The Underground Blind Tasting Group: Single Vineyard Barolo & Barbaresco

I don't have a lot of experience with Barolo/Barbaresco, so I was looking forward to this tasting. A decent range of young wines and some wines with a bit of age from both traditional and somewhat modern producers.

• 2007 Punset Barbaresco

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Somewhat muted on the nose, but I was able to pick up some cherry fruit and herbs. Pale red core with noticeable fading towards the rim. The palate was a mix of sour cherry and herbal notes on the palate with moderate tannins and god acidity. This wine was more about elegance and weightlessness than other wines in the flight. As the wine opened up in the glass, it filled out and showed more soil driven notes to compliment the primary cherry fruit. Has many years to improve, but a very pretty wine today.

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• 2005 Azienda Bricco Asili (Ceretto) Barbaresco Bernardot

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Medium red color throughout. Herbal nose with florals and cherries. Similar flavors on the palate, but lacked a bit of concentration and complexity. This was relatively light bodied, but that was accompanied by a lower acidity. This tasted a bit "worked" to me on this night, although everything could have been extremely out of balance as well.

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• 2006 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Dark red color throughout. Initially, the nose was very oaky, but that receded with time and was replaced with tar and dark red fruits. The palate was also initially too oaky for my tastes, but that receded as well and left mostly sweet dark (black) cherry with strong tannins, that I perceived as being oak dominated.

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• 2007 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Very dark red/purple color. Rich, oaky nose with a hint of roasted fruits. The palate was full bodied with dark, jammy fruits and spicy oak. The tannins are big, but very smooth. This comes across as heavy, ponderous, and lacking complexity. Vintage (hopefully) or producer?

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• 2006 Giovanni Rocca Barolo Mosconi

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This was textbook Barolo and one of my favorites of the night. The quintessential tar and roses filled the glass and nose. Balanced acidity and tannins give this a great mouthfeel with noteworthy concentration. I liked this a lot and it felt like a good wine to lay down for another decade or two.

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• 2003 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Dark core with a bit of lightening at the rim, showing a hint of the age of the wine. There is a delicate nose of roses and sour cherries and citrus notes as the wine opens. The palate shows a unique complexity with sour cherries, a bit of oak and soil driven notes. Long finish.

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• 2003 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This wine most likely saw some poor storage at some point along the way. The palate was flat and heavy and any flavors had a very "dried out" taste to them.

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• 1989 Prunotto Barbaresco Montestefano

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Light core with noticeable bricking and a bit of an orange tinge at the edges. Despite being the oldest wine in the flight, it was not the wine showing the most age through color. Very delicate nose of flowers (not just roses!), and a rocky, mineral quality. On the palate the wine had a beautiful delicate, feminine character with pure fruits, old leather, and dried berries and herbs. Everything was in balance and showing wonderfully on this night.

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• 1998 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  A really beautiful wine. A nose of florals and sweet aged fruit leaps from the glass. The acidity is high for sure, but the rest of the palate is so balanced and wonderful. The sweet aged fruit, used leather, and a host of other primary/secondary flavors fan out on the palate and persist in a long finish. This is really great and a pleasure to drink, although there are many years ahead for the wine.

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• 1998 Domenico Clerico Barolo Percristina

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Dark garnet color, darkest and deepest color of the flight. Complex and rich nose of spice, red fruits, a bit of tar. On the palate, this wine was rich and deeply fruited with smooth, spicy mouthfeel and what I felt like were French oak tannins. The was a noticeable tick lower in acidity than the other wines in the lineup, and the wine was denser and heavier on the palate as well. Very complex wine, but maybe a bit too much for me.

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I was surprised at how easily I was able to distinguish the more modern wines from the traditional wines. This may have been a lucky lineup for me, but I seemed to get more of an oak signature on the more modern wines than I would have liked, even taking into account the age of each wine. The Punset was a big surprise for me, as this was a producer I had never heard of, but was really pushing my buttons in a good way on this night.