I love Barolo, but not this one.  Confusion comes to mind when I try to review this wine.  To me, Barolo is a very unique wine made from Nebbiolo grapes that produce an amazing, powerful wine with a tannic structure sure to make an ageworthy wine.  Considered ‘the king of wines and the wine of kings’, it is never cheap, thin or meant to be drunk young.  With seven years of age, I was figuring this would be a tannic monster that was going to stain my teeth and give me a mouth full of the Nebbiolo I was looking forward to.  Not so.  The tannins were all over the place, I couldn’t quite place the structure, nor could I get any sort of flavor profile.  I have drunk old Barolos that have taken on the secondary flavors and lost their tannic grip, they taste like aged Burgundy – beautiful.  I have tasted young Barolos and enjoyed the tannins because the primary flavors of the grape are so intriguing.  This bottle offered neither.  Could it be that I hit it in it’s ‘mid-life’ crisis?  Stuck between the young monster and the old, graceful charmer?  Not sure, but I have had this bottle before and remember that it was too young, hence the need to try it again this year.  I will continue to cellar the remaining bottles and open one in a year or so to see the results.  Perhaps it just needs more time, but I am not holding my breath.  It just doesn’t seem balanced, lacking in either primary or secondary fruit and has a very uneven mid-palate.  I retasted it after several hours and albeit slightly better, there was nothing in it for me.  Very disappointing and only worthy of 1 star at this point.  I had to see what others are saying about this bottle, and the consensus from ordinary peeps like me on the web indicate my hunch is right.  I suggest decanting for several hours to try and coax something out of it.  PS It got a massive 92 point rating from the big boys and the regulars like me gave it between 87 and 90.  My estimate- 85.