1999 Giovanni Manzone Barolo le Gramolere Bricat

It was snowing on a Tuesday evening, so that's all we needed for an excuse to tap into a weekday Barolo.  Enter Manzone's '99 Gramolere Bricat, sadly my only bottle of this wine that is at a wonderful stage of development now.  Paired with eggplant parmesan alongside heirloom tomato & mozzarella di bufala stacks with basil and 20 year old balsamic.
Decanted and let this open up for an hour and a half prior to dinner.  It was pretty seductive right from the start.  Incredibly smooth texture and balance, especially for a wine from a higher altitude portion of the vineyard and known to be sometimes more rustic in style.  Dark cherry and plum fruits, very rich and smooth (tannins are gorgeously mellowed out).  Earthy and tarry with herbal tones (in a very good way) ... alluring and robust floral nose.
What is it about Barolo that delivers on the promise of what we are often chasing with Burgundy?