The 2001 Barbaresco Asili is a Red Label in everything but name. It shows all the classic Asili signatures but with more darkness, breath and overall power than the 2000 tasted alongside it. Black cherry, plum, spice, leather, tobacco, menthol and licorice build in a substantial Barbaresco that hits all the right notes.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 30/04/2012 The 2001 Barbaresco Asili impresses for its gorgeous inner sweetness and inviting, round fruit. The 2001 is pure Asili, but it has begun to shut down mightily over the last 1-2 years. Still, it is impossible to miss the pedigree of what is in the glass. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2031. This is a fabulous set of wines from one of the great Giacosa vintages. Admittedly, opening ten year-old Giacosa Barbareschi and Baroli must be viewed as a purely academic excercise, as the wines are nowhere near ready. Readers will have to be especially patient, as most of these wines have entered a closed phase after having been surprisingly accessible early on. What a pleasure it was to taste the 2001 Barbaresco Asili. The nose is expressive, with well-delineated notes of spices, flowers and tar that meld seamlessly onto an irresistible palate packed with vibrant layers of sweet ripe fruit with an open, generous personality. This wine is showing a wonderful sense of inner purity right now and will be even better in a few years, although its qualities are abundantly apparent even at this early stage. A great effort. An Azienda Agricola Falletto di Bruno Giacosa bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2021. ( )

(white label) Fascinating aromas of game, tobacco, flowers, eucalyptus and wild mint. Sweet, superconcentrated and fine-grained. Combines an almost extreme sweetness for Giacosa Barbaresco with terrific acidity and compelling inner-palate perfume. This really reverberates in the mouth! A wonderfully sweet, silky wine that finishes with a firm tannic spine. As with the 2004, this is more classic than the 2000, but the Burgundian subtlety and complexity of that earlier vintage still make me crazy.

Asili is the house’s home vineyard in Barbaresco, and the 2001 Barbaresco Asili is notably darker than the Santo Stefano in color, more complex in aroma with notes of resin, smoke, and anisette to accompany the fruit, and a long, forceful, structured palate, rather muscular for a wine from this cru. Drink: 2005-2018. Importer: Winebow, Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620