Tight nose with a sweet fruity entry but the mid palate comes together nicely with tart strawberry fruit and a drier finish. Good acidity. It did open up a bit eventually giving notes of mushrooms and yeast but compared to my last bottle this was very tight and even after being in the glass for almost an hour never really seemed to hit the heights of my previous bottle. Tonight this was served in very narrow flutes (I prefer wider flutes or a regular white wine glasses) and as Bill pointed out, these glasses may have had some residual detergent on them. This still drank quite well and was a nice way to start the evening. Excellent. 90+
Tasted blind – This was almost fully clear in colour…just a hint of yellow. Nice aromatic and dusty nose with floral notes. Fresh in the mouth with decent acidity. Has some austerity to it on the palate which is quite nice. Very good.
Tasted blind – Nose here doesn't speak of Nebbiolo with its ripe and sweet purple fruit…reminded many tasters of a Dolcetto. In the mouth it's medium bodied with solid acidity and fairly firm tannins. Palate is somewhat lean with red fruits and hints of greenness and not nearly as ripe and pronounced as the nose. Very youthful and I would wait several years before trying again although I’m not sure how much this will improve. Good.
Tasted blind – This had some signs of development in the nose with notes of tar and dark fruit but still was fairly youthful. In the mouth lots of drying tannins with modernish fruit yet with old school structure. There’s some nice acidity going on here but the tannins are quite overpowering at this point and it’s difficult to evaluate anything else. This is very young and needs 5-7+ years before trying again. Hard to judge this at this point but there's definitely potential here. No rating.
Tasted blind – This had a riper nose but it was all Nebbiolo. Notes of dark fruit, tar and hints of floral. A ton of structure here with drying and gum-gripping tannins with good acidity and a long finish. Flavours of dark cherries and black raspberries with a smooth and polished mouthfeel in spite of the wall of tannins that overtake the palate soon as you swallow. There is some detectable wood but it’s well integrated and some baking spice notes coming through on the nose as well. Needs 5+ years. Excellent. 90+
This was slow-O’d for 9 hours before serving. Nose here screams ’97 and it didn’t take long for people to guess it correctly as a ’97 Barolo. Lots of bright red fruit, tar and balsam notes with hints of floral. On the palate this offers lots of structure and solid acidity with rich red fruit flavours. While this seems like it’s just entered its drinking window, I think there is more to come and I will hold my last bottle for another 5 or so years when I could see this wine earning 2-3 more points. Excellent. 91+
This was slow-O’d for 9 hours before serving. The nose here started out quite shy but began to express itself after 15-20min in the glass with beautiful aromas of dark red fruits and floral notes. In the mouth this shows great balance between the understated red fruit, the fine yet firm tannins and the mouth-watering acidity. This is more elegant and youthful on the palate than the ’97 is. I’d put this somewhere in between the modern and traditional styles and while it’s enjoyable to taste now, this is going to need 5-10 years to show it full potential. Excellent. 92+
Tasted blind – This showed chocolate mint on the nose along with notes of vanilla and cherry notes—a modernist nose for sure. Softest and most supple mouthfeel so far tonight, almost fat in the mouth and doesn’t have the structure and firmness of the previous Ceretto Brunates. Didn’t peg this as a ’96. Like all the previous wine, this could use more time. Very good. 89+
Tasted blind – From the nose alone I could tell we were finally getting to a wine that’s actually showing signs of maturity with notes of tar, balsam, cedar and sappy red fruits. Dark fruit flavours with high tannins and medium acidity and good length. This is definitely approachable now but with all that fruit and structure still present I don’t see it declining anytime soon. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me to see this improve over the next 3-5 years. Excellent. 91+
Tasted blind – on the nose this shows more ripeness and complexity than the ’90 base Barolo this was served with and comes across as more modernist as well. In the mouth I found this bottling to have lower acidity, slightly higher alcohol, but again more complexity. Starting to drink well now but I think in 5+ years this will be even better. Excellent. 92+
Tasted blind – from the nose Bill and I had agreed this must be from the 80s, but guessed 85 or 89. Right from the first sniff this offered a beautiful mature nose of tar, floral, strawberries and red cherries. I wrongly guessed Barbaresco based on the femininity and elegance that no other wine in this tasting seemed to possess. Most tasters correctly guessed that this wine was from a traditional producer and this was probably the only wine tonight that I would classify as fully mature. For me, because this was showing its full potential and was displaying those beautiful mature Nebbiolo characteristics, it was my WOTN, slightly outdoing the ‘96 Ceretto Brunate and the ‘90 Scavino Cannubi (although when these two wines hit their peak and show their full potential I have no doubt they will both surpass this ’88 Monprivato). Excellent.
2000 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rosé 90 Points
France, Champagne
Tight nose with a sweet fruity entry but the mid palate comes together nicely with tart strawberry fruit and a drier finish. Good acidity. It did open up a bit eventually giving notes of mushrooms and yeast but compared to my last bottle this was very tight and even after being in the glass for almost an hour never really seemed to hit the heights of my previous bottle. Tonight this was served in very narrow flutes (I prefer wider flutes or a regular white wine glasses) and as Bill pointed out, these glasses may have had some residual detergent on them. This still drank quite well and was a nice way to start the evening. Excellent. 90+
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2010 Pietro Nera Chiavennasca Bianco La Novella Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT 88 Points
Italy, Lombardia, Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT
Tasted blind – This was almost fully clear in colour…just a hint of yellow. Nice aromatic and dusty nose with floral notes. Fresh in the mouth with decent acidity. Has some austerity to it on the palate which is quite nice. Very good.
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2008 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo 86 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
Tasted blind – Nose here doesn't speak of Nebbiolo with its ripe and sweet purple fruit…reminded many tasters of a Dolcetto. In the mouth it's medium bodied with solid acidity and fairly firm tannins. Palate is somewhat lean with red fruits and hints of greenness and not nearly as ripe and pronounced as the nose. Very youthful and I would wait several years before trying again although I’m not sure how much this will improve. Good.
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2000 Cascina Gagliassi Barolo Riserva Le Coste
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasted blind – This had some signs of development in the nose with notes of tar and dark fruit but still was fairly youthful. In the mouth lots of drying tannins with modernish fruit yet with old school structure. There’s some nice acidity going on here but the tannins are quite overpowering at this point and it’s difficult to evaluate anything else. This is very young and needs 5-7+ years before trying again. Hard to judge this at this point but there's definitely potential here. No rating.
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1998 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasted blind – This had a riper nose but it was all Nebbiolo. Notes of dark fruit, tar and hints of floral. A ton of structure here with drying and gum-gripping tannins with good acidity and a long finish. Flavours of dark cherries and black raspberries with a smooth and polished mouthfeel in spite of the wall of tannins that overtake the palate soon as you swallow. There is some detectable wood but it’s well integrated and some baking spice notes coming through on the nose as well. Needs 5+ years. Excellent. 90+
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1997 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Brunate 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This was slow-O’d for 9 hours before serving. Nose here screams ’97 and it didn’t take long for people to guess it correctly as a ’97 Barolo. Lots of bright red fruit, tar and balsam notes with hints of floral. On the palate this offers lots of structure and solid acidity with rich red fruit flavours. While this seems like it’s just entered its drinking window, I think there is more to come and I will hold my last bottle for another 5 or so years when I could see this wine earning 2-3 more points. Excellent. 91+
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1996 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Brunate 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This was slow-O’d for 9 hours before serving. The nose here started out quite shy but began to express itself after 15-20min in the glass with beautiful aromas of dark red fruits and floral notes. In the mouth this shows great balance between the understated red fruit, the fine yet firm tannins and the mouth-watering acidity. This is more elegant and youthful on the palate than the ’97 is. I’d put this somewhere in between the modern and traditional styles and while it’s enjoyable to taste now, this is going to need 5-10 years to show it full potential. Excellent. 92+
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1996 Claudio Alario Barolo Riva 89 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasted blind – This showed chocolate mint on the nose along with notes of vanilla and cherry notes—a modernist nose for sure. Softest and most supple mouthfeel so far tonight, almost fat in the mouth and doesn’t have the structure and firmness of the previous Ceretto Brunates. Didn’t peg this as a ’96. Like all the previous wine, this could use more time. Very good. 89+
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1990 Paolo Scavino Barolo 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasted blind – From the nose alone I could tell we were finally getting to a wine that’s actually showing signs of maturity with notes of tar, balsam, cedar and sappy red fruits. Dark fruit flavours with high tannins and medium acidity and good length. This is definitely approachable now but with all that fruit and structure still present I don’t see it declining anytime soon. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me to see this improve over the next 3-5 years. Excellent. 91+
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1990 Paolo Scavino Barolo Cannubi 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasted blind – on the nose this shows more ripeness and complexity than the ’90 base Barolo this was served with and comes across as more modernist as well. In the mouth I found this bottling to have lower acidity, slightly higher alcohol, but again more complexity. Starting to drink well now but I think in 5+ years this will be even better. Excellent. 92+
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1988 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Tasted blind – from the nose Bill and I had agreed this must be from the 80s, but guessed 85 or 89. Right from the first sniff this offered a beautiful mature nose of tar, floral, strawberries and red cherries. I wrongly guessed Barbaresco based on the femininity and elegance that no other wine in this tasting seemed to possess. Most tasters correctly guessed that this wine was from a traditional producer and this was probably the only wine tonight that I would classify as fully mature. For me, because this was showing its full potential and was displaying those beautiful mature Nebbiolo characteristics, it was my WOTN, slightly outdoing the ‘96 Ceretto Brunate and the ‘90 Scavino Cannubi (although when these two wines hit their peak and show their full potential I have no doubt they will both surpass this ’88 Monprivato). Excellent.
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