DOC Barbera D'Alba 2008
G.D. Vajra
Barbera
14.5% alcohol.
Pop and Pour: The color is quite a dark red for Barbera, new school in style? Can see fingers on edges, lose all detail in the middle. The nose is a WOW! GREAT NOSE. Our red fruits have now jammed up and dried out a bit. Some heat coming through, but not too bad. Smells like a big wine. Just seems like everything on the nose is amped up. On the palate, WOW this is Barbera? Big red fruits, not a roll over and play dead wine. Elegant but also powerful. Flavors explode on the palate. Huge red notes, spice, chewy. Tannins are alive, draw everything back. Back palate is AMAZINGLY full, rich, and loaded with brilliant cherry and spice. Great mix of acids and structure and fruit, with just a wink of old school attitude (rustic), Earth and Forest. This is a wine I can get down with, so loaded, so full. This is Barbera? Don't underestimate the tannins, they are every present. This is EXCITING!
Fast Forward: 3 Hours 15 Minutes. Deeper and darker nose. Dark berry and BLACK cherry. Juicy and structured, all at once. This wine has not shut down, if becoming even more sexy. How does a wine stay this light on the palate, yet carry such flavor and finish? Some flowers starting to bloom. Picking up some brown sugar notes, along with a slight candied pop. By now means does this wine feel fake or candified, just a little sweetness on edges. Shows a ripe tendency. I still like this wine A LOT, at the VERY least, ABOVE AVERAGE. 24 Hours. Still just as rocking and full and powerful and lush. Heat starting to show, body feels warm as you consume the wine. The ripeness is still there, but there is also an edge to the wine, a tartness. The tartness actually balances out some of that ripe fruit. Still good, but some balance issues are starting to show. Best at 3 hours. Still good, EXTREMELY SOLID WINE. 48 Hours. GONE. The body is trying to hang on, but the tartness has finally caught up with the lushness. The nose is astringent. It's trying to hang on.......while not terrible this wine has seen better days.
Overall: There is something just SEXY and SEDUCTIVE about this wine. Maybe it is because I expected something different. Maybe it was so different from what I was expecting, I just couldn't ever regroup. OR, the wine is that good. I was so impressed with this wine, I bought just about the entire lineup. I wanted to learn more about Vajra. That is what is exciting about wine. Just as you think you are casually turning over stones and going through the motions, SURPRISE! Something new and different lights a fire underneath your feet. I found myself just holding this wine in my mouth, absorbing as much flavor as I could. My palate almost could not keep up. This wine is VERY VERY VERY good. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this wine for its sheer CHARISMA! Some wines just have a swagger about them, an attitude. This wine has it. I love the fullness and loads of flavor without being too over powering. The wine is so loaded, yet somehow manages to stay light enough to not be overwhelming. ABOVE AVERAGE or EXCEPTIONAL......yes it is that good. Look, this wine caught me completely off guard, changed my opinion about a varietal, and made me research and buy as much of the producer as I could. It is clearly ABOVE AVERAGE and flirts heavily with EXCEPTIONAL. For my experience and how it affected me, this is my website, I will generously say EXCEPTIONAL and be okay with it. It is a WOMDERFUL wine, I would encourage just about anyone to find it, buy it, and share it. I would recommend a 1 hour decant, and near term drinking 3-5 years. All of this for $28.00????? OKAY, EXCEPTIONAL!!!!!!!