The estate’s 2004 Barolo Runcot presents lovely harmony and balance. It is a full-bodied, concentrated wine with plenty of ripe dark fruit intermingled with sweet toasted oak nuances. Grasso says he may give this as much as 40 months in oak. Runcot is aged in 100% new French oak, although toast levels have come down, in 2004 50% is light toast and 50% is medium toast. It remains a very promising wine made in a distinctly more modern style than the house’s other Barolos. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2022. Elio Grasso’s wines are made in a unique, crisply articulated style that highlights balance and harmony over sheer power. “For our 2004 Barolos we did roughly 30 days of maceration in stainless steel, where the wines also completed their malolactic fermentations,” says Gianluca Grasso. “The wines were then racked into 25 hectoliter barrels where they aged for two and a half years. The Runcot saw 35-40 days of maceration and may spend up to 40 months in 100% new French oak.” Various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Langdon Shiverick Imports, Cleveland, OH; tel. (213) 483-5900; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA; Admirality Beverage Co. Columbia Distributing Company, Portland, Oregon; tel. (503) 289-9600

Offers wonderful aromas of rose, tar, cedar and blackberry. Full-bodied, with layers of fine tannins and a long, fruity finish. This is tight and refined. Very structured. Needs time. Best after 2010. 580 cases made, 125 cases imported.??–JS??Region: Italy / Piedmont / Barolo Select to Add

The 2001 Barolo Runcot is the darkest of these 2001 Barolos. It opens with a deeply spiced nose that is followed by intense sweet dark fruit and toasted oak flavors that are beautifully integrated in a sleek, elegant interpretation of Barolo from Monforte. Exquisitely well-balanced, this superb Barolo will be at its best in a few years and will provide great drinking to age 15, perhaps more. In 2001 the Runcot saw 40 days of maceration on the skins followed by 36 months of aging in 100% new oak barrels. That said, the 2001 signals a new level of maturity here as a reduction in toast levels has proven to be a good decision and this 2001 shows much greater clarity and definition than the 2000. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2016. Various American Importers including Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland, OH; and Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA; Admiralty Beverage, Portland, OR; tel. (503) 289-9600