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Mature Barolo from the 60's & 70's
Göteborg
Tasted May 31, 2014 by Lilja with 894 views
Introduction
5 mature Barolos from the 60's and the 70's together with two dark horses. An old Barbaresco and a young Barbaresco.
14 participants, all seasoned wine tasters. The wines were individually ranked from 1-7 according to taste, and summarized at the end. Giving a maximum score of 98 points.
Flight 1 (7 notes)
Red
1970 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco
On several occasions during the night I had suspicions about this being corked.
Funky nose of mold, wet basement. But also tar, smoke, Chinese soy sauce and Italian fennel salami.
The palate is absolutely alive and kicking, with good fruit and a medium acidity. Initial it felt a bit short, but with time this opened up, and a lot of the others enjoyed this.
Did not score because of the possible taint.
(2/7, 37/98)
Funky nose of mold, wet basement. But also tar, smoke, Chinese soy sauce and Italian fennel salami.
The palate is absolutely alive and kicking, with good fruit and a medium acidity. Initial it felt a bit short, but with time this opened up, and a lot of the others enjoyed this.
Did not score because of the possible taint.
(2/7, 37/98)
Red
1965 Enrico Serafino Barbaresco
85 points
This has gone over the top, and is scrambling down the hill like a pool of muddy, stale roadside sludge.
Nose full of cabbage and wet cardboard, but also plenty of canned tomatoes , Marmite and barley malt.
The palate is way better. Medium acidity, the fruit is alive, but not by much and there's a slight astringency. Ok length.
Old nose, better taste, but not a favourite.
(3, 34/98)
Nose full of cabbage and wet cardboard, but also plenty of canned tomatoes , Marmite and barley malt.
The palate is way better. Medium acidity, the fruit is alive, but not by much and there's a slight astringency. Ok length.
Old nose, better taste, but not a favourite.
(3, 34/98)
Red
1966 Bersano Barolo
94 points
This is astoundingly vibrant. Just slight brown hues in the otherwise cherry red.
The nose is lacking a bit in complexity, and out of the evenings wines this one elvoves the least. There's lots of meat, but also cherries and a miniscule touch of stalky greeness.
The palate is mockingly alive and kicking. High acidity, good fruit and fantastic length. There's a distinct tartness. Supple and delicious!
(6/7, 58/98)
The nose is lacking a bit in complexity, and out of the evenings wines this one elvoves the least. There's lots of meat, but also cherries and a miniscule touch of stalky greeness.
The palate is mockingly alive and kicking. High acidity, good fruit and fantastic length. There's a distinct tartness. Supple and delicious!
(6/7, 58/98)
Red
2005 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano
92 points
The dark horse of the evening. Put in as a reference wine, and 40 years younger.
Lots of oak on the nose, coffee and butterscotch. Dried meat, Serrano ham and plenty of herbs, mint, cranberries and lingonberries.
Great concentration and length, but there's tannins here for two wines. High acidity and quite lite body. There's potential, and it shows after an hour or two in the glass.
(4/7, 54/98)
Lots of oak on the nose, coffee and butterscotch. Dried meat, Serrano ham and plenty of herbs, mint, cranberries and lingonberries.
Great concentration and length, but there's tannins here for two wines. High acidity and quite lite body. There's potential, and it shows after an hour or two in the glass.
(4/7, 54/98)
Red
1968 Casa Vinícola Nicolello Barolo Riserva Speciale
94 points
This is an amazing bottle of mature Barolo!
There's always a problem regarding what some terms on wine labels really means, and in this case we the ambiguous "Riserva" and the mysterious "Speciale". Riserva in Italy usually means that the wine has to be stored at the producer for a couple of years (5 seems to be the minimum amount of years) before being released. So we have to assume the quality was at least a bit higher. "Speciale" was hopefully meant to describe the amazing potential this wine had, and to encourage people to store it for 46 years!
The nose is very dirty, with lots of initial sulfur and barnyard brett. Getting past that there's dried meat, Prosciutto, roasted coffee, dried rose petals and even hints of green aromas.
On the palate this is perfect! Supple, long and smooth. Good, bright acidity, great fruit and very harmonious.
Out-f-ing-standing!
(7/7, 90/98)
There's always a problem regarding what some terms on wine labels really means, and in this case we the ambiguous "Riserva" and the mysterious "Speciale". Riserva in Italy usually means that the wine has to be stored at the producer for a couple of years (5 seems to be the minimum amount of years) before being released. So we have to assume the quality was at least a bit higher. "Speciale" was hopefully meant to describe the amazing potential this wine had, and to encourage people to store it for 46 years!
The nose is very dirty, with lots of initial sulfur and barnyard brett. Getting past that there's dried meat, Prosciutto, roasted coffee, dried rose petals and even hints of green aromas.
On the palate this is perfect! Supple, long and smooth. Good, bright acidity, great fruit and very harmonious.
Out-f-ing-standing!
(7/7, 90/98)
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Comment
Red
1967 Fontanafredda Barolo
94 points
Very much like the bottle opened earlier this spring, but with hard competition from the previous bottle in the tasting.
Here's lots of brett and funk as well, a bit of paint and lots of dried cherries. Similar to the Nicolello on the palate, with a good living fruit, bright acidity and good length and concentration, but with a more distinct astringency and less suppleness.
(5/7, 80/98)
Here's lots of brett and funk as well, a bit of paint and lots of dried cherries. Similar to the Nicolello on the palate, with a good living fruit, bright acidity and good length and concentration, but with a more distinct astringency and less suppleness.
(5/7, 80/98)
Red
1973 Bersano Barolo
85 points
My least favorite of the night.
The nose is very mature, with almost port-like aromas of dried figs, tobacco and wet newspaper. There's a slight touch of madeira as well (maybe this was not stored properly at some stage) with candied sugar and tomato juice.
The palate is better, but not at all similar to the other Barolos in the flight. Less acidity makes the fruit sweeter and at the same time the wine feels a bit hollow and dried out. Out of balance and life!
This is probably over the top, and 1973 was apparently known to be at best an average year.
The nose is very mature, with almost port-like aromas of dried figs, tobacco and wet newspaper. There's a slight touch of madeira as well (maybe this was not stored properly at some stage) with candied sugar and tomato juice.
The palate is better, but not at all similar to the other Barolos in the flight. Less acidity makes the fruit sweeter and at the same time the wine feels a bit hollow and dried out. Out of balance and life!
This is probably over the top, and 1973 was apparently known to be at best an average year.