We had this at Babbo the other night. As I said at the end of that post, we were somewhat disappointed, since we had downloaded Babbo's "current" wine list from their website, and made our selections and back-up selections prior to our arrival; however, they were not on the wine list when we arrived. So, since we have had an Anselma wine earlier, and since one of my co-workers knows the family personally, we decided on this wine.

The Anselmas started buying property in the late seventies. Today, they own more than eighty hectares in: Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga and Barolo. Giovanna (the mother) is the vineyard manager and Renato (the father) is the winemaker. Maurizio (the son) is developing and promoting the winery.

They choose only the best grapes from the choicest vineyards to produce their wine and sell off any remaining grapes. Maurizio says, "We will only make Barolo because this is the history of our land. We will not make any single vineyard wines. Rather, we will make two wines. The first, our annual Barolo, is meant for the enjoyment of drinking without much complication or fuss. The second, named Adasi, is a riserva representing a wine born to evolve and become better with time."

1996 Anselma Barolo Adasi

These are more recolections, as I didn't scribble any tasting notes while we were eating.

Decanted by the sommelier. Inky deep garnet. At first there were hidden notes of tobacco and black cherry. After an hour or so in the decanter, this opened up to reveal some mint and subtle earth notes, as well as more pronounced black cherry. Not what I expected from a '96 riserva... maybe it's still too young (but I don't think it will improve much with age). 86-88 points.

Were they out of the Corinos?

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
Were they out of the Corinos?

I don't remember. If they did, it was probably an older vintage of a riserva and cost more than we wanted to spend... but don't hold me to that.