With the white label, the 2019 Barbaresco Asili is a wine of exceptional clarity and focus. That brightness is applied to the bouquet and the mouthfeel alike, where the wine feels streamlined, elegant and tight. Asili is redolent of wild fruit, violets and candied orange peel. This wine was bottled in 2021 and needs a few more years in glass before it really starts to unwind and soften.

In 2013, the father and daughter winemaking team of Bruno and Bruna Giacosa decided not to produce their Barbaresco Asili. They made a Rabajà expression instead. Asili was vinified separately again in 2014 and more recently to create the impressive 2015 Barbaresco Asili. This wine was bottled one year ago in July and has been on the market since February. This expression offers accessible and generous fruit tones, with blackcurrant and dark plum. The wine delivers big inner power with evident tannic firmness and a point of astringency on the finish. All it needs is more time in the bottle.

Enticing flavors of cherry, strawberry, eucalyptus and underbrush mark this elegant, firm red. Tightly wound for now and just hinting at the future, but the long, lingering aftertaste shows potential. Decant now, but best to wait a few more years. Best from 2018 through 2030. 150 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Italy / Piedmont / Barbaresco Select to Add

Bruno Giacosa's 2012 Barbaresco Asili benefitted from a warm growing season. The wine opens to a dark, compact appearance and shows an impressive level of aromatic intensity and complexity. The tannins are slightly less mature and more astringent in 2012 compared to 2011. This bodes well for the aging potential of this beautiful wine. Fresh acidity caps a very pretty portrait of the Nebbiolo grape. This is a lovely offering from this historic producer.

Giacosa’s 2009 Barbaresco Asili is harmonious and has good mid-palate depth, but is completely devoid of character, depth or complexity, all surprising given Bruno Giacosa’s absolute adoration for this site. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. Bruno Giacosa fans will be thrilled to learn of the return of long-time winemaker Dante Scaglione to this historic property. Scaglione spent 16 years alongside Giacosa and is now back with the winery as a consultant, which bodes well for the future. The first vintage Scaglione oversaw in his new role is 2011. Until then, readers will have to accept the fact that the current releases aren’t up to Giacosa’s historical standards. Few, if any, Piemonte producers are more heavily represented in my cellar than Bruno Giacosa. I still own a few bottles of the mythical 1964 Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, which remains one of the greatest wines I have ever tasted. Count me among those who hope this iconic winery can quickly return to the level of their glory days. Importer: Folio Fine Wine Partners, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 256-2700