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Knights of Alba (KOA) BYO Barbaresco Dinner
Legacy Records
Tasted February 21, 2023 by MC2 Wines with 169 views
Introduction
Our first KOA event which is a bit surprising given our love of everything Piedmont but I suppose something to be said for not living in NYC anymore. Theme was Barbaresco from 2010 or earlier. Clearly a theme was Gaja, Produttori and Giacosa (the later is a personal favorite). Many great wines from all of the different years.
Flight 1 - Pre-dinner sipper (1 note)
Paired with some passed apps - a fried chicken with a super spicy sauce, some figs and cheese on a spoon and razor clams. Nice to meet a few new members and reconnect with some old friends.
White
2020 Roagna Langhe Bianco
First time with this wine. I see the previous notes POV. The reds are so special and delicate and lovely and this wine just kindof is. It’s Chardonnay so that could color my impression of it as well. But didn’t jump out at me as much as I’d hoped.
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Flight 2 - Dinner (26 notes)
To be fair our table did have flights pre-organized so that we got to try some wines from same producer/time period and next to each other. Given how many other wines were speckled in there as part of the BYO format I opted to just put everything together.
FIRST
Farro Salad, Honeynut Squash, Parmigiano & Pistachio
PASTA
Agnolotti, Sunchoke, Brown Butter & Sage
Cavatelli Verde, Sausage Ragu, Pecorino & Mint
MAIN
Honey Lacquered Duck Breast, Satsuma & Pistachio
CHEESE COURSE
Chef’s Selected Cheese Plate
Red
2004 La Spinetta (Rivetti) Barbaresco Vürsù Vigneto Starderi
From a magnum. This was part of our younger flight of wine at the table. Big and intense and darker fruits and the kindof wine that the description brooding is really meant for. Drinks pretty well though given it’s relative youth and big format.
Red
2009 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà
More fresh fruits in flavor although similarly more of a darker style. Big and powerful. Nice to see the young version of this since we got some ones with great age later in the evening.
White - Sparkling
1996 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année
One of my favorite wines of the evening. Respectfully disagree with note before mine. This was great precisely because it had lots of great age notes. All toasty and just that slight background of dark caramel (very light at this stage) and depth of flavor. Truly lovely wine. From magnum.
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Red
1993 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Barbaresco Martinenga
flawed
Pity because we bought this in Piedmont in one of our early trips and have generally had great luck with this store and the wines from there but this was clearly a bit cooked at some point it’s life. Has that rust-cloudy color despite a double decant. Didn’t seem quite as bad on opening, but had gone done hill between double decant at home and pouring at dinner.
Red
1990 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà
One of the highlight wines of the night for sure. This bottle was just about perfect which was more clear on the heels of one that was not. Beautiful wine. All intense and interesting and vibrant. Lots of fruit and young and bright and kindof jumps out. It’s that youthfulness that is so surprising given it’s had 33 years already. You get the integration from that time but this is maybe not even at prime yet. Wonderful.
Red
1990 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano
Not quite as perfect of a bottle as the Rabaja but not as bad as the Marchesi di Gresy either. It’s got this shallowness to it that doesn’t quite work. Dark fruit, but without the life.
Red
1971 Gaja Barbaresco
Drinking well. It’s a hint cloudy and so there’s a bit of sediment all stirred up in it but also some good vibrancy. Lots of power and structure (perhaps from some of the oak treatments?).
Red
2000 Gaja Barbaresco
Interesting to try on the heels of the ‘71 which was well integrated and so the treatment seemed to yield a bit of power and punch to the wine but not in an overdone way. This was still resolving. Get the oak. Don’t get as many of the other flavors as a result. Give it a lot of time.
Red
1988 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo
From a magnum. Big and intense and still fresh. Darker fruits. Well structured and can see the value that the oak provides to the really old wines in terms of keeping a certain level of power still there. Drinks very well.
Red
1985 Prunotto Barbaresco Rabajà
One of my favorites of the night and a wine that has awhile to go still. It’s drinking nicely now but really just starting to get a bit more secondary. It is still a lot of fruit and maybe a bit of spice and just the background hint of the floral.
Red
1974 Roagna Barbaresco Pajè
Not totally fair because this was our wine but this was just lovely. Double decanted at home (really makes a difference - esp with barolo) and then this deepened into a nice reddish tinge. Very fresh with fruits and age and floral and everything tying together quite nicely. In a truly great spot at the moment. Wish we had another.
Red
1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano
Might have benefitted a bit from a decant and maybe even a coffee strainer or similar. Still quite nice. Lighter black fruits. The Giacosa style which has a bit more elegance in it. A bit herbal. Nice and complex and drinking well.
Red
1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili
One of the better wines of the evening. From a mag. Very pretty and refined in style. More floral. Some fruit underlying. Very light and elegant. Drinks very well.
Red
1974 Gaja Barbaresco
Another Gaja which was definitely a theme of the night. Unfortunately bottle was just a bit off and I got some of the cardboard that is the tell-tale sign. There’s something behind that but hard to really get there. Too bad.
Red
1997 Gaja Barbaresco
Has this classic style sense to it although not sure that makes sense given what i know about the producer. Dark fruits and good acid and drinking quite nicely in this window.
Red
1971 Bersano Barbaresco
Funny because we had this producer the previous night. This was showing it’s age a lot more (granted also 28 years older than the last one). To my mind probably a bit over the hill. Dried leather and other tertiary flavors.
Red
1999 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili
A bit madeirized but you can tell that there’s a. Lot of good things happening behind that and it’s not completely overpowering.
Red
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili
Very lovely and very glad to see there are more of these in the cellar. This is a great wine. Beautiful and herbal and floral and fruit and very well integrated and just in general drinking quite nicely. Would love to have more of these.
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Red
1997 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco
Out of magnum and unfortunately all sediment so didn’t get to really taste. Pity.
Red
1999 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora
Saddle leather, age, classic in style. This was more evolved than I expected it to be. Perhaps from the warmer weather?
Red
1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora
Finishing out with a lot of produttori. This was probably the most backwards of all of the bottles. The most reticent to share much. It’s fine, but not as expressive as the others. Very interesting to try next to the classic blended Barbaresco which was really in a nice spot.
Red
1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Had next to the ‘96 Pora and it surprised me how closed down that wine was and how happy and open this one was. Well structured nad well integrated. I liked this better this evening.
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Red
1967 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Well aged with leather and a slight bit of fruit but still this general impression that there is life left in this bottle. Very classic old Nebbiolo.
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Red
1967 Luigi Calissano Barbaresco Riserva Speciale
Not a producer that I was familiar with at all so a new wine for me. More of the madeirized style of wine where there’s a bit of the alcohol and the fruit and a rounder body style to it. Acid more faded.
Red
1964 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Both of the old Produttoris were showing really nicely tonight. Well structured and drinking well. Good old Nebbiolo.
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Red
2010 Pio Cesare Barbaresco
Quite young and right on the heels of our old gentleman flight and so this felt like a change. It’s a decent wine but give it some more time.
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Flight 3 - After Party (2 notes)
Two words in the English language that probably shouldn’t exist. But a few bubbles to end the evening. Both nice wines out of large format.
White - Sparkling
2017 Savart Champagne Premier Cru Le Mont des Chrétiens
Same magnum we got a few weeks ago and it is still a lovely and enjoyable wine. It’s lighter style. Not quite as racy as the Agrapart but more of that bright style. Drinks well.
White - Sparkling
2016 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Minéral Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
Pretty sure I got the vintage right but this was pretty late in the evening after a decent amount of wine. Very racy as is the style of the house. It is lean and high acid and while sometimes that can bother me at the very end of the night it just feels a bit refreshing.
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Closing
I think the 1996 Giacosa Riserva or the 1974 Roagna or maybe the 1985 Prunatto Rabaja. Plenty of good ones sneaking around including a bit of bubbles (the 1996 Bollinger Grande Annee was great!).