Nicolas Belfrage MW, Barolo to Valpolicella

The iconic wines of Bruno Giacosa are produced without the use of new barriques, opting instead for large casks of French oak. The direction of the winery has increasingly fallen into the hands of Bruno's daughter, Bruna, with the help of enologist Dante Scaglione. The Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa wines are produced from purchased fruit and while the Falletto di Bruno Giacosa wines are made from estate vineyards in both Barolo and Barbaresco. 

The Giacosa tradition is that of the commerciante (négociant) on the highest level. Bruno learned winemaking from his father and grandfather and in 1961 began purchasing from growers in top sites and bottled the first wines under the Bruno Giacosa name. In 1982 Giacosa bought the Falletto vineyard in Barolo followed by portions of the rated Asili and Rabajá vineyards in Barbaresco in 1996. 

Giacosa is a perfectionist and the reputation for the winery's painstaking level of detail and consistency is legendary. Belfrage has described Giacosa's oenological philosophy as "updated traditional". Maceration on skins may last up to thirty days and the wines are aged in 50-hectolitre botti of French oak.

The 2008 Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba is classic Giacosa. Tightly wound and built for cellaring, this wine only begins to show its lovely perfume of crushed violets and fennel bulb, sweet leather and bright red fruit after an hour or so in the decanter. Perfect cold weater drinking and brilliant when paired with slow cooked meats, wild mushroom risotto or agnolotti stuffed with chestnuts.