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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.5 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 5 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by forceberry on 2/12/2015 & rated 86 points: Despite the wine's cherry red color is quite dark-hued, it is also remarkably translucent and almost watery clear towards the rim. The nose shows quite powerful, funky and dirty aromas suggesting that the wine might have seen a bit too much oxygen over the years; there are intense and quite naughty aromas of animal rusticity, moist soil, root vegetables, some mushroomy notes, a little bit of rainy forest and a hint of dried salt-cured meat. On the palate the continues down the funk road with robust and also somewhat sweet flavors of cherries, dried figs, pronounced bitterness, some Mediterranean spices and a little smoky earth. The wine has full body and quite stern and grippy structure with good acidity and very ample, although somewhat resolved tannins. Overall the wine seems slightly musty and it takes a slightly volatile turn to "wild" aromas with air. The finish is very bitter and acid-driven with robust tannic grip and long, rough flavors of sour cherries, loamy soil, some toasted spices, light animal notes and a hint of old furniture.
Despite the good vintage, 1974 Marcenasco failed to impress. Most likely it's more about bottle variation than how the vintage should be drinking right now, so the score is not really representative of the vintage, but only this bottle. Probably marred by some oxidation, this wine wasn't that impressive as the best vintages of the vertical. You could easily taste the power, the concentration and the tightly knit tannic structure here, but the funky and even somewhat unpleasant off notes distracted so much that the experience was actually rather modest. (3310 views) | | | Tasted by Serge Birbrair on 3/13/2013: Remarkable last bottle. Classical aged Barolo: rose petals, leather purse, tar. Loovely with muskrats!
http://www.facebook.com/serge.birbrair/posts/4633386117097?notif_t=like (5315 views) | | | Tasted by Serge Birbrair on 1/20/2013: "This is the end my friends..." Won't last for much longer (5283 views) | | | Tasted by Paul S on 9/8/2011 & rated 93 points: Sasi's "B" day - Old Burgs, Barolos and Others (iCook Italian): I really liked this. It was a bit overshadowed by the presence of a 1934 Charmes-Chambertin on the table, but shock and awe aside, I thought this was every bit as good as the much older wine. Opened four hours before serving, it actually came across a bit sweet on the nose at first, with some cough mixture cherry and an inexplicable whiff of caramel and butterscotch that took a bit of time to settle down. Awhile later though, these drifted away to show lots of melting red fruit scents - all raspberries and cherry syrup and a little touch of kirsch - just before a beautiful rosy note floated in along with a tiny hint of tar. Classic Piedmont, and, it got fresher and fresher with more air, opening up with really nice red cherry scents. Absolutely feminine and just beautiful. What a bouquet here. The palate every bit as good. It had pitch perfect balance, with a stream of fresh acidity running through beautifully defined flavours of red cherries, and then dried earth, spice and mineral washed with just the littlest layer of beef stock. With time, it open up even more into a beautiful mouthful of pure, fresh cherry fruit. There was still a little layer of tannins towards the back-palate, but this was drinking beautifully, exiting in a finely focused finish that had a sneaky length to it. I loved this - lush Italian pleasure with a lovely sense of Piedmontese structure and nobility. While nice now, it has more than enough in its tank to go on for another decade or more. (6412 views) | | | Tasted by vindictive on 6/30/2009: Very good. this bottle was nearing the end, but still quite nice - bottle, cork and fill all excellent. Opened and decanted and tnen returned to its clean bottle. initially slightly orange with maderized smell. it brightened up with time and became more attractive. By 6 hours this was soft (for old barolo) with roses, earth and spice. the air made it more charming and it was enjoyed by our group only suffering in comparison to the 1974 Prunotto Bussia Riserva and the 1990 Monfortino. (5608 views) |
| Renato Ratti producer website
In 1965, Renato Ratti bought his first vineyard for the production of Barolo, in the historical zone of Marcenasco, right below the Abbey of L’Annunziata at La Morra. In 1969, his nephew, Massimo Martinelli, joined the company and together, they perfected a technique of vinification, maturation and refinement for their Marcenasco Barolo, with the declared aim of obtaining the elegance, subtlety and longevity worthy of the variety's full potential. Since then, Renato Ratti has become an important point of reference for Langhe wines and Italian wines in general.
Producer website
Praelum: “One of the original Barolo Boys, his creation of single vineyard site bottlings created waves in Piedmont which defied tradition, bringing with them stainless steel, pumping and plunging techniques and French barriques. Rocche dell’Annunziata and Conca from La Morra are the controversial vineyards that bring to attention the new techniques of Ratti.”NebbioloNebbiolo is a red grape indigenous to the Piedmont region of Italy in the Northwest. The grape can also be found in other parts of the world, though they are not as respected.
Nebbiolo is often considered the "king of red wines," as it is the grape of the famed wines of Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG, and Roero DOCG. It is known for high tannins and acidity, but with a distinct finesse. When grown on clay, Nebbiolo can be very powerful, tannic, and require long aging periods to reach its full potential. When grown on sand, the grape exhibits a more approachable body with more elegant fruit and less tannins, but still has high aging potential.
"Nebbiolo" is named for the Italian word, "nebbia", which means "fog", in Italian and rightfully so since there is generally a lot of fog in the foothills of Piedmont during harvest.
Nebbiolo is a late-ripening variety that does best in a continental climate that boasts moderate summers and long autumns. In Piedmont, Nebbiolo is normally harvested in October.
More links:
Varietal character (Appellation America) | Nebbiolo on CellarTrackerMarcenasco On weinlagen-infoItaly Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorPiedmont Vignaioli Piemontesi (Italian only)
On weinlagen-infoLanghe Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Roero | Union of Producers of Albese Wines (Albeisa)BaroloRegional History:
The wines of Piedmont are noted as far back as Pliny's Natural History. Due to geographic and political isolation, Piedmont was without a natural port for most of its history, which made exportation treacherous and expensive. This left the Piedmontese with little incentive to expand production. Sixteenth-century records show a mere 14% of the Bassa Langa under vine -- most of that low-lying and farmed polyculturally. In the nineteenth century the Marchesa Falletti, a frenchwoman by birth, brought eonologist Louis Oudart from Champagne to create the first dry wines in Piemonte. Along with work in experimental vineyards at Castello Grinzane conducted by Camilo Cavour -- later Conte di Cavour, leader of the Risorgimento and first Prime Minister of Italy -- this was the birth of modern wine in the Piedmont. At the heart of the region and her reputation are Alba and the Langhe Hills. This series of weathered outcroppings south of the Tanaro River is of maritime origin and composed mainly of limestone, sand and clay, known as terra bianca. In these soils -located mainly around the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco -- the ancient allobrogica, now Nebbiolo, achieves its renowned fineness and power.
map of Barolo DOCG
An interesting thread on Traditional vs. Modern Barolo producers:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=106291 |
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