Pira’s 2005 Barolo Vigna Margheria is a large-scaled, hulking wine bursting with dark red fruit, flowers, menthol and spices. The tannins are nuclear-strength, however, and it is hard to see this wine ever finding the balance that the best vintages here offer. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020.
Giampaolo Pira produces some of the most extroverted wines in Barolo. In 2005 his wines reveal a lovely purity to their fruit but because of their relatively modest structures, the wines seem to be dominated by an excessive amount of French oak.
A Marc de Grazia Selection, various American importers, including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300, Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700, and Estate Wines, Ltd., San Rafael, CA; tel. (415) 492-9411