The Q Man Delivers! The Great Iconoclast of the Langhe. Quazzolo's 2017 Barbaresco Is Even Better than the 2016

 A Wine That Is a Journey
 - Starts Off Dense and Delicious and Rustic
 - As It Opens a Study in the Aromatic Potential of Nebbiolo

Danilo Quazzolo, The Q Man - The House Style
 - The Langhe's Iconoclast
 - The Only Fass Winemaker with a Nickname
 - Combines Stunningly Dense Fruit
 - With Brilliant Acidity
 - That Sexy, Sensualness You Get in Elite Northern Rhone Wines Like Champagneux Cote Rotie (for 1/3 the Price)
 - A List Favorite After 1 Year
 - Absolutely Singular Style - Nothing Like Him in the Langhe

2017 Quazzolo Barbaresco
  - Nose - Starts Out Brooding Like a Thomas Hardy Novel
  - As It Opens Intense Spice Comes Out
  - Clove, Cinnamon, Allspice
  - Vivid Intensity
 - Stunning Spice Precision
  - Wafting Flowers
  - Dried Roses, Lilacs, Lavender
  - Potpourri of the Gods
 - Shocking Level of Elegant Aromatics for a Wine with Such Fruit
 - Palate: Epic Quazzolo
 - Classic Quazzolo Titanic Cherry Fruit Intensity
 - Thunderous, Terrific Northern Barbaresco Acidic Balance 
 - Dense.  Stunningly Delicious Fresh Cherry Fruit
 - Smacks you Upside Your Head ... 
 - ...Absolute Blast of Cherry, Acid, Cherry Liquor
 - Spice Potpouri Internal Aromatics
 - Remarkable Nebbiolo Grip
 - I'm Not Sure Even Danilo Can Make a Wine Like This Again
 - Totally Singular for the Langhe
 - A Fass Discovery and List Favorite

 - Case Pricing at $32.99

2017 was a year in the Langhe where you either massively struck out or potentially made incredible wines. Honestly I had no idea what would happen with the Quazzolo 17s before I tasted them. The 2015s and 2016s were brilliant. Quazzolo has a singular style up and down the portfolio. He combines perhaps the best fruit intensity in the Langhe with profound acidic balance. 

These wines are among the most delicious wines in the portfolio. 

But 2017 was a rough year. Hail, early bud break. Some producers lost their entire crops.  If you were a "do what my father did and hope for the best" producer, you were screwed.

But Danilo Quazzolo is a different cat.

And his 2017 Barbaresco is not just a delicious wine.  It's absolutely singular.  We call Danilo the Q Man internally here.  He's the only winemaker at Fass Selections who has a nickname.  

The 2017 Quazzolo Barbaresco for $34.99 a bottle on a 4 pack is a journey. A journey of darkness, and ultimately the triumph that leads unto the light.

The nose starts out brooding. I mean it's dark and gnarly. Almost like a Thomas Hardy novel. Think Jude The Obscure. Black cherry. Almost some graphite. Dense as a starless night. Almost like some twisted possessed version of Cornas.  

But then 30 minutes later, the Quazzolo-ness comes out.  An intense spice thrusts through the dark fruit
like a ray of light blasting through the clouds. The cherries brighten up. You get that Quazzolo intense spice. But not just the average Barbaresco spice. This is a piercing laser of a spice. 3D spice. You get clove. You get cinnamon. Allspice. Most Piedmont wines, you just say, "oh, spice elements." Here you can smell each individual spice with such brilliant clarity.

And then the flowers start to waft in. Dried roses. A hint of lilac. An echo of lavendar.  It's a potpourri of the Langhe. Not to presage the palate too much but the elegance on the nose is shocking for a wine that has fruit of this quality.

The palate is epic Quazzolo. It starts out in parallel with the nose.  Dark cherry.  Of course, delicious.  It's Quazzolo. The terrific Northern Barbaresco acidic balance and juiciness that is the house style.  

And then the wine opens. Dense. Stunningly delicious fresh cherry fruit. This is what you are  looking for from a Quazzolo wine. It just smacks you upside your head with that absolute blast of cherry, acid, cherry liquor.  It is what has made Quazzolo a list favorite in under a year.  That spice potpourri on the nose is here in spades on the palate.  You just want to swirl and swish and repeat and never swallow.  

The texture has that remarkable grip that you want from Nebbiolo.  Just sticks to the palate and adheres the spice and fresh fruit.  

The finish is so long.  So spicy.  An epic level of dense fresh cherry extract.  

This was a vintage of extremes. What a combination of weather. I'm not sure even Danilo can make a wine like this again. But if you love Nebbiolo - you need to own this. Perhaps a Case. 

2017 Quazzolo Barbaresco - $36.99

 ($139.96 4-pack, $395.88 12 bottle Case {$32.99!})