2009 - Massolino Barolo Parafada

(from 60-year-old vines, the estate's oldest): Good bright red. Slightly reduced aromas of red cherry, redcurrant, sweet butter and licorice. Very rich, silky and ripe; at once savory and sweet, with subtle concentration and a liqueur-like quality to its flavors of raspberry coulis, mocha and spices. A step up in texture from the Margheria but less perfumed than that wine. Balanced, sexy Barolo with substantial ripe tannins. This is from a steep, chalky slope whose vines normally retain high acidity. (Incidentally, through 2006 the Parafada was aged partly in barriques but Massolino discontinued that "experiment.")