Barolo

The general feeling in the panel was that Barolo is a very nice wine, but that they didn't quite get the point of it. Prices ranged from £10.99 to £17 and so you probably need to get the point if you're going to shell out that kind of money. Barolo is made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes, which are very high in tannin, but the wine is usually vinified and also aged in oak vats, which causes a lot of the tannin to clump together and fall as deposit - clump together being the technical term! The oak also gives the wine a delicious flavour as well.

Now, despite all the clumping and falling of tannin, Barolo is still a pretty tannic wine. If you don't recognise tannin, it's the feeling you get in your mouth if you drink very strong black tea. Red wines have more tannin than whites and you can probably think of some wines that have more than others. Young Cabernet Sauvignon has quite rough tannin, so your mouth feels very dry, but Nebbiolo has fine, or chalky tannins, which feel as if you have very fine chalk dust in your mouth, when you run your tongue over the roof of your mouth.

Another fabulous thing about Barolo is its fragrance. It's not a smell, a pong or an odour, but a fragrance, an aroma or a whiff. Gentle and bewitching and reminding its lovers of violet, rose or tar. As if all this wasn't enough, it has fresh, appealing acidity. Seventeen quid seems quite cheap now, doesn't it?

Bizarrely, all the wines we tasted were 2002 vintage and had been bottled by only three producers. Our favourite was Balbi Soprani, which is £13.99 from Oddbins. I've raved about this wine before. There was some toasty coconut on the nose, which is atypical but worked very nicely. In the mouth it was richer and fruitier than others but still with the telltale chalky tannin. La Mora, Terre de Vino is £14.99 from Majestic, reduced to £11.99 for the summer, and smells of baked prunes. It was sweetly fruity in the mouth, with some vanilla oak. Just delicious! Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, at £12.99 seemed more evolved, despite being the same age and the taste was dry and farmyardy, which we found interesting.

Waitrose's, also from Terre da Vino is only £10.99 and it had a bewitching herbal, woody smell. I also caught a whiff of curry plant and Alex picked up some burnt toffee. The scores between the wines above were tight and there wasn't very much difference in quality.

Tesco's Finest is £12.99 and was very woody on the nose. The taste was very leathery and savoury, with some baked prune flavour. Marks & Spencer's Villa Peironte is an excessive £17 and it smelt falsely of wine gums or purple fruit pastilles. The taste was leathery but it's really not worth the money. Our least favourite was Radcliffe's from Thresher, which is £16.99 or £11.33 if you buy 3 for 2.

I know I often say this, but if you want to understand classic wine from the old world you need to take it slowly. It won't hit you in the face with its fruit and alcohol. Breathe deeply and slowly and relax into it.

Barolo

© Copyright 2007 Mel Jones