#397 Pairing 2 - Fontanafredda Barolo

Old Barolo isn't something that crosses my path very often, but whenever it has, it has never failed to amaze me.  My previous experiences have tended to revolve around Pio Cesare, but here I managed to try two versions from Fontanafredda.

I've never really thought of Fontanafredda as anything but an entry level producer of Barolo, with their high end wines like La Rosa being very good indeed.  But what amazed me here wasn't that the 1961 had held on and was still a lovely wine, but it was how good the 2006 vintage was.

1961 Fontanafredda Barolo
Sweet cherry with a little plasticine on the nose, with a touch of smoke as well.  There are some dried cherries and floral elements coming off and a bit of dried tomato.  The palate has a lovely dried fruit flavour, some more smoke and then a good dose of tannin - that was a surprise.  Soft vegetal notes round off this wine with more dried berries. 90pts

2006 Fontanafredda Barolo
Lush cherry and cassis fruit with a note of Fluff and mint.  Very pretty with slightly grippy tannin, yet a soft, elegant palate with coffee bean, tobacco and sour cherries.  Add in a dose of cocoa powder, a little spice and some prunes on the back end and you have a really outstanding bottle of wine.  92pts

Quality comes through on both these wines.  I'd expected the younger wine to be nothing like the older, suspecting that the '61 would be more like Fontanafredda's higher priced wines, but I was wrong.  Both of these wines show a lineage with one another that you realy notice, and for £25, the 2006 Barolo is one of the steals of the wine world.