Silvio Grasso Barolo Turne 2013

The Grasso family has been producing wine since 1927, but Federico Grasso only started bottling in 1980, and has "produced a bevy of sensational efforts over recent vintages" (Parker). His sophisticated, modern Barolos are particularly notable for avoiding excessive wood aromas; to this end, Grasso prefers to use large barrels rather than barriques for maturation, and uses less than 30% new wood even on his single-vineyard bottlings. The "Bricco Luciani", which is located just above Molino’s "Gancia" vineyard, is soft, generous, classic La Morra, while the "Ciabot Manzoni" was described as "Godzilla-like" by Parker, "multidimensional, compelling/prodigious... gigantic in scope and stature"; this wine was given 95 points for the 2004 by the Wine Spectator. In fact, all of Grasso's 2004 Baroli were awarded scores between 92-95 points. Dolcetto and Barbera also exhibit exceptional lushness and ripeness, with superb purity of flavors and aromas, and the "Peirass" (first released last year) is an elegant, ripe Nebbiolo without extended wood aging.