We were very privileged to have Bruna, the daughter of Bruno Giacosa, the ‘professor’ of Nebbiolo in a while back to present the latest releases from the hallowed estate.

We started off with the 2004 Spumante, a wine first made in 1983. 100% Pinot Noir purchased from a single grower, this is interestingly enough one of Bruna’s favourite wines. With no dosage, this still shows great fruit and ripeness. For me, good but perhaps a touch overpriced.

The 2008 Roero Arneis shows pure, soft fruit and good accessibility. But for me, not a profound wine.

Moving to the 2008 Dolcetto D’Alba, berry notes give way to a touch of almond and aniseed. Good Giacosa style. Not overdone.

The 2007 Barbera D’Asti comes from a vintage that Bruna describes as being better then 2008 and comparable in quality to 2001 or 1998. This was a good step up with grip and some good persistance.

The Barbaresco Asili 2005 showed fantastic persistance and real classic structure. For me the wine of the tasting, taking into account reputation and cost.

From the same vintage, the Barolo Faletto 2005 offered up slighltly more ripe aroma’s, cherry and herb notes. Very good.

The 2005 Barolo Rocche de Faletto, made from a small section of the Faletto vineyard, located towards the top of the hill, gave an extra dimension of depth and ageability. Still preferred the Asili though..

The final wine, 2004 Barolo Rocche de Falleto Red Label Riserva is a wine of some repute with Antonio Galloni annointing it 99+ points and calling it one of the greatest Giacosas he has ever tried and comparing it to the 1989. What did we think? Well, I must confess, I found it a little soft and forward and I get the impression that Bruna doesn’t rate it quite as highly as Galloni.

We did record a brief interview with Bruna which we should be able to get on the site if Ben pulls his finger out….