Barolo, San Rocco, 2016

Name: Barolo, San Rocco
Brand: Azelia
Price: 535.12 GBP

Available Vintages

all 1998 2006 2007 2011 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

justerini & brooks tasting note

An arresting, lifted nose that leads to a more serious palate. Full bodied and showing a breadth of tannin binding in the distinctly pure, vivid fruit. This may be darker than the Bricco Fiasco but it speaks so clearly – velvety blackcurrant, mint, herbs and tobacco characteristics. Complex and stylish, top notch quality here. An Azelia monopole San Rocco is a top notch quality Serralunga vineyard that faces south and south west, where the soils are practically 100% hard compact clay, a very hard compact grey clay. The vines are 65 years old and the wine is aged in the same way as the Bricco Fiasco, for 24 months – half of which are in 8% new oak barriques and half in large used oak botti.

critic reviews

95/100Monica Larner,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The Azelia 2016 Barolo San Rocco presents broad and sweeping aromatic brush strokes, and the tannins are pronounced in this wine from Serralunga d'Alba. This is probably the bottle you put at the back of your cellar while the others might occupy a more accessible spot for medium to long-term drinking. There is a shallow midpoint between the intensity of the bouquet and the wine's structured finale, but that mid-palate zone will certainly flesh out with more time in the bottle. This wine earns an extra point for longevity. San Rocco was the first vineyard purchased by Luigi Scavino's father in the early 1990s, and the vines are 65 years old on average today. Some 7,600 bottles were released.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2047

date of review 07/2020

94/100Antonio Galloni,Vinous

Azelia's 2016 Barolo San Rocco shows terrific density and richness, but it is less aromatically expressive than most of the other 2016s in the range. Readers will have to give this at least a few years in bottle for the tannins to soften. Even in the early going, though, the 2016 is deep, powerful and loaded with pedigree. Now that most of Azelia's wines are aged in cask, the influence of small French oak is especially evident.

DRINKING WINDOW 2023 - 2041

date of review 02/2020