pietradolce Barbagalli Etna Rosso
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Etna Rosso Vigna Barbagalli pulls you close to the glass with its seductive bouquet of ripe cherries, plums and hints of sage, cinnamon and dusty clove. This is silky yet surprisingly lifted in feel and focused on purity, the red berries and herbs coasting along a core of vibrant acids. Grippy tannins come forward through the finale, along with a tension-building mix of tart berries and balsamic spices, all under an air of sweet tobacco. While this comes across as youthfully structured, I believe the 2015 is really showing quite well now and may lose the balance of its primary fruit if held longer than a few years.
Critic scores
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Here is a wine I always look forward to tasting. The 2015 Etna Rosso Barbagalli is made with extraordinary pre-phylloxera vines that range up to 120 years old. You definitely taste the rich concentration and focused aromatic intensity that is so unique to old vines. This wine is characterized by the very steady, slow-paced nature of its aromas that unfold with elegance and grace. Small forest berry is followed by licorice, tar and dried violets. To the palate, the wine is very firm, tightly knit and embroidered with lovely little details and nuances. The wine is aged in 700-liter oak casks (lightly toasted) for 20 months. Only 2,500 bottles were released.
Just mid ruby. Succulent cherry and raspberry fruit with a touch of dried fruit indicating a warm year. Wonderful tannic bite and freshness and yet mouth-filling. Will be interesting to see how this ages. (WS)
Dried black cherries mix with cedary spice, mint and nuances of cocoa as the 2015 Etna Rosso Barbagalli opens with its dusty and maturing bouquet. This is soft and pliant with tart red and black berry fruits, yet it lacks the power and drive of better vintages. Rosy inner florals linger along with minerals and slightly edgy tannins. The 2015 finishes with good freshness. It suffers from being tasted next to the 2016, but the 2015 is still a beautiful interpretation of Barbagalli.