2009 Azienda Virna Di Borgogno Barolo Preda Sarmassa

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 91.5 points

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  11/26/2023 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Prior bottle was almost 18 months ago and this wine continues to show well. Nose continues to show a mix of black cherry and plum along with lots of tar notes, some spices and light leather qualities. Between medium and full bodied with rounded black cherry upfront, adding a bit more depth through the middle as well as plum and blackberry. Tart black cherry, balanced tannins, a touch of acidity as well as spices and minerals through the finish. Still takes four hours to fully open up, but is worth the weight. As compared to my prior bottle, the mid-body shows more depth, the integration with the backside has also improved such that there are no more drying notes on the back (more seamless transition) and the balance between fruit and structure has improved. All of these were exactly in line with where I'd hoped this wine would turn out. Based on where the fruit and structure are today and how long it needed to be open, this wine should still have several years in front of it at this level.

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  6/3/2022 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Prior bottle was a bit over two and half years ago and the wine has improved as I'd hoped in that time. Black cherry, plum, tar and spice notes on the nose. Between medium to full bodied with black cherry upfront, showing more roundness than before, but still retaining some nice, contrasting bright black cherry notes as well. Mid-body continues to show good depth with black raspberry to go along with black cherry upfront and then plum behind. Tart black cherry, spices, minerals and light leather notes through the backside and finish. The tannins and structure overall are more in balance with the fruit than my previous bottle, but still has a slight touch of dryness and more overall structure than you might initially think. It's clearly coming together with the fruit, but in such a way that it still has a number of years ahead of it. I'll wait until at least Fall 2023 for my next bottle.

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  9/19/2021 - DEBacchus wrote: flawed

  Corked; what a pity; was my last bottle; very disappointing

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  10/20/2019 - RGCM Gananda Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Black raspberry, black cherry, tar, spices and floral notes on the nose. Between medium and full bodied (14.5% ABV) and opens up well over the course of several hours, but showed its best after 8 hours total, proving I opened this a bit early. At the eight hour mark, shows very pretty black cherry and black raspberry upfront, mixed in with a good amount of earth, tar and brightness. Rounds out quite nicely through the mid-body with some plum notes, good balance and tart black cherry notes towards the back. The tannins are fine grained, but the structure provided is no joke, as there's a touch of dryness and quite a bit of backbone, but all done in a balanced fashion. Felt like this wine was almost sneaky-structured, rather than overt. With some additional time in the cellar, this should continue to open up throughout and also improve in balance. I'll try my next bottle in Fall 2021.

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  2/8/2015 - anderegg Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Opened bottle 40 minutes before sampling. Wine opened up with nice fruit, some acid and strong tannin about an hour later. Quite good.

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