Mario Gagliasso, Barolo (Piedmont, Italy) 2011

This producer flashed onto my radar with a terrific wine from this site in La Morra in 2008, and has remained impressive with every release since then.  The 2011 from the small Torriglione vineyard earned the same score as this Rocche, and is actually a little bigger and more expressive, but also shows the heat of the year with some noticeable alcohol.  The Rocche is the one to buy if offered both from 2011, as this shows lovely cola and spice notes on a sweet, soft core of fruit.  Although this is a quite modern-looking cellar with new-ish cooperage, the wines often show tinges of volatile acidity and brettanomyces, which is not a reason to avoid them, but is a reason to drink them relatively young.