Vinous Piedmont Icons Dinner @ Legacy Records

As always, Vinous did a great job putting together a fun and educatonal tasting. The tasting here was 3 wines each from 5 producers, with two bonus wines generously provided by Roagna. A few themes that stood out to me:

1. The 2004s were the consistently great vintage of the night. Every single '04 was on fire, drinking well now but with plenty of room to age. In particular, Giacosa killed it in '04.

2. Generational change and a style shift towards cleaner / purer, more fruit-forward, and more exotic (notes like blood orange / citrus appearing) expression of Nebbiolo was very apparent in the tasting. It was clearest with Roagna, where it was hard to believe that the '06 Pira came from the same producer that made the 2000 Crichet Paje. The change was also clear at Rinaldi, where the '04 was classic while the '10, made by Marta, was very exotic.

3. I've yet to find a '96 Barolo that really lived up to the hype of the vintage, and that theme continued tonight, with the '96 Ca Morissio showing quite rustic and the '96 Roagna Pira very odd.

The '99 Brunate was also poured, but was heat damaged / oxidized.

• 2010 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate 99 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The 2010 Brunate was once again insanely beautiful, while tasting it in the context of the '04 Brunate and a number of other wines showed just how unique and exotic the fruit profile of the wine is.
  
  The nose was intensely perfumed, exotic, and sweet, with dark red, blue, and purple-toned, hard-candy like fruits, balsamic, raw meat, leather, and exotic floral tones. On the palate, the Brunate is an intense wine, with high acidity and a lot of tannin, but the tannins are so finely grained that they melt into the wine. Again, the exotic profile of the fruit and the sweetness of the fruit stands out, with citrus fruit and a spectrum of red, purple, and blue fruit tones sweeping across the palate alongside balsamic and sweet spices. The wine is very primary and should have a long runway for aging ahead of it, but as it's always been in my experience, it is so expressive and enjoyable now. This seems like a wine that has never and presumably will never shut down.

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• 2004 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This 750ml of '04 Brunate was a bit less explosive than the magnum I had in April, but was very enjoyable. Next to the '10 Brunate, the change in winemaking is so apparent which was fascinating to see.
  
  On the nose, I found dark red plum fruit, sweet spices, balsamic, and roasted meats. On the palate, the '04 is medium in body with fine grained tannins that are now largely resolved. This is a perfectly balanced wine that is entering its prime drinking window. The wine shows the sweetness and finesse I associate with Rinaldi, but tasted next to the '10, the '04 is austere and old school in comparison. The fruit tones here are maybe a bit more classic Nebbiolo, with dark red fruit, whereas in the '10 Brunate, I found exotic citrus, purple, and blue fruit tones.

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The '07 Francia was better than I expected, while the '99 was flawed and the '02 possibly also a bit flawed.

• 2007 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia 96 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '07 Francia is an insanely beautiful wine and was one of the standouts of this tasting, which spanned five great producers. This is definitely one of the best '07s alongside the Monprivato, Vietti Rocche, and Giacosa Rocche in my opinion.
  
  The nose was intensely perfumed with hard-candy like, dark red to black fruits, roasted meats, dark floral tones, tar, and top notes of exotic, citrus like fruits. On the palate, the wine was a bit more savory, with dark fruit, balsamic, earth, sweet spices, and orange peel. It is a concentrated, high acidity, beast of a wine, but so drinkable right now with the tannins very well integrated. This should go on for decades - one of the few '07s that I'd be comfortable aging further - but is also so good right now.

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• 2002 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This bottle of '02 Monfortino was not up to the level of prior bottles that I've had. It seemed a bit advanced and very slightly oxidative, so I am not rating the bottle.
  
  On the nose, I found dark red to black fruits, a bit oxidative and lacking freshness, with black tea, dark floral, and balsamic tones. On the palate, the wine was highly concentrated / full in body, but lacks the explosiveness and freshness I've seen before.

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• 1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This bottle of '99 Francia was clearly flawed in a wild way, but I've also encountered a bottle of '99 Monfortino a few years back that showed similarly. On the nose, I found green grass clippings and melon-like aromas, very odd.

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The '04 and '07 Monprivato are stunning, with the '07 a rich wine and the '04 as delicate and finessed as Nebbiolo comes.

• 2007 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '07 Monprivato was stunning and a reminder of how seductive the best '07s are. The nose was so sweet and perfumed, with dark red berry fruit, red and violet floral tones, licorice, menthol, and orange peel. On the palate, the wine has a bit of the richness and sweetness of the vintage, but it's still balanced. I found hard-candy like, very sweet red fruits, licorice, roasted meats, and orange peel. It is very smooth with fine grained tannins, while acidity is medium to high, contributing freshness despite the richness / concentration.
  
  The '07 Monprivato can likely age well for a decade or more, but I see no reason to wait. While the '07 Francia may still be on the ascent, the Monprivato seems to me to be at about peak.

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• 1996 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Ca d'Morissio Riserva Monprivato

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '96 Ca d'Morissio was hard to fully understand from this small pour / as part of a large tasting, so I am not rating it. The wine showed poorly initially, but seemed to improve with time in the glass. It's possible that with more air / more time, this would have been really good.
  
  Initially, the wine showed pretty intense VA / nail polish remover on the aromatics, marring whatever else was there. This note faded, but didn't completely disappear, with air, and I wonder if it would have disappeared with more time. As the VA faded, I found an intense nose of dark red to black fruit, balsamic, spices, licorice, and roasted meats, clearly an old-school Barolo. On the palate, the wine always showed a bit cleaner to me than on the nose. The texture was decidedly rustic in comparison to the '04 and '07 Monprivato, full-bodied with a slightly grainy texture as there remains a lot of tannin that needs more time to integrate.
  
  Based on how the '96 shows on the palate, I think the wine could benefit from another decade or two in the cellar for the tannins to fully integrate. I look forward to hopefully trying a bottle on its own, with more time in the decanter, in the future.

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• 2004 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '04 Monprivato was super pretty, with an exotic and delicate expression of Nebbiolo that I find very easy to crave. On the nose, I found bright red fruit and red roses alongside a bit of tropical fruit tones, menthol, and anise. The fruit here is so bright and sweet, while the tropical tones add a bit of complexity. On the palate, the '04 is more medium to light in body compared to the powerhouse '07 and '96, showing very primary with sweet red fruit and red floral notes, mint, and raw meat notes.
  
  While this is a delicate, lighter wine than most of the wines at this tasting, there is great freshness here that suggests this should age well for a long time.

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The Giacosa flight was the best of the night in my view and certainly the most consistent. The '04 Asili is magical.

• 2004 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '04 Falletto is very beautiful, and it is still a very youthful wine that should improve from here. On the nose, I found perhaps a touch of VA, but this blew off with time. I found sweet black cherry and dark red plum fruit, sweet spices, licorice, meat, and a touch of bitter chocolate. Tasting this next to some very traditional producers like Rinaldi, you appreciate that the expression here is a bit more "modern". On the palate, I found concentrated dark red to black fruit and similar notes to the aromartics, while the tannins here are very silky. It's so balanced, with a perfect level of acidity. Tasted next to two red labels, the '04 Falletto is hardly out of place, although I did find both the '04 Asili and '01 Rocche del Falletto to show more depth and intrigue.

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• 2004 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili 98 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  The '04 Asili is an unbelievable wine. I found it to be a very exotic wine, with the aromatic profile very different than the Nebbiolo stereotype. This bottle was very expressive, more so than the bottle I had back in 2020, but it is still very primary and should improve with time.
  
  On the nose, I found olives, dark red, exotic floral tones, dark red fruit, blood orange, bitter chocolate, and sweet spices. The olive note I got is quite unusual for nebbiolo (outside of the Burlotto Monvigliero, where I've found black olive notes across several vintages), while the bitter chocolate note is perhaps a tell that the winemaking here is a touch more modern. On the palate, the '04 shows primary notes of super sweet, dark red fruit and candied red roses, alongside savory notes of chocolate and olive, while the wine is so perfectly balanced with medium plus acidity and concentration. There is actually quite a bit of tannin here which could benefit from time to integrate, but the tannins are very fine grained.

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• 2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba 96 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  I found the '01 Rocche to be a perfect bridge of the old-school wines of the '90s and the slightly modern, exotic style of the Giacosa '04. This is a full-bodied, rich and powerful wine that begs for another decade or two in the cellar.
  
  The '01 Rocche showed stunning aromatics with black fruit, tar, bitter chocolate, sweet spices, and dark red floral tones. On the palate, this is a beast of a wine, full bodied and highly concentrated, but the tannins are so fine grained and coupled with the sweetness of the fruit, it makes the wine very easy to drink already. But this is likely to take another 10-20 years to peak.

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The style shift from the '96 and 2000 Roagnas to the '04-'06 is very large. I thought by far the best wine was the '06 Pira, a recent release.

• 2004 Roagna Barbaresco Montefico 94 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  The '04 Montefico was very pretty, showing a delicate and sweet fruit expression alongside some of the more savory, meaty notes I found in the other Roagna wines. On the nose, I found red cherry fruits, iron, raw meat, red floral tones, and minerality. On the palate, the wine is quite tight and clenched, but what's there is really nice, with iron, red cherry fruit, red floral tones, smoke, and leather. The fruit profile is a tiny bit oxidative, but nowhere near as much as the 2000 Crichet Paje or 1996 Pira. The sweetness of the fruit really stood out here.

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• 2000 Roagna Barbaresco Crichët Pajé 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  The 2000 Crichet Paje showed very poorly when first poured, but improved with time in the glass as some of the more oxidative notes blew off. I bet that a full bottle, with more time to contemplate the wine and more air exposure, could have shown better.
  
  On the nose, I initially found an oxidative, stewed black plum fruit expression, but this blew off with time in the glass, turning into more pure black fruit. With time in the glass, I found black plum fruit, balsamic, leather, roasted meats, and sweet spices. On the palate, the wine showed high acidity and was medium plus in body, with rustic black fruit, meat, and leather notes.
  
  This wine was so dramatically different than the '04 Crichet Paje, but appealing in its own way.

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• 1996 Roagna Barolo Riserva Pira

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '96 Pira Riserva did not show well tonight, especially on the aromatics. Having never had this wine before, I can't say if this was a good bottle.
  
  The aromatics were frankly unattractive with oxidative dark fruit and a touch of green grass clippings. The aromatics did not show improvement with air, unlike the '00 Crichet Paje. On the palate, the '96 Pira was considerably better, showing raw meat, pure red fruit, spices, and leather, with high acidity and intense tannins.

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• 2006 Roagna Barolo Riserva Pira 97 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The '06 Riserva Pira was a mindblowing wine, especially after tasting the very rustic '96 Pira and '00 Crichet Paje. The generational change here resulted in a massive difference in the style of the wines, and in my view, a huge improvement in quality.
  
  On the nose, the '06 Pira was quite exotic and primary, showing none of the oxidative and more rustic notes of the earlier wines from Roagna. The fruit is super bright and expressive, with hard-candy like red fruits, exotic, blood orange and citrus fruits, spices, and tobacco. On the palate, the '06 Pira is pure silk, with almost no perception of tannin at all, perfectly balanced from end to end.
  
  The '06 is very primary but is also so expressive and finessed today that I can't really imagine it improving, only changing, with more time. That said, the wine should hold for decades in the cellar.

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• 2004 Roagna Barbaresco Crichët Pajé 94 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  The '04 was fascinating to taste next to the 2000, as the generational change clearly made a huge impact to the style of the wines here.
  
  I found a very classic, pure red-fruited expression of Nebbiolo, with super sweet red cherry fruit, sweet spices, raw meat, and mint. On the palate, the wine is medium in body with a super finessed texture, with almost no perceptible tannin. Compared to the 2000, the flavor profile here was so much purer, without any leathery, slightly oxidative notes. This was a super enjoyable wine, but I didn't find a ton of complexity.

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