1993 Barolo Cicala

Surprisingly uninspiring efforts from one of my favorite Piedmontese winemakers, Aldo Conterno, the three 1993 Barolos (Bussia Soprano, Bricco Bussia Vigna Cicala, and Bricco Bussia Vigna Colonnello) display very evolved garnet colors with plenty of orange and amber at the edges. The wines exhibit hard, dry tannin, as well as a lack of sweet fruit, suggesting to me that they need to be drunk up. Moreover, the wines quickly faded after only 4-5 hours of aeration. The wines do offer some of Nebbiolo's dried cherry, faded rose petal, smoky, asphalt-like aromas, but they lack the flavor dimension, rich extract, and density found in the finest examples of this good vintage. The 1993 Bricco Bussia Vigna Cicala and the 1993 Bricco Bussia Vigna Colonnello possess sweeter fruit than the Bussia Soprano, and more tobacco, cedar, fruitcake, and jammy cherries in their modest aromatic profile. They are medium-bodied, correctly made, but unexciting Barolos from one of the reference point producers of Piedmont. I would opt for drinking them over the next 2-5 years. Importer: Vias Imports, New York, NY; tel. (212) 629-0200