The estate's Barolo normale is typically one of the top wines at this level and the 2003 is no exception. Rich, sweet and generous, it offers plenty of super-ripe fruit with excellent intensity as well as length. Only the harder tannins of the vintage keep the score from going higher. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2013. This set of new releases from Enrico Scavino is representative of the vintage. Because Scavino produces Barolos from so many different sites, including four single-vineyard wines as well as two blends, his Barolos make for a particularly fascinating analysis of the 2003 vintage. Scavino has decided to release his 2003 Rocche dell'Annunziata as a Riserva, so we will have to wait a few years to see that wine. My early tastings of that wine suggest it is not up to Riserva-level quality, but this is a vintage with many surprises, so it will be interesting to follow its development in bottle. "In 2003 we worked with slightly lower temperatures in order to avoid over-extraction. We also used less of the press wine, which typically has the hardest tannins. After fermentation the wines were racked into French oak barrels (1/3 new) for a year, and then moved into casks for the second year of aging," says Enrico Scavino. I tasted a number of promising Barolos from the 2004, 2005 and 2006 vintages, including the first wine Elisa Scavino is making on her own. It is a 2006 Barolo from the Via Nuova vineyard in Barolo that was fermented with manual pumpovers and punchdowns and aged in 100% new Taransaud oak. It will be fascinating to watch the evolution of this passionate, emerging winemaker. A Marc de Grazia Selection, various American importers, including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300, Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700, and Estate Wines, Ltd., San Rafael, CA; tel. (415) 492-9411