NR. Interesting wine for birthday dinner's final wine.
Cork's foil was a bit damaged, I feared that the wine would've been recorked with some other stuff or damaged otherwise.
Cork came out in two pieces and I filtered it through a coffee filter to a carafe. Color was a beautiful brickish orange with some dark red/garnet still in the wine.
Initially after pouring from carafe to a glass and checking that there is no debris/sediment, the wine was still quite shy. Old spice, just a hint of red berry and old wood and initially on the palate the wine had acidity, some red berries and a hair polisher finish.
However, after about 45-60 minutes the wine developed both on the nose and the taste to something way more beautiful, that I couldn't have thought at the initial taste. It gets a much more softer, sweeter fruitiness, vanilla and old spice notes that intensified as well as on the palate it mixed between the acidity of an old red berry bunch, vanilla-softness and woody, smoky and spicy notes. The tannins have fallen quite flat, so it didn't have the depth and concentration of a younger or slightly aged barolo, which was the key point missing to have this be the home run wine.
However considering the state of the bottle from the outside, I am very lucky this wine was so drinkable after waiting about 60 minutes and the tastes were still multilayered and complex.
Great end to a birthday weekend, best of luck with the future bottles, I still have one with a better fill level thankfully! Cheers!
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Pre-Super Bowl Gentlemen's Dinner (New Jersey, USA): Acquired a few years ago from Zachy's sourced from a collector in Italy. Decanted at 4pm and tasted at 8pm with the 3rd course alongside 1964 Damilano and 1967 Guiseppe Mascarello. This looked appropriately aged, quite light and translucent with significant sediment. There was something that I found unusual about this, while not unattractive this had some distinct VA such that it actually tasted slightly sweet, almost with a layer of vanilla. It didn’t quite seem as typical or what I expected as the other 2 50+ year-old wines. It seemed raisiny, possibly heat-damaged or "stewed" by some in the group. It had lots of secondary and tertiary notes and was not at all unpleasant, but the comparison was striking for me. I think most people had this as 3rd best of the flight, with one or two people thinking it closer to 2nd. I have one more bottle to try in the relatively near future…
Pale, very old reddish-brown color that turns towards burnished yellow close to the rim. The nose feels old, quite tired and somewhat oxidative with aromas of sorrel and raisins, some soy sauce, a little bit of moist coffee grounds, light sweet ethery notes of VA, a hint of beef jerky and a touch of dried cranberries. The wine is old, tired and oxidative on the palate with a moderately full body and very evolved, salty flavors of soy sauce and chopped nuts, some raisiny tones, a little bit of old leather, light gravelly mineral notes, lifted hints of ethery VA and sharp acetic character and a touch of sorrel. The wine is high in acidity with a little bit of tannic grip. The finish is old, tired and quite oxidative with a long, saline aftertaste of smoke and tar, some salt-cured beef, a little bit of nutty rancio, light raisiny tones, a sharp hint of acetic VA and a touch of soy sauce.
Ugh, this was pretty badly over the hill. It's remarkable how vibrant, nuanced and still wonderfully alive the 1971 Borgogno Barbaresco Riserva was, whereas this Barolo seemed like a wine that must've been past its peak for the past decade or two. Some people say Nebbiolos that seem to be oxidized and past their peaks turn better with prolonged aeration, but this did nothing but turned to worse over the evening. It was pretty much in shambles when it was first served in the tasting and re-evaluating the wine again after the tasting, it was completely dead. Either we had a bad bottle or then this Barolo just wasn't made to live this long.
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Unique to individual, some like it some don’t. It will not improve further. Pronounced nose of tea, spices, toast, sour cherry. Medium acidity but tannin is medium. It get better with time in the glass.
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I liked this a lot but depending on your style prefs some may not... this was pretty acidic and angular with bright bright red fruit, good depth and some totally mellowed Nebbiolo character... a little spicy mixed in too... raspberry, raspberry, raspberry, but with only a faint hint of sweetness
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This is close to dead wine, if something like that exists. Aromas of sour smoke, tea, and dry wood. No fruit in the mouth, high acidity, almost citrusy aftertaste. Not bad, just 30-40 years too old.
From large format (3.78L) this thing was rocking. A complex nose of tobacco, tar, Indian spice and dried fruits. It sweetens up and has a concentrated heart. It has some mushroom/truffle development. There's plenty of savoury nuance and a long finish that has excellent structural support.
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Fully mature. Wine was shipped out of state, but allowed to rest for 3 weeks. Decanted...? poor decant... I don't think the trip was kind to the wine. Pale amber color...slight cloudiness. teriary aromas. Leather, Sweet finish.
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Warren's. Old Madeira-brown color, and a touch cloudy though it had been standing up for months and well-decanted. Lovely on the palate, though completely tertiary, with notes of date bar and dried citrus fruit. The last sip I had, after nearly three hours, was the best.
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Bellingham blind tasting party; great champagne, loire whites, old nebbiolos, CdP, & a Bdx (Samish Hill, Bellingham, WA): This bottle was stood up in the cellar for months, then decanted for sediment. I still had to leave 20% in the bottle due to sediment, which at the end, looked like a burnt wallet folded in the bottom of the bottle. The wine was a very pale tawny color. The nose has gone completely tertiary; no distinct fruit was present, although the palate had a sweetness that contrasted the mushroomy leathery nose. This wine is all about the taste, rather than the smell. Balsamic, dried fruit (figs?), orange peel. I didn't get tar or roses in this one. Either this drank older than a '71, or the Giacosa drank younger than a '79. Nice wine, I might have been more enthusiastic had it not been in the shadow of the Giacosa.
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Annual Tasting Group Holiday Party (I Nonni, St. Paul, MN): Seriously bummed about this one. A wine that I had adored previously and had all the nuance you could ask for in aged Barolo, but sadly, that was not the case here. This bottle was cooked and unpleasant. Another bottle acquired from the same cellar of the '71 Barbaresco was outstanding, so I guess I'm batting .500, but it doesn't feel good.
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At first instance out of the bottle an attack of acidity; decantered for 2 hours which meant that the wine was in the process of opening up and showing good balance and dried fruit and orange peel but not at all over the top. This can easily wait another 5 years and actually I would recommend letting it cellar some more years. A 1964 displayed fantastic sweetness after 2 hours in the bottle. The structure in the 1971 promises a similar good experience with the right amount of patience.
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good but not great, great acid remaining -- felt like this could go for ten more years plus, other than the fact that the fruit was largely gone... decanted in the AM for an hour and a half, back in bottle, had with dinner, no real fruit (maybe a hint here and there) on the pnp or at any point during the day / evening, some good spice and backbone, just no fruit... glad it was my last
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Wafting bouquet, highly expressive and reminiscent of something between St. Estephe and Nuits St. Georges. Cut hay, rustic underbrush, with fully mature cherry fruit beginning to dry up. Robust and expansive on palate. Savoury and meaty. Nice acid and balance. Finish fades somewhat quickly. Very interesting.
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Goodness this was a great bottle. From my cellar, and personally returned from Alba. Perfect cork and very clear. Such depth of fruit on the nose (more vibrant red fruit than rose/tar) and persistance in the mouth - no signs of oxidation, indeed this could easily go another 10yrs! What impressed me even more is the lightness of touch in the winemaking. A great traditional wine in a great vintage. Goodness knows how good the 61 must be... Luckily I have some... Will open that soon!
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Goodness this was a great bottle. From my cellar, and personally returned from Alba. Perfect cork and very clear. Such depth of fruit on the nose (more vibrant red fruit than rose/tar) and persistance in the mouth - no signs of oxidation, indeed this could easily go another 10yrs! What impressed me even more is the lightness of touch in the winemaking. A great traditional wine in a great vintage. Goodness knows how good the 61 must be... Luckily I have some... Will open that soon!
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Blind tasting of a few Barolo wines with some friends. Brickish and a somewhat murky orange-red. Not overly tempting on the nose. For all those who favor a more figurative language, to put it quite frankly, this wine reminded me of rotten leaves and half a dozen bog bodies at first. Not that I ever experienced such an odor, mind you, but that's how I'd imagine the latter. Anyhow, we were slightly put off, but decided to wait. After about 45 minutes the veil lifted dramatically, releasing lovely aromas of sweetish dried fruits, dried dates, figs, rosewater, candied arancia, a bit of tar and lots of aged aceto balsamico. The alcohol (13.5 abv) was nearly gone, with exceedingly fine-grained, almost completely resolved tannins and only with some lively acid remaining on the palate. Again, candied oranges, dried cherries and old, weathered leather on the still long finish. There was also a distinct lingering sweetness on the finish, which some aged wines seem to demonstrate shortly before they pay the debt of nature. Nevertheless, a magnificent experience! I don't like to rate such wine experiences, but if I had to, I'd say 95.
Trüb und bräunlich im Glas. Nach ausreichend Luft - anfangs noch ein halbes Dutzend Moorleichen unter verfaultem Laub! - süßliche Trockenobstaromen, getrocknete Datteln, Feige, Rosenwasser, Arancia zuccherata, etwas Teer und viel gealterter Aceto Balsamico. Im Mund noch gute Säure, gereifte äußerst feine Tannine (schon ziemlich weggeschmolzen), weggeschmolzener Alkohol bei 13,5 Vol.-%. Gezuckerte Orangen, getrocknete Kirschen, alter, verwittertes Leder. Noch langer Abgang, mit "Todessüße". Tolle Erfahrung!
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Big Time Barolo and Barbaresco Fest et al (Il Foro, Mpls, MN): Medium cloudy orange crimson, heavily bricked color. Decanted for 90 minutes at dinner. Drank 1+ glass over 2.5 hours side by side with the '71 Barbaresco Riserva. Much lighter in color and significantly bricked compared to the Barbaresco this was still splendidly good! The nose is filled with a cornucopia of mixed mushrooms, French onion soup, savory, smoky, orange zest, cherries. The palate is equally impressive with savory onion soup, mushroom and caramelized onion tart, cherry, dried cherries, fine grain tannins, wood spice and hints of tangerine with an long and intriguing finish. Another stunner.
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An equally great blt like its companion Barbaresco. Surprisingly lighter color than the Barbaresco. Again, giving this time upright would have enhanced the experience even more. Thanks to Steve! Well sourced from Chambers, I'm told.
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Garnet to rust color in the glass, dusty looking. Nose of leather, iron and wet stones. Flavors of tart red berries and raspberries. Quickly started to fade within 20-30 minutes. Tart acidity, resolved tannins, medium body. Drink them now if you have them.
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another great decades-old Borgogno Barolo, solid red fruit core, tea and roses with some nice "bite" (as my cousin Jeff said)… just as one would hope and a great wine, topped the '71 Fontanafredda Barolo La Rosa we popped later in the evening
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Everyone thought the wine was interesting, but a the end of its life. The tannins were completely integrated and there was a taste of citris on the palate. I would drink up all that you and cross your fingers.
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Drank at Mozza with friends who had the same birth year. The wine still has 5 more years of life even at this old age. I would recommend actually decanting the wine for a 1/2 hour since out of the bottle there was a bit of funk and menthol that dissipated with a bit of air in the glass. Once that happened, the fruit (forest strawberry) and sois de bois really sang.
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Despite its age, this Barolo was still retaining good acidity upon opening, with a nice developed characters but still vibrant. The bottle was kept in good condition and even the cork was still solid. A nice buy from my friend!
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Dried fruits and strawberries on the slightly volatile nose with fine floral aspects, truffles, chocolate, menthol, liquorice and tobacco. Medium bodied and refreshingly structured palate. Strawberries to stone fruits complemented by notes of stonedust, graphite and tobacco. Mid-palate fills out with some exposure. long aftertaste. Very nice juicy stuff with fine aromatics and overall focus.
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First time I have tasted a Barolo this mature. Light brick red colour. Lovely aromas of mature Nebbiolo, not opulent but growing in complexity during the evening. Elegant rather than full mouth feel and still good acids. Still obvious tannins, but not dominating. Had it with capercaille hen from the charcoal grill. An old bird with strong taste, but the elegant wine just seemed to float atop the meat. Great!
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Took a lot of time to lose the old cellar stink. In the glass it gained some sweetness over time but the nopse never lost its maderized tones and could not stand up against other great 71 Barolos. The bottle itself was in impeccable condition, so either the wine is not great or the cork may have had a problem, that was not the TCA sort of pity but maybe some more oxidation than usual (filling level was good however). So, if I do not stumble over a different kind of old Borgogno I will give it a miss in the future.
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The cork was crumbly, yet had kept the wine in place, however the wine had lost a lot of colour. On pouring a watery red core, with significant banding to a pale orange rim. On the nose earthy mushroom points to a wine that's long gone, yet there is a touch of sweetness that invites a taste. ... and actually considering the nose, the palate is decent with the sweet decaying taste of old nebbiolo still holding out remarkably well leading to a sweet-tangy finish with faint residual tannins and just a hint of that earthiness at the end.
Well past best, but actually still enjoyable on the palate... and yet with 30-60 mins breathing, the worst excesses of the earthy mushroom die off and what's left is juicy-sweet, tangy and ethereal. Another good example of not rushing to too quick a judgement.
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This bottle was a gift to commemorate a birthday. After being allowed to rest for 9 months in the cellar we opened last night. The fill level was bottom of the neck. There was no evidence of past seepage and the cork was level with the neck. When using the two prong opener the cork began to push; having a grip on about half the cork I tried pulling and split the cork. The remaining half ended up pushed into the bottle. The wine was then screened into a decanter.
The wine was translucent but cloudy like a raspberry ice tea with a slight orange tinge. The nose had sweetness likripeneded fruit with a soft floral note. On tasting it was very much alive with pleasing amount of complexity. The tannins were integrated. The mouth feel was soft and round. There was an soft delicate astringent quality that played very well with our food pairings (olives, salami and triple cream.)
Definitely enjoyed the experience. It is was a good and unique wine and I am looking forward to my cellar gaining some age.
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This wine was poured from the bottle and should have been decanted. Cloudy, garnet, tannins seem fully resolved. There are some pleasant tobacco and spice notes, but not the drive that I like in old barolo. I spent a fair bit of time with this wine and was not impresssed. I have not liked the Borgogno style finding it a little soft and lacking the complexity of great old barolo.
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Tasted non blind at a wine dinner. Opened and allowed to slow-O briefly before serving.
Light garnet color in the glass, slightly cloudy looking. Nose of iodine, tar, black berries and wet stones. Flavors of tart berries, cherries and a bit of raspberry. Tart acidity, integrated tannins, medium body. Drink or hold, I'd likely drink.
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CellarTracker Wisconsin June 2011; 6/24/2011-6/25/2011 (Madison, WI- various venues): Tasted non blind at a large wine dinner. I won't give you my honest analogy of the color and appearance but it was not pleasant. To be fair, this bottle had traveled 1,000 miles the day before so it had no time to settle so not only was it basically brown, but it was very cloudy. For me this one was way past its prime and was one dimensional with mostly a band aid adhesive smell and taste. I; however, have very little experience with mature Barolos and others found the wine to be very enjoyable. Not qualified to rate this one in any way.
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Hovering somewhere between light garnet and amber color in the glass, fairly clear looking. Nose of anise, iron and berries. Flavors of tart berries. Tart acidity, integrated tannins, medium body. Drink now. Bottle was a bit prematurely aged so no rating.
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CT Wisconsin Offline (Madison, WI): This was a nice mature barolo. I got tea leaves, stewed tomato meaty notes along with faint red fruit just barely hanging on. Bright acidity, tannins fully resolved.
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Tasted February 2, 2010 at an offline. Garnet color in the glass, slightly dusty looking. Nose of anise, leather and a bit of potpourri that was unexpected. Flavors of berries and cherries. Bright acidity, somewhat resolved tannins, medium body. Drink or hold.
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A high, long lasting acid sits on top a medium body with very smooth tannins and a fairly long aftertaste. This wine is at its near end, best enjoyed now.
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Very crumbly cork, but a decent level on the bottle.
The wine was a very healthy pink-edged red colour, with some, but not excessive oranging at the rim. Initially it was a little closed, showing an earthy, mushroom scent and not too much on the palate. However it opened up fairly quickly to show still pretty fruit and a typical aged nebbiolo balsamic side. Balance was good and a wine that rewards with subtlety.
Still drinking well a couple of hours after opening, so no benefit for further ageing, but one to open with reasonably high hopes (recognising that bottles this age are often a lottery)
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Tasting Group Dinner - Piedmont/Barolo (Il Vesco Vino, St. Paul): Mature maroon/amber color. Incredible, kaleidoscopic layers of red cherries, rhubarb, black tea, iodine, minerals, mushrooms, and roses. Complex, impeccably balanced, and beautifully expressive, with still-vigorous and assertive mid-weight, ripe fruit. Silky texture. This wine has an Asian spice/black tea flavor profile that reminds me of La Tache. WOW. My WOTN. Thanks to Steve P. for sharing this!
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Autumn in Piedmont in NYC (Uva): This wine had the disadvantage of having travelled on a train and being shown next to the stellar 1974. It came around in the glass to some degree, but it never shook off the slightly balsamic nose. I think it may have been an off-bottle.
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not quite as evoloved as the Rinaldi, the Borgogno could have benefited from a bit more decanting (it sat for about an hour and a half before dinner) Dark ruby giving way to orange at the rim, this showed classic Nebbiolo characteristics, tar and violet most prominent among them, but within a more austere, less decadent frame than the Rinaldi. This still showed good structural grip and remarkable freshness for a wine of its age, but not quite as much opulence as I'd hoped. Still, very rewarding and beautiful and giving more and more as the dinner progressed.
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Edinburgh Offline (Peter's Cellars): Quite closed on the nose, and appearing rather reticent. The colour belies some considerable age. Light and fresh on the attack with a remarkable level of acidity. Develops lots of very twiggy tannins. Good, rather acidic fruit. Not a particularly great example.
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3/3/2024 - Octavian_Valkamo wrote:
NR.
Interesting wine for birthday dinner's final wine.
Cork's foil was a bit damaged, I feared that the wine would've been recorked with some other stuff or damaged otherwise.
Cork came out in two pieces and I filtered it through a coffee filter to a carafe. Color was a beautiful brickish orange with some dark red/garnet still in the wine.
Initially after pouring from carafe to a glass and checking that there is no debris/sediment, the wine was still quite shy.
Old spice, just a hint of red berry and old wood and initially on the palate the wine had acidity, some red berries and a hair polisher finish.
However, after about 45-60 minutes the wine developed both on the nose and the taste to something way more beautiful, that I couldn't have thought at the initial taste.
It gets a much more softer, sweeter fruitiness, vanilla and old spice notes that intensified as well as on the palate it mixed between the acidity of an old red berry bunch, vanilla-softness and woody, smoky and spicy notes.
The tannins have fallen quite flat, so it didn't have the depth and concentration of a younger or slightly aged barolo, which was the key point missing to have this be the home run wine.
However considering the state of the bottle from the outside, I am very lucky this wine was so drinkable after waiting about 60 minutes and the tastes were still multilayered and complex.
Great end to a birthday weekend, best of luck with the future bottles, I still have one with a better fill level thankfully!
Cheers!
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2/9/2024 - oldwines Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pre-Super Bowl Gentlemen's Dinner (New Jersey, USA): Acquired a few years ago from Zachy's sourced from a collector in Italy. Decanted at 4pm and tasted at 8pm with the 3rd course alongside 1964 Damilano and 1967 Guiseppe Mascarello. This looked appropriately aged, quite light and translucent with significant sediment. There was something that I found unusual about this, while not unattractive this had some distinct VA such that it actually tasted slightly sweet, almost with a layer of vanilla. It didn’t quite seem as typical or what I expected as the other 2 50+ year-old wines. It seemed raisiny, possibly heat-damaged or "stewed" by some in the group. It had lots of secondary and tertiary notes and was not at all unpleasant, but the comparison was striking for me. I think most people had this as 3rd best of the flight, with one or two people thinking it closer to 2nd. I have one more bottle to try in the relatively near future…
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11/17/2023 - Sean Tay wrote: flawed
Third bottle and it’s still flawed.
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8/8/2023 - Sean Tay wrote: flawed
Flawed.
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12/2/2022 - bjr11 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Classic aged Barolo, brick to slightly rust color, little fruit with mostly tertiary flavors, enjoyed by all--drink it if you have it!
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11/15/2022 - forceberry wrote: flawed
13,5% alcohol.
Pale, very old reddish-brown color that turns towards burnished yellow close to the rim. The nose feels old, quite tired and somewhat oxidative with aromas of sorrel and raisins, some soy sauce, a little bit of moist coffee grounds, light sweet ethery notes of VA, a hint of beef jerky and a touch of dried cranberries. The wine is old, tired and oxidative on the palate with a moderately full body and very evolved, salty flavors of soy sauce and chopped nuts, some raisiny tones, a little bit of old leather, light gravelly mineral notes, lifted hints of ethery VA and sharp acetic character and a touch of sorrel. The wine is high in acidity with a little bit of tannic grip. The finish is old, tired and quite oxidative with a long, saline aftertaste of smoke and tar, some salt-cured beef, a little bit of nutty rancio, light raisiny tones, a sharp hint of acetic VA and a touch of soy sauce.
Ugh, this was pretty badly over the hill. It's remarkable how vibrant, nuanced and still wonderfully alive the 1971 Borgogno Barbaresco Riserva was, whereas this Barolo seemed like a wine that must've been past its peak for the past decade or two. Some people say Nebbiolos that seem to be oxidized and past their peaks turn better with prolonged aeration, but this did nothing but turned to worse over the evening. It was pretty much in shambles when it was first served in the tasting and re-evaluating the wine again after the tasting, it was completely dead. Either we had a bad bottle or then this Barolo just wasn't made to live this long.
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7/30/2022 - Sean Tay wrote: 89 Points
Unique to individual, some like it some don’t. It will not improve further. Pronounced nose of tea, spices, toast, sour cherry. Medium acidity but tannin is medium. It get better with time in the glass.
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12/9/2021 - kenv Likes this wine: 88 Points
White Truffle & 1971 Nebbiolo Dinner (Chez Goldberg, Greenwich Village, NYC): [Original release. Opened at 3pm, then decanted around 6pm. Tasted around 8:30pm.] Quite mature. Elegant, but fading.
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5/27/2021 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
I liked this a lot but depending on your style prefs some may not... this was pretty acidic and angular with bright bright red fruit, good depth and some totally mellowed Nebbiolo character... a little spicy mixed in too... raspberry, raspberry, raspberry, but with only a faint hint of sweetness
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1/24/2020 - dagij wrote: 65 Points
This is close to dead wine, if something like that exists. Aromas of sour smoke, tea, and dry wood. No fruit in the mouth, high acidity, almost citrusy aftertaste. Not bad, just 30-40 years too old.
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1/2/2020 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
From large format (3.78L) this thing was rocking. A complex nose of tobacco, tar, Indian spice and dried fruits. It sweetens up and has a concentrated heart. It has some mushroom/truffle development. There's plenty of savoury nuance and a long finish that has excellent structural support.
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12/10/2019 - rnellans wrote: 93 Points
Fully mature. Wine was shipped out of state, but allowed to rest for 3 weeks. Decanted...? poor decant... I don't think the trip was kind to the wine. Pale amber color...slight cloudiness. teriary aromas. Leather, Sweet finish.
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12/8/2019 - BradE wrote:
Showing it's age, but a fun drink.
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4/18/2018 - Krassens Likes this wine: 89 Points
At vertical tasting of Borgogno Barolo Riserva 1937-1971.
E: Medium density, dark red/brown, some sediments.
N: Quite closed, subtle, somewhat mushrooms -> moves into hints of rubber.
P: Oxidative notes, quite high in acidity, small tannins, salt, pork jerky, sour cherries.
One of the least impressive of the eight wines tasted.
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3/5/2018 - Neecies wrote:
Warren's. Old Madeira-brown color, and a touch cloudy though it had been standing up for months and well-decanted. Lovely on the palate, though completely tertiary, with notes of date bar and dried citrus fruit. The last sip I had, after nearly three hours, was the best.
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3/3/2018 - WST Likes this wine: 90 Points
Bellingham blind tasting party; great champagne, loire whites, old nebbiolos, CdP, & a Bdx (Samish Hill, Bellingham, WA): This bottle was stood up in the cellar for months, then decanted for sediment. I still had to leave 20% in the bottle due to sediment, which at the end, looked like a burnt wallet folded in the bottom of the bottle. The wine was a very pale tawny color. The nose has gone completely tertiary; no distinct fruit was present, although the palate had a sweetness that contrasted the mushroomy leathery nose. This wine is all about the taste, rather than the smell. Balsamic, dried fruit (figs?), orange peel. I didn't get tar or roses in this one. Either this drank older than a '71, or the Giacosa drank younger than a '79. Nice wine, I might have been more enthusiastic had it not been in the shadow of the Giacosa.
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12/17/2017 - rocknroller wrote: flawed
Annual Tasting Group Holiday Party (I Nonni, St. Paul, MN): Seriously bummed about this one. A wine that I had adored previously and had all the nuance you could ask for in aged Barolo, but sadly, that was not the case here. This bottle was cooked and unpleasant. Another bottle acquired from the same cellar of the '71 Barbaresco was outstanding, so I guess I'm batting .500, but it doesn't feel good.
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5/5/2017 - Bourgognefreak Likes this wine: 91 Points
At first instance out of the bottle an attack of acidity; decantered for 2 hours which meant that the wine was in the process of opening up and showing good balance and dried fruit and orange peel but not at all over the top.
This can easily wait another 5 years and actually I would recommend letting it cellar some more years.
A 1964 displayed fantastic sweetness after 2 hours in the bottle. The structure in the 1971 promises a similar good experience with the right amount of patience.
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7/25/2016 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 89 Points
good but not great, great acid remaining -- felt like this could go for ten more years plus, other than the fact that the fruit was largely gone... decanted in the AM for an hour and a half, back in bottle, had with dinner, no real fruit (maybe a hint here and there) on the pnp or at any point during the day / evening, some good spice and backbone, just no fruit... glad it was my last
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5/16/2016 - Leonis Does not like this wine: 87 Points
Still can drink but not enjoyable
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4/14/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 92 Points
Wafting bouquet, highly expressive and reminiscent of something between St. Estephe and Nuits St. Georges. Cut hay, rustic underbrush, with fully mature cherry fruit beginning to dry up. Robust and expansive on palate. Savoury and meaty. Nice acid and balance. Finish fades somewhat quickly. Very interesting.
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3/24/2016 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 95 Points
Goodness this was a great bottle. From my cellar, and personally returned from Alba. Perfect cork and very clear. Such depth of fruit on the nose (more vibrant red fruit than rose/tar) and persistance in the mouth - no signs of oxidation, indeed this could easily go another 10yrs! What impressed me even more is the lightness of touch in the winemaking. A great traditional wine in a great vintage. Goodness knows how good the 61 must be... Luckily I have some... Will open that soon!
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3/22/2016 - JulianSkeels Likes this wine: 95 Points
Goodness this was a great bottle. From my cellar, and personally returned from Alba. Perfect cork and very clear. Such depth of fruit on the nose (more vibrant red fruit than rose/tar) and persistance in the mouth - no signs of oxidation, indeed this could easily go another 10yrs! What impressed me even more is the lightness of touch in the winemaking. A great traditional wine in a great vintage. Goodness knows how good the 61 must be... Luckily I have some... Will open that soon!
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2/3/2016 - MNig Likes this wine: 95 Points
Blind tasting of a few Barolo wines with some friends. Brickish and a somewhat murky orange-red. Not overly tempting on the nose. For all those who favor a more figurative language, to put it quite frankly, this wine reminded me of rotten leaves and half a dozen bog bodies at first. Not that I ever experienced such an odor, mind you, but that's how I'd imagine the latter. Anyhow, we were slightly put off, but decided to wait. After about 45 minutes the veil lifted dramatically, releasing lovely aromas of sweetish dried fruits, dried dates, figs, rosewater, candied arancia, a bit of tar and lots of aged aceto balsamico.
The alcohol (13.5 abv) was nearly gone, with exceedingly fine-grained, almost completely resolved tannins and only with some lively acid remaining on the palate. Again, candied oranges, dried cherries and old, weathered leather on the still long finish. There was also a distinct lingering sweetness on the finish, which some aged wines seem to demonstrate shortly before they pay the debt of nature. Nevertheless, a magnificent experience! I don't like to rate such wine experiences, but if I had to, I'd say 95.
Trüb und bräunlich im Glas. Nach ausreichend Luft - anfangs noch ein halbes Dutzend Moorleichen unter verfaultem Laub! - süßliche Trockenobstaromen, getrocknete Datteln, Feige, Rosenwasser, Arancia zuccherata, etwas Teer und viel gealterter Aceto Balsamico.
Im Mund noch gute Säure, gereifte äußerst feine Tannine (schon ziemlich weggeschmolzen), weggeschmolzener Alkohol bei 13,5 Vol.-%. Gezuckerte Orangen, getrocknete Kirschen, alter, verwittertes Leder. Noch langer Abgang, mit "Todessüße". Tolle Erfahrung!
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6/30/2015 - rocknroller wrote: 96 Points
Big Time Barolo and Barbaresco Fest et al (Il Foro, Mpls, MN): Medium cloudy orange crimson, heavily bricked color. Decanted for 90 minutes at dinner. Drank 1+ glass over 2.5 hours side by side with the '71 Barbaresco Riserva. Much lighter in color and significantly bricked compared to the Barbaresco this was still splendidly good! The nose is filled with a cornucopia of mixed mushrooms, French onion soup, savory, smoky, orange zest, cherries. The palate is equally impressive with savory onion soup, mushroom and caramelized onion tart, cherry, dried cherries, fine grain tannins, wood spice and hints of tangerine with an long and intriguing finish. Another stunner.
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6/30/2015 - chablis28 wrote: 95 Points
An equally great blt like its companion Barbaresco. Surprisingly lighter color than the Barbaresco. Again, giving this time upright would have enhanced the experience even more. Thanks to Steve! Well sourced from Chambers, I'm told.
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3/24/2015 - wineismylife wrote:
WIMLNR
Tasted non blind. Opened and served immediately.
Garnet to rust color in the glass, dusty looking. Nose of leather, iron and wet stones. Flavors of tart red berries and raspberries. Quickly started to fade within 20-30 minutes. Tart acidity, resolved tannins, medium body. Drink them now if you have them.
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2/14/2015 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 93 Points
another great decades-old Borgogno Barolo, solid red fruit core, tea and roses with some nice "bite" (as my cousin Jeff said)… just as one would hope and a great wine, topped the '71 Fontanafredda Barolo La Rosa we popped later in the evening
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1/29/2015 - Zunga wrote: 88 Points
Everyone thought the wine was interesting, but a the end of its life. The tannins were completely integrated and there was a taste of citris on the palate. I would drink up all that you and cross your fingers.
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10/24/2014 - Zunga Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank at Mozza with friends who had the same birth year. The wine still has 5 more years of life even at this old age. I would recommend actually decanting the wine for a 1/2 hour since out of the bottle there was a bit of funk and menthol that dissipated with a bit of air in the glass. Once that happened, the fruit (forest strawberry) and sois de bois really sang.
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2/17/2014 - sharonandroland Likes this wine: 94 Points
Quite a lot of VA, but well balanced and pure old style. Delightful.
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1/25/2014 - peterchoy wrote: 90 Points
Despite its age, this Barolo was still retaining good acidity upon opening, with a nice developed characters but still vibrant. The bottle was kept in good condition and even the cork was still solid. A nice buy from my friend!
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1/23/2014 - swaap wrote: 89 Points
Nez très expressif, notes de sous bois et de rose. Beaucoup de fraîcheur.
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3/17/2013 - vinojones wrote: 78 Points
OTH, celery juice
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1/4/2013 - avp wrote:
Dried fruits and strawberries on the slightly volatile nose with fine floral aspects, truffles, chocolate, menthol, liquorice and tobacco.
Medium bodied and refreshingly structured palate. Strawberries to stone fruits complemented by notes of stonedust, graphite and tobacco. Mid-palate fills out with some exposure. long aftertaste.
Very nice juicy stuff with fine aromatics and overall focus.
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12/31/2012 - hennlund wrote:
First time I have tasted a Barolo this mature. Light brick red colour. Lovely aromas of mature Nebbiolo, not opulent but growing in complexity during the evening. Elegant rather than full mouth feel and still good acids. Still obvious tannins, but not dominating. Had it with capercaille hen from the charcoal grill. An old bird with strong taste, but the elegant wine just seemed to float atop the meat. Great!
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12/29/2012 - Long Louis wrote:
Took a lot of time to lose the old cellar stink. In the glass it gained some sweetness over time but the nopse never lost its maderized tones and could not stand up against other great 71 Barolos. The bottle itself was in impeccable condition, so either the wine is not great or the cork may have had a problem, that was not the TCA sort of pity but maybe some more oxidation than usual (filling level was good however). So, if I do not stumble over a different kind of old Borgogno I will give it a miss in the future.
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12/29/2012 - Ian S wrote:
The cork was crumbly, yet had kept the wine in place, however the wine had lost a lot of colour. On pouring a watery red core, with significant banding to a pale orange rim.
On the nose earthy mushroom points to a wine that's long gone, yet there is a touch of sweetness that invites a taste.
... and actually considering the nose, the palate is decent with the sweet decaying taste of old nebbiolo still holding out remarkably well leading to a sweet-tangy finish with faint residual tannins and just a hint of that earthiness at the end.
Well past best, but actually still enjoyable on the palate... and yet with 30-60 mins breathing, the worst excesses of the earthy mushroom die off and what's left is juicy-sweet, tangy and ethereal. Another good example of not rushing to too quick a judgement.
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7/8/2012 - wineduggery wrote: 85 Points
Finding the limits with aged wines. This was awful. No fruit left to balance out the oxidized flavor and leather. DOA.
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3/11/2012 - Winetex wrote: 92 Points
Slow-oxed for two hours before serving with good results. Tasty wine but probably on a downward trend.
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3/6/2012 - Lakejoy10808@hotmail.com Likes this wine: 91 Points
This bottle was a gift to commemorate a birthday. After being allowed to rest for 9 months in the cellar we opened last night. The fill level was bottom of the neck. There was no evidence of past seepage and the cork was level with the neck. When using the two prong opener the cork began to push; having a grip on about half the cork I tried pulling and split the cork. The remaining half ended up pushed into the bottle. The wine was then screened into a decanter.
The wine was translucent but cloudy like a raspberry ice tea with a slight orange tinge. The nose had sweetness likripeneded fruit with a soft floral note. On tasting it was very much alive with pleasing amount of complexity. The tannins were integrated. The mouth feel was soft and round. There was an soft delicate astringent quality that played very well with our food pairings (olives, salami and triple cream.)
Definitely enjoyed the experience. It is was a good and unique wine and I am looking forward to my cellar gaining some age.
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1/16/2012 - vindictive wrote:
This wine was poured from the bottle and should have been decanted. Cloudy, garnet, tannins seem fully resolved. There are some pleasant tobacco and spice notes, but not the drive that I like in old barolo. I spent a fair bit of time with this wine and was not impresssed. I have not liked the Borgogno style finding it a little soft and lacking the complexity of great old barolo.
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8/5/2011 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
Tex's 40th Birthday Party (Urbano Cafe, Dallas, Texas): WIML92-93+?
Tasted non blind at a wine dinner. Opened and allowed to slow-O briefly before serving.
Light garnet color in the glass, slightly cloudy looking. Nose of iodine, tar, black berries and wet stones. Flavors of tart berries, cherries and a bit of raspberry. Tart acidity, integrated tannins, medium body. Drink or hold, I'd likely drink.
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6/25/2011 - floydtp wrote:
CellarTracker Wisconsin June 2011; 6/24/2011-6/25/2011 (Madison, WI- various venues): Tasted non blind at a large wine dinner. I won't give you my honest analogy of the color and appearance but it was not pleasant. To be fair, this bottle had traveled 1,000 miles the day before so it had no time to settle so not only was it basically brown, but it was very cloudy. For me this one was way past its prime and was one dimensional with mostly a band aid adhesive smell and taste. I; however, have very little experience with mature Barolos and others found the wine to be very enjoyable. Not qualified to rate this one in any way.
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6/25/2011 - wineismylife wrote:
CellarTracker Wisconsin Offline I - Part Three - Grand Finale (Madison, WI): WIMLNR
Tasted non blind at a wine dinner.
Hovering somewhere between light garnet and amber color in the glass, fairly clear looking. Nose of anise, iron and berries. Flavors of tart berries. Tart acidity, integrated tannins, medium body. Drink now. Bottle was a bit prematurely aged so no rating.
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6/25/2011 - petitblanc wrote:
CT Wisconsin Offline; 6/24/2011-6/25/2011 (Madison, WI): Definitely slipping away, almost madeirized to my palate, but this still showed some nice orange peel and leafy notes and was a treat to drink. Not scored.
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6/25/2011 - IWineAlot wrote: 90 Points
CT Wisconsin Offline (Madison, WI): This was a nice mature barolo. I got tea leaves, stewed tomato meaty notes along with faint red fruit just barely hanging on. Bright acidity, tannins fully resolved.
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4/8/2010 - JJL wrote: flawed
Oxidized
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2/2/2010 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
Longboard does Dallas (Amici's Signature Italian, Carrollton, TX): WIML92-92?
Tasted February 2, 2010 at an offline. Garnet color in the glass, slightly dusty looking. Nose of anise, leather and a bit of potpourri that was unexpected. Flavors of berries and cherries. Bright acidity, somewhat resolved tannins, medium body. Drink or hold.
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11/17/2009 - Grapeskull wrote:
A high, long lasting acid sits on top a medium body with very smooth tannins and a fairly long aftertaste. This wine is at its near end, best enjoyed now.
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12/7/2008 - Ian S wrote:
Very crumbly cork, but a decent level on the bottle.
The wine was a very healthy pink-edged red colour, with some, but not excessive oranging at the rim. Initially it was a little closed, showing an earthy, mushroom scent and not too much on the palate. However it opened up fairly quickly to show still pretty fruit and a typical aged nebbiolo balsamic side. Balance was good and a wine that rewards with subtlety.
Still drinking well a couple of hours after opening, so no benefit for further ageing, but one to open with reasonably high hopes (recognising that bottles this age are often a lottery)
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5/18/2008 - Siggy wrote: 97 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Piedmont/Barolo (Il Vesco Vino, St. Paul): Mature maroon/amber color. Incredible, kaleidoscopic layers of red cherries, rhubarb, black tea, iodine, minerals, mushrooms, and roses. Complex, impeccably balanced, and beautifully expressive, with still-vigorous and assertive mid-weight, ripe fruit. Silky texture. This wine has an Asian spice/black tea flavor profile that reminds me of La Tache. WOW. My WOTN. Thanks to Steve P. for sharing this!
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11/19/2007 - bsherwin wrote:
Autumn in Piedmont in NYC (Uva): This wine had the disadvantage of having travelled on a train and being shown next to the stellar 1974. It came around in the glass to some degree, but it never shook off the slightly balsamic nose. I think it may have been an off-bottle.
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4/8/2006 - i musicisti di boston wrote:
not quite as evoloved as the Rinaldi, the Borgogno could have benefited from a bit more decanting (it sat for about an hour and a half before dinner) Dark ruby giving way to orange at the rim, this showed classic Nebbiolo characteristics, tar and violet most prominent among them, but within a more austere, less decadent frame than the Rinaldi. This still showed good structural grip and remarkable freshness for a wine of its age, but not quite as much opulence as I'd hoped. Still, very rewarding and beautiful and giving more and more as the dinner progressed.
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2/22/2002 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 82 Points
Edinburgh Offline (Peter's Cellars): Quite closed on the nose, and appearing rather reticent. The colour belies some considerable age. Light and fresh on the attack with a remarkable level of acidity. Develops lots of very twiggy tannins. Good, rather acidic fruit. Not a particularly great example.
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