Barbaresco Bric Balin, Moccagatta, 1999

Bright deep scarlet. Very oaky first impressions on the nose, underlying smoky plumy fruit. Oak also apparent throughout the palate. Firm, somewhat astringent fruit is made more astringent by wood tannins. Under the fruit and wood tannins ripe plumy fruit struggle to keep up. Not a good first impression. I would prefer to see less oaky astringency overlying the already tannic nebbiolo from a fine vintage. Still overall a first class serious effort at the modern style. Not recommended for barrique haters.