The 2000 Barolo Parafada is a rich, seductive wine layered with super-ripe red fruit, smoke, licorice and French oak. In this vintage the Parafada’s extroverted fruit is very nicely matched by the French oak, which is quite complementary. Early tertiary notes are right around the corner, so readers should start thinking about drinking the wine over the next decade or so. My experience with this wine is that the fruit remains fairly bright throughout most of its life. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022.
Massolino is an excellent source for traditional wines from Serralunga. At the time these wines were made, the Parafada was the only wine that saw French oak, all the others were aged in cask. The flagship 2000 Riserva from the Vigna Rionda vineyard was reviewed in Issue 192.