Vietti, Barolo (Piedmont, Italy) 2010

Everybody loves Vietti’s wines, so I don’t pride myself in coming up with anything newsworthy by identifying this wine’s greatness, but let me say this:  Brunate 2010 from Vietti is one of the most charming, almost “hypnotic” wines that I’ve ever tasted.  Both of those terms show up in my raw note from a blind tasting experience in May 2014, along with “charismatic,” and this was probably the most extraordinarily beautiful of all the 2010 Barolo wines that I tasted over the course of five days.  The remarkable thing is that the wine is very deep and long in flavor, yet never seems to assert itself.  Moreover, it is simultaneously layered and seamless, which is an uncanny effect in combination, since those two characteristics almost always cut in opposite directions.  Oak is notable but perfectly balanced, and the wine’s weight and fruit are likewise perfect foils for its acidity and tannin.  This is a marvel of intricacy, but also a whole that is greater than the sum of its extraordinary parts.  Simply perfect.