Festa del Piemonte: Gala Dinner
The Pool in NYC
Tasted Friday, April 1, 2022 by MC2 Wines with 188 views
Introduction
After a 2 year hiatus and a delay because of Omicron the dinner is back! It was honestly a bit of a whirlwind in terms of people and wine and so I'm pretty sure I didn't capture it all. A great time as always.
Flight 1 - From the Monvigliero Table (19 Notes)
Flight 2 - Shared by others (10 Notes)
Closing
Many wonderful wines and despite some troubled bottles (we had the worst of luck with the stuff we brought) there were some good showers too. 61 Burlotto really stood out. 67 as well. And honestly that '09 Monvigliero which I found really compelling and kept going back to. The '58 B. Mascarello was lovely. The Giacosas were def contenders for WOTN. Overall it was a wonderful tasting and so fun to feel like we were back to a 'normal' sort of world where everyone was looking to share. A wonderful evening that we look forward to repeating in the future.
2009 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Again from a 3L at Festa - perhaps a favorite to show. There were a lot of really amazing wines at this dinner and yet this one stands out despite its youth. I found myself preserving the glass and finishing others or pouring out others so it had the time to open and show it's stuff. It's beautiful. All of the elegance of the monvigliero and Fabio's style. Slightly sweet. Red fruits. Lots of spice. Just wonderful. By the end of the night I thought the best way to describe his wines is 'enchanting' and I'm sticking with that descriptor here.
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2007 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Cannubi
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
From a magnum. Bit more pepper and overall a backbone to this than the Monvigliero we had right before. It's drinking well. Almost a kindof juicy note to it. Continued to open up in the glass. I didn't spend as much time as the wine warranted given the abundance of riches this evening, but a wine I wouldn't mind spending more time with.
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2000 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Cannubi
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A touch musty to start and needed a bit of time to blow off. Originally I almost got a smokey nature to it. That was overtaken with more dark fruits and a bit of dried fruit and maybe some potpourri.
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1989 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Verduno Pelaverga
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Verduno Pelaverga
To be fair - this wasn't a 'perfect' bottle although also to be fair this is not a wine which is meant to reach a 23 birthday so the major purpose was for fun. For some at the table that meant it was not quite drinkable. For me it just meant it was interesting. For sure there's all the madeira notes here, but unlikely with the '83 Monvigliero where there's nothing else this has more of that dried fruit character and a bit of spices and it's not totally taken over. I don't think I'd seek it out, but I enjoyed the experience.
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1996 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Opening up with time. Rose hips and tar and fruit and as it gets to that opening spot it seems to me to be in almost my perfect Barolo point (I tend to think something like 20-30 years is optimal for the majority of the wines since you still get that fruit and yet they are more pulled together and all around enjoyable). This was there and I appreciated that.
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1961 Cantina Mascarello Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A producer (Bartolo) that I absolutely love and so I was waiting for it to come around for me. With this you tasted all of the years and the fruit was more faded and the wine itself just felt more faded. I wonder if it had had one of those 8 hour decants if it might have come into itself. As it was, it never quite got there although there were almost hints of it starting to darken and become a bit fuller.
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1961 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Riserva
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Another wine that I think might have appreciated a bit of time in a decanter. This came across as much darker than the Cantina (Bartolo) Mascarello of the same year that we had alongside. Dark fruits and dried fruits and maybe a bit of madeira to it too although I think that might have blown off with a bit more time.
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1982 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This is perhaps unfair as this is a particular favorite winery of mine and there just is something about precision and beauty and elegance and for this to be the second wine is really saying something. A persona after my own heart as the wine had been double decanted so no worries on sediment and it was able to show in all its freshness. Amazing.
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1961 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Another wine that I would describe as a bit tired when originally poured. It is not quite as vibrant as the Francesco (although I'm almost positive he used to mix Barbera with his wines back in the 60's because the ones I've had from the 60's are always much younger than you might think). With some time it starts to open and becomes a bit more elegant and refined. I think in retrospect could have used a long decant and a strain.
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1961 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Big and bright and bold and there does seem to be something about the 60's versions of this wine (my hunch is a bit of barbera but who knows?) that keeps them going. It's fresh and pretty and lots of body and is almost ready from the get go whereas the other older wines needed a bit of time to ease into their place.
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1961 Cappellano Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
One of the stars of the evening which is really saying something because this was basically an evening with an embarrassment of riches as far as Piemonte wines are concerned. I gave it some time in the glass because it is a favorite producer and I was well rewarded. Lovely structure and softness and yet power still underneath it. At times it was almost extra intense, like the flavor was just extra packed in there. Great lift and brightness. Drinking very well.
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1961 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Wow - this was just awesome. Really lovely. Opening up. Roses and herbal and complex and elegant and bright and just wonderful. A definite contender for WOTN among most of the table. Not sure we'll ever find this wine again so it was special to get to try and even more special to get to try with Fabio (and funnily enough there were two bottles this night).
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1967 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Another really beautiful wine. It's tar and roses and getting better and better with time. Two years ago this was the WOTN. I'd say the '61 edged it a bit, but this is still something that was extremely special to get to try and even more so for a second time a few years later. Just wonderful.
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2015 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
Italy, Abruzzi, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
Ah - a nice palate cleanser of sorts. Fun to go to the white. Served a touch on the cold side which brought out the acidity. White fleshy fruit. Reminded me of a peach. Just fresh in general. Very good.
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1983 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This one was pretty heartbreaking. We were amazed to find the wine in Italy in a small town and brought it back to the US and have been lovingly storing the bottle in our Eurocave only to open it for Festa and find that it is straight up maderiized (and not a little bit, enough that for most a smell was enough). Definite pity but I guess that's the game you play with old wine.
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1989 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut Collection
France, Champagne
Another palate cleanser! This was just wonderful and you could tell that many folks were ready for bubbles since the magnum went quite quickly. It's lovely and nutty and aged but with vibrancy and overall just very tasty.
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1961 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino Speciale
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
General consensus at the table is this was likely fake. I came to it a bit later and so didn't get to spend as much time contemplating. It's certainly more body and fruit and intensity than you might imagine given the years. I wasn't sure how it was stored or the treatment of it (sometimes I do find the wines come into themselves with time). But it did taste like it was likely a bit younger than it should be given the year and the wine.
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1961 Giacomo Conterno Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
I actually got my glass of this a bit late and by the time I did it was getting a bit chunky. Despite that it's drinking well. Well balanced. I enjoyed it.
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1996 Vietti Barolo Rocche Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The wine gods were clearly not on our side this dinner as one bottle and one mag (this was the mag) ended up corked. Thankfully the other two showed well, but this was a bummer and even more so when we got to try the 2000 from a Luca pour. Can only imagine how good this could have been. Alas that is the breaks when you do the auction approach.
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