E&R Prequel 25 - Mostly older nebbiolo
Portland, OR
Tasted Wednesday, November 1, 2023 by 5laton with 77 views
Introduction
Sadly many of the bottles I was most excited to taste were flawed, or debatably so.
Caveat emptor: all wines were tasted without food, from a tiny INAO glass. In my personal opinion it's unfortunate to taste such wines under these circumstances.
2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This was initially a brick wall, aromatically mute and a quite tannic, astringent palate albeit with some pleasant chewiness. With air some pleasing, slightly candied fruit emerged. It might be able to enjoy this with a slab of meat but it needs around 10 years for my preferences. Strong hold
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1998 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Vigneto Loreto
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This showed a developing nose with some odd, stewed notes that didn’t immediately suggest nebbiolo to me. The palate was nice in a ripe idiom, and in a good phase of maturity - with a good amount of black fruit remaining but also lots of developing flavors and relatively soft tannins. Drink or hold.
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1998 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This had a very advanced nose with vitamin pill and toasted mustard seed.
The palate was extremely advanced and clearly out of condition, presumably poor storage conditions or a bad cork. Shame.
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2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Acclivi
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This was initially mute, opening up a bit with air but remained odd with almost tropical ripeness - like a tannic, ripe fruit punch. The ripeness of the red fruit here reminded me of grenache. It improved with air but really needs to be left alone for 10 years IMO, strong hold.
DP confirmed that the Acclivi sees some whole cluster and felt the showing was typical. Wow, I guess I just don't open these kinds of bottles young.
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2018 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This had a quite youthful nose of candied fruit jelly, quite the fruit bomb. The palate was better but still felt atypical to me for Monprivato, which I've admittedly never tasted this young. Another taster described the aromatics as "restaurant grape jelly in a white square plastic container" which actually resonated a bit. Strong hold
DP felt this was a typical expression for young Monprivato, which was very surprising to me! Once again I am just not opening these bottles young, and so I lack the pattern recognition.
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1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This had a very pretty balsamic fruit nose that became moderately kaleidoscopic with air. The palate was fairly closed and moderately astringent, but it was clearly a beauty. The wine became less approachable with air and needs another 10 to 15 years for my preferences. Strong hold
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1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Carobric
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This showed licorice and black fruit on the nose. The palate wasn't terrible but very black fried and extracted, like gritty black raisin. The astringence became more pronounced with air -- or perhaps it was my palate saturating with tannins from all these Barolo. This was meh for me, one of my least favorites among the unflawed wines.
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1996 Enzo Boglietti Barolo Fossati
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This had a ripe fruit cocktail nose, didn't obviously speak to me of nebbiolo. The palate was ripe and a bit mocha-y with some chewy tannins, however it improved notably with air. I’d be down to drink this even if I wasn't fond of the aromatics. Drink or hold.
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1996 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Devastatingly corked.
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1991 Elio Altare Barolo Vigneto Arborina
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The palate here showed a simple cherry cough syrup character, but also lots of unresolved tannins. Some leathery notes as well. It did not improve with air, and was just another wine I just didn't care for in this lineup. Hold, or drink with appropriate fare.
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1989 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Riserva Brunate
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This had a complex but fully mature nose with black fruit, sous-bois, Indian spices, and tar. I found the palate very attractive but clearly past the peak. With air it mounted an impressive comeback and developed a lovely bottle sweetness and texture. Wow, gorgeous despite being past prime.
Some experienced tasters felt this was clearly maderized. I will defer to their experience and analysis there, but I loved it regardless -- at least for a tiny 2 oz pour.
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2016 Cecilia Monte Barbaresco Dedicato a Paolo Serracapelli
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Bonus wine. This had a super ripe lifted, candied fruit nose. The palate was like liquid raspberry candy. It was very concentrated but did not present obviously to me as nebbiolo. This is not my style, and I'm baffled to read descriptions of the producer as "classic". But perhaps this is just one of the perils of tasting nebbiolo without food, from a tiny INAO glass; I would like to retaste this under better circumstances.
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