Opened at 7pm the night before to check on it and double decanted it off of its sediment. I was prepared to sit it on the table and slow-o it until our afternoon lunch the next day but after a little taste, I determined that it didn't need it so I put the cork back in and put it back in the cellar. The next day I decanted it 4 hours before serving and the wine was singing and continued to open over the next hour.
Very similar to my note from last year (2/4/23) but a little more open. It's like a flower that's 2/3's open- you can see the whole flower but you know it'll be even more stunning when it fully expands.
The level of fruit extract and concentration is fantastic, as if the elixir of fermenting grapes was somehow captured as a pungent flavor component, along with earth, herbs, tar and cherry compote.
Two left and I pray I can wait a couple more years before the next one.
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Decanted approximately two hours - I always feel a little crazy posting this for a 20 year old wine, but this is still quite primary. Ripe red and black fruit on the palate, good acidity and great length on the finish. I may not try another bottle for five years, and if you only have one or two, I would continue to hold, but this is pretty good 👍
Vinous Piedmont Icons Dinner @ Legacy Records (Legacy Records, NYC): 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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Decanted at 4PM for dinner at 7:30. Upon opening, really deep, silky fruit. When we returned to it for dinner, it had stretched out a bit and was more structured. The fruit had backed down to become part of the flavor profile instead of the dominate force. Only a hint of balsamic, but the classic iron notes I get from Francia Barolo. A bit of florals, but more savory notes. This is the best bottle of this vintage I've had and in a great window.
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Dinner with Iggy and Friends (Le Brasserie, New York): Medium ruby. Tobacco, brown spice, and menthol. Medium body. Subdued flavors of red fruit. Moderately tannic. I’ve had this before and know how great it can be, but this fell far short. Brad picked up some taint on the first pour, but it took me a long time to discern the low grade TCA.
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Doubled decanted at noon for 7pm dinner of osso buco, escarole and creamed parsnips.
Nose: Dried red fruits, dried herbs and spices seem fresh like they just woke up.
Taste: So much still buried in for the future so holding back a bit but the veil of tannin has broken and the red fruits are bumbling up through the top of the baked tar pie crust. Pie filling of tart red fruits sitting on top of fig compote. The medium+ acid adds marzipan flavor but lacks the creamy texture.
Summary: What a great wine! Balance is the name of the game here and lovely persistence. A lot of time left- will hold off for 3-5 years if I’m strong enough.
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Klar mørkere rød mot orange rand. I åpningen søtlig floral duft, nesten litt oljene. Mandler, tjære og søte modne kirsebær. Stram struktur men samtidig mektig elegant. Enorm kropp. Kirsebær-stein. Lakris. Fremdeles fast tanninstruktur. Svak tørr hinne av morkent tre til slutt. Mange år igjen denn. Fantastisk vin.
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1999 Barolo Dinner (Chez Goldberg, Greenwich Village, NYC): [Double-decanted around 2:30pm for 3 hours.] Powerful nose of black fruit and licorice. Still young and tannic, but with massive fruit. Long, complex finish. Juicy and rich.
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An impressive, top-drawer barolo. Open for several hours but not decanted. Leather, licorice, tar on the nose. Very satisfying nose. Palate is intensely dark fruit with licorice, chewy dark cherries, earth, some spice note. Then a long and luscious tannic extension. This doesn't seem to be aging much, probably can go on for almost ever.
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Mothers' Day Dinner (The Consevatory, Crown Wine Cellars, 18 Deep Water Bay Drive, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong): Decanted for 7 hours. Semi-Translucent dense deep red cherry skin. Nose is early morning black fresh laid asphalt, fresh but almost chilled raspberries. Palate is slightly softened mellowed tannins but still very tightly wound, fresh acidity. Great dark fruits hiding in the back of a cave like a grumpy growling bear awakening from hibernation. Nicely reverberant and resonant finish but still a work in progress. But it grew on me more with extended time in the glass. Drank alongside the more feminine Bruno Giacosa Falletto 2000. 92+ for now? Can only improve.
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Popped, poured into four Bordeaux stems, swirled and let breathe for three hours before consuming over two hours with dinner. Needed all of that and continued to evolve and expand throughout the evening. Very enjoyable now, but should continue to evolve for a long time. I think this is only going to get better.
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Thanksgiving (Chicago, IL): When I opened this about 5 hours before drinking it, this was ornery and dirty. There wasn't much fruit and this had a bit of a muddied character about it. Then when we drank this with dinner, it had lost most of the undesirable traits, and the fruit came out in earnest. Admittedly, it's a little stewed and browning, but there is still life to this. I've not generally loved the Conterno wines of this decade, finding them sometimes a little desiccated, but this bottle did still have some fruit to it. If I had to guess, this is plateauing now.
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Friday Dinner at Friends' House (Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong): Double-decanted for several hours before serving. Opaque core, lightening to black/red at the edges. Nose is rose petals and tar...deep and compelling. Palate is absolutely beautiful perfumed, deep and powerful black fruit and black-root spices- liquorice root. Lovely deep, rich black semi-confit berry fruit. The length and resonance is fabulous. This can get better and better with 10 more years. 92+
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The '99 Francia is a gorgeous wine and remains powerful and youthful at this stage in life. On the nose, I found classic aromas of dark red cherry fruit, tar, roses, black tea, and tobacco. The nose shows minimal signs of development. On the palate, it remains concentrated and youthful, with waves of dark red fruit complemented by floral tones. It's a powerful wine but also shows elegance, with a beautiful sweetness on the palate and still very present, but fine grained tannins on the back end. In every way, it's a classic Barolo from Serralunga. Based on the evolution to date, it seems likely this has decades left if well stored.
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Not going to rate it here, but was like 90-92. I gave this a super long decant (maybe to blame), maybe 8 hours. Very light in color and palate. Soft and subtle, Burgundian. Nice flavors, but to be honest nothing secondary. Kind of “just nice”. But also had with wood-grilled steak and it just didn’t stand up. Will rate the next bottle!
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An amazing bottle of this and one of the stars of this amazing 1999 tasting. While the Giacosa next to it was all about perfume, seductiveness and silkiness, this was nobly austere, but with just text-book Serralunga structure and power. Notes of tar, menthol, dark red fruit, but also dark fruit, black tea, cedar wood, cigar tobacco and also notes of crushed flowers. It‘s medium-full bodied, with medium-high acidity and medium-high but ripe tannin of excellent quality. Superb length. A very complete, mature and nobly austere Barolo of the very highest level. I love this! WOTN for me.
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An interesting showing. Much like the 1996 at the Southern Jeeb when this is drank with more fully fruited wines, the leanness and precision really sticks out. It was much more strict than the 2012 Roagna, for example (and definitely more than the Allemand). Has a real limestone feel to it. Great shape to the tannin and excellent length. I may try another bottle on its own soon or wait a few more years for the structure to melt a bit.
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Wining Around New York; 3/6/2019-3/10/2019 (Various Venues, New York): Decanted about 4 hours earlier. Impressive even, primary ruby. Explosive black cherry and tobacco. Later, florals and potpourri. Amazing medium bodied glycerine texture from start to finish. Breathtaking sweetness and vivacity of the dark red fruit with light underlying minerality. Round, ripe tannins. Superb and entirely memorable. I'd estimate that it about halfway into its life span. What a magnificent wine this is!
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Pretty much right at the same level of superbness from my last bottle a year ago. See those notes, since it matches exactly. Needs a couple hours to really come out, but once there -- heavenly. No sign of being anywhere except at the top of its game.
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New Year's Eve Dinner (The Library, Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Decanted for 4+ hours. Semi-transparent dusty ruby colour. Nose is earthy but quite reticent. Palate is fresh acidic, lifted attack and an immediate deep, growling, powerful resonance and reverberance that stops you in your tracks. I got into reveries and forgot to write any more detailed notes. Superb and definitely now in its drinking window, unlike the Bruno Giacosa Falletto 2000 we drank alongside it.
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Dinner with the wine group (Aicha, San Francisco): Red fruit, cherries, slight VA, slightly sweet; palate is light bodied, high tannins are slightly noticeable, youthful; medium-plus finish. 92+, young.
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Dekantert 2+ t. Innbydende nese med lær, kirsebær, tjære og sopp. Litt mer forsiktig munnfølelse med fortsatt stødig grip i avslutningen. Åpner opp etterhvert og er mer medgjørlig med en herlig mørk rødfrukt. Solid syrestruktur og litt krydret finish. Lang. Bør lagres videre for mer utbytte, dag 2 ga mer!
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This bottle was wonderful and everything I could have hoped for. Decanted for 4 hours with windows propped slightly open while dinner roasted. Color was the healthiest of a solid, vivid, ruby red, not even a sign of bricking, garnet or orange on this bottle. The aromas were amazingly alive, fresh, floral and open right out of the gate, with red roses, damp soil, a slight fruitcake/Christmas cake note, and a high pitched menthol mint. Medium bodied, fine, integrated tannin, alcohol was modest and food friendly. Refreshing acidity. Over time it retained its freshness and as it developed it showed off more of its majestic, brooding qualities--a wine that seemed more and more like it could be served at a castle in the clouds. The full experience.
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Needs a couple hours to blossom. Nose is leather, tar and some menthol. Palate is dark, earthy, mushrooms, spice. Good acidity balancing the big minerally fruit. Tannins pop out after a while and give the ending a long pop. Definitely in a great zone now, but clearly can go on for years and years.
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A problem at the beginning, but with a happy ending. Opened, and poured to try it out and there was a funk in the nose that was odd for a Conterno. I let it sit for about 5-8 min and tried again, and it was all gone. What remained was the classic nose of this wine -- the light tar, the leather, the dark fruit. The palate was wonderful as before -- earth, dark fruit, some good acidity, a bit of spice. Moderate tannins let the flavors roll on. Delicious, once past the odd opening.
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Very nice although this particular bottle had a bit of carmelization - so had perhaps gone a bit too long. It opened nicely, was full, big, tannic, complex, great nose. Focus was on size over complexity, but still a great wine
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Developed Nebbiolo aromas, with notes of forest floor, liquorice and tar. Ripe and sweet red fruit on the palate. Meaty, intense and concentrated. Feels young. A great Barolo!
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Dinner with Friends (Our House, Hong Kong): Decanted for 2 hours then drank over the next three. Opaque crimson with a translucent edge. Nose is warm, welcoming sun-kissed thyme and oregano hillsides, coking coal, tar, violets. Palate is wonderful.... very peppery, sour cherry, acid-drop cherry candy that cuts the roof of your mouth. Then in mellows but still maintains the cherry character as its key characteristic. Good resonance and reverberance on the finish but I'm guessing this will get a lot more predominant over the next 10 years as this wine is still quite tightly furled, if already very enjoyable.
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Leather and tar on the nose. Big nose, satisfying. Palate is dark fruit, spice, earth and a good hit of acidity. Tannins give an extra push to the finish. Very satisfying, though not quite as big as the bottles from a couple years ago. Still spritely and lively, no sign of being near its peak.
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NY Vinous group 1999 Barolo dinner at Hearth. Gorgeous earthy and fruity bouquet and more open than the bottle this group had two years ago, but still very young. Beginning to show signs of emerging into the great wine it is destined to be.
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Decanted for 1.5 hours. Defined brown rim. Soft ruby color. Sweet must on the nose. Maybe figs and tree sap? Well structured tannins, perhaps a bit hot but not detractingly so, coating the tongue with length. Dark berry, still surprisingly young, but certainly approachable.
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An evening with Mrs. Sunshines husbond... (Søerne): What a wine - and so young, concentrated, tannic but with a big, rich fruit, tightly kept in balance by minerals galore. Sinful to drink it now, it will peak in 5-10 years IMHO. 95+
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Clear, ruby-garnet. Red fruits, tar, crushed flowers, tea leaves and a hint of earth and herbs. Medium bodied. Still-generous acidity and medium(+) integrating tannins. Drinking quite well now, but give it a couple of hours in the decanter first.
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Anything B at Wah Lok (Wah Lok): Appearance was clear, medium intensity ruby (slight garnet). Legs. Nose was clean, with aromas of soy sauce, earth, red cherries, plums, tar. Palate was dry, medium high acidity, full bodied, high tannin, with flavours of vanilla, tea leaves, cherries, and plums. Long finish.
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This actually looks a shade lighter than the three previous wines. Ripe red fruits on a primary nose.
Oooh, nice palate presence here - at first glance, my favorite of the four wines on the palate. There is still a tannic nip on the finish, but this is looking like a very nice wine - can't wait to see what it looks like in six hours!
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Surprisingly lackluster comparatively to previous bottles. Still a lovely bottle, but compared to the two bottles from last year, which were knockout, rich bottles of barolo, this one was muted and soft. Similar flavors but somehow lacking punch. Nothing flawed about it, and a very pleasing bottle, just not extraordinary. Since I have a case, I'll check out the next bottle, which hopefully will get back in the upper 90's level of nirvana.
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I opened this a couple of hours before dinner, poured some out into a glass, no full decant. Surprised initially at how brown this looked in the glass. Initial taste was fiercely tannic, with notes of soy, balsamic and tea. By dinner, the color took on more deep red, and the palate sweetened up considerably. This is one dense, concentrated wine. There is a huge amount of Middle Eastern bazaar spice on the nose and palate. A deep pool of fruit, red to black to brown fruit tones, and complexities of dried spices. Long, deep, rich finish. Really impressive. Co. pizza with RR.
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Backward and restrained for quite awhile, despite a 6+ hour double decant and slow ox. With further time, the wine began to show glimpses of its impressive potential. Classic floral notes, alongside tar and strong, mineral backbone. A very long finish, exhibiting tremendous typicity at every step.
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G. Conterno Barolo vs. L. Sandrone Barolo (Morrell Wine Bar and Café, NYC): [Opened at 1pm. Double decanted at 5pm.] No nose. Hugely tannic. So backward and shut down. Thick and juicy, but so tight. Needs a lot of time or a lot of air. Hard to say how terrific it might eventually be, though a bottle tasted last year was open and incredibly good. 93-??
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The Icon Vs. The Iconoclast: Giacomo Conterno & Luciano Sandrone (Morrell Wine Bar): The ’99 Cascina Francia opened with a dark and brooding bouquet of earth, animal and fruit, showing soil-laden minerals up front, leading to dried flowers, animal musk and dark berry tones. On the palate, it showed brilliant, yet tart, wild berry and strawberry fruits, minerals, and fine tannin that saturated the senses. It finished clean and youthful with hints of dried fruits. This is so young today, and it should continue to evolve into something very special over time.
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Vinous group dinner at Morrell. 4 hour slo-o (3 hours in cellar). Surprisingly this was tighter than the Monfortino. The wine had a lovely earthy bouquet like the Monfortino, but the fruit was not as prominent. While it did drink very I think its best years are still ahead. I will definitely decant my next bottle for a least 4 hours.
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Great pedigree here,. Took a while to begin to show its stuff. Wonderful balance, focus and depth with a lengthy finish. I think that this will benefit from a few more years in the cellar.
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Licorice, leather, tar on the nose. Big nose. Rich power in the flavors of dark fruit, spice, an undertone of acidity. Then a lovely bit of tannins extending the finish. Upon second tasting (using Coravin) I had to bump this up to 96. Just a stunning barolo, that got even deeper and richer. The beginning and end just got even better.
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Licorice, leather, tar on the nose. Big nose. Rich power in the flavors of dark fruit, spice, an undertone of acidity. Then a lovely bit of tannins extending the finish. Extremely satisfying!
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Chicago Italian Lovers: 1999 Barolo (Bascule Wine Bar): Decanted ~8 hours prior to dinner and shut down hard by the time this flight came around. Real bummer as we all had high expectations. Apparently it was singing when initially opened and decanted. By the time we got to it you really had to coax any aromas out of the glass and the palate was wall-to-wall structure. One instance in support of the don't decant "young" Barolo strategy.
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A great Italian evening in Belgium: Beautiful bouquet with dark berries, pleasant barnyard and earth. On the palate a full bodied and juicy wine, with dark berries, Autumn impressions, some sweetness, good acidity and tannin. Very beautiful and complex wine.
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Italian night @ Stappato (Enoteca Stappato, Leuven (Belgium)): Impressive, seductive. Full of class, power and elegance. Palate is very rich, ripe, yet has the classic austerity and civilisation I expect from this producer. Black cherry, peat, truffles, magnificant....
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Barolo 1999 vs. 2001 Blind (New York Vintners, NYC): Sweet red fruit nose. Perfumed and exotic in the mouth. A complex melange of flavor. A stunningly great wine giving a load of joy tonight. WOTN so far. I correctly guessed that this was the 1999. 98-100 points.
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Dueling Blind Barolo Vintages (New York Vintners): The nose was dark and enticing with an exotic twist and all the iron, mineral-laden Serralunga character you could ever hope for. A mix of ripe strawberry, brown sugar, orange peel, tea leafs, iron and rich dark soil tones formed the bouquet. On the palate, it was firm yet crystalline focused, showing dried red fruits, dark soil tones, and a hint of grapefruit. Tannin continued to build throughout the finish nearly masking its tightly coiled fruit and permeating notes of dried florals and fall leaves. It was an unbelievably beautiful wine.
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Clearly a top vintage for Conterno, this is silky and fine with fabulous dark red and black fruit flavors to go along with notes of forest floor, licorice and tar. The finish is firm and structured with some smoky tea leaves beginning to show up. Still fairly tannic and in need of more time but this is a classy, full, refined vintage for this wine. 94+
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Pretty, floral on the nose, with juicy acidity, structure to add depth to the palate - and it all comes together as the most complete wine (as of today) among the very strong wines in this flight. Would love to see if the Giacosa Rocche del Falletto passes this years down the line. Delicious now but I can only imagine how good this will be. Awesome. 95+
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Leo's Blind Tasting Group - May '14 edition (Ben's (NYC)): A wow from the fragrance alone. Red fruits, spice, flowers, and more savoury earthy and anise-like notes combining into one incredible scent that's echoed on the palate. It's still showing some fine grained tannin on the back end, but the balance is stunning and there's a really finessed, polished texture here. Spectacular wine.
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Popped and poured , too close at the beginning but with time have smoothed. Garnet color , red fruits , floral , Mineral , on the palated full bodied , hight acidity and the tannins still too much present. Maybe it was better wait 2/3 more year before opening.
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Year 2; Tasting 1 of 5; Dave does Barolo (1955-1999) (Dave's House): Popped and poured, followed approximately 2 hours in the glass. Garnet in colour, with a nose showing typical Barolo notes of red fruits, mint, tar, baking spice and florals, but overlaid with some very strange lemon detergent notes. These were absolutely not due to the glassware being used, as the notes were consistent no matter what glass the wine was poured in. Very peculiar. On the palate, well balanced, but still quite structured; medium plus acid, moderate tannin; finishes at moderate length with some grainy tannin.
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Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 6 - Dave does Barolo (Dave's House - Kitchener, ON): A complex, but very wild, and peculiar showing. Nose of mint, high toned lemon (akin to dishwasher detergent), ashtray, urinal puck. Palate is pleasing repeating lemon cleaner notes, finish is light but fairly long. Seems to have potential for future development, if a bit bizarre. Strangely I still kind of liked this.
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Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 5 - David does Barolo (Kitchener, Ontario): The nose is quite closed on this wine...some mint, spice and minerals The palate was a bit more open showing mint, tar and cherry flavours but there was an interesting (read strange) lemon note that seemed a bit out of place. The finish was medium length with good complexity. Not sure what to make of this....assume its just closed up. I need to understand more of the vodoo behind extended decanting of Barolo. I can't get my head around it from a scientific perspective but I am open to experimentation after this bottle.
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I bought 2 cases of 99 years back at a good price and drank 5 bottles to date. The first 4 in 07' 09 and 10 made me feel my money was better spent elsewhere. Finally now at age 15, this barolo has left its hibernation. Medium bodied with good transparency, tar, earth and after an hour floral notes emerge woven with exceptional length and finish. I will certainly try to hold off on opening my later vintages as this traditional icon needs time to come into its own.q
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Granato, naso gomma, frutto scuro in sottofondo, minerale scuro, cenni floreali secchi, pepe bianco, bocca fresca, fruttata, tannino dolce, alcol integrato nel finale goloso e lungo con cenni di goudron.
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Pure black truffle, wet earth, rotten roses. Text-book Barolo. A perfume. Ashes. Chimney. Silky texture on the palate. Fine acidity. Heat killed its soul? Who knows... Matched some changurro caneloni and some tapas at Restaurant Cuenllas in Ferraz street, Madrid
Pura trufa negra, tierra mojada, rosas podridas. Un Barolo de libro. Un perfume. Cenizas. A chimenea. En boca sensación a seda. Buena acidez. ¿El calor mató su alma? Quien sabe... Marido unos canalones de changurro y algunas tapas en Cuenllas, Madrid.
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Concerto del vino italiano workshop “Barolo 2009 vs 1999”, Pairing 4: Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia. Both wines were poured into the glasses approximately four hours prior to the tasting.
The 1999 was medium garnet in colour and offered a rather reserved nose, with shy red fruit aromas, hints of hey and marzipan, and herbal notes. On the palate the wine seemed equally tight, with rosewater, cherry, tea and herbal notes, paired with medium-plus to high fine, ripe tannin and incredible length. The finish of the elegant and very balanced wine actually lingered for quite some time. This was the most youthful and potentially the longest-lived of the six 1999s tasted and the only 1999 that showed further upside potential. My second favourite wine of the tasting – second only to the Cascina Francia 2009. 91
The 2009 was medium ruby in colour and offered floral notes, red fruit, hey and ethereal notes on the nose. On the palate the wine showed red fruit, rosewater, some mild tea, herbs and mineral notes, paired with medium-plus to high acidity, high, ripe, ultra-fine tannin and incredible length. The medium- to full-bodied Barolo was elegant and very balanced and showed good energy on the palate. My favourite wine of the twelve Barolos poured at the tasting. 92
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Good color, fading a bit at the rim. The nose shows floral high notes, cherry, earth, plum, and a bit of a prune quality. On the palate, this is rich and concentrated, and the energy is wonderful. It does seem just a bit overripe to me. The finish is long and the tannins are very well integrated. This wine is full of finesse.
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2013 New Year's Day Tasting (Marietta, GA): Red fruit, grainy tannin, oak?, cranberry, red apple skin, good acid, liqueur, sweet finish. The oak notes made me think this was a different Conterno. No brett either. Needs more time.
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Granato scarico, naso spinge su note di frutta rossa, melagrana, fragola, poi un mix di fiori secchi e un secchio di spezie di tutti i tipi assieme a note di goudron, non è mobilissimo come naso ma molto godurioso.Bocca fresca, tannino presente , abb sapida, chiude con un sentore di liquerizia e acidità .
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For our annual wine luncheon, we chose a Piedmonte theme & dined at Lincoln (Lincoln Sq). Each wine was decanted briefly & then tasted in 2 flights of 4 each. The 1st flight included: 2004 Moccagatta Barbaresco Bric Balin; 2001 Giacosa Rabaja Barbaresco Riserva; 2001 Gaja San Lorenzo; & 1999 Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia. The 2nd flight included: Scavino 1996 Carobric Barolo; 1996 Giacosa Falletto Asili Barbaresco; 1990 Prunotto Bussia Barolo; & 2009 Barboursville, VA nebbiolo, a ringer that we at first tasted blind. We chose a best of each flight & then our 3 faves of the tasting. A disclaimer re my notes: We sat for more than 3 hours during which time the wines continually evolved & changed such that a #1 fave at 230 morphed into the #4 wine an hour later, & vice versa. MOCCAGATTA: Medium color, very oaky, yet spicy aroma with hints of anise. This wine is still a baby, & started out very closed, though it opened up substantially as time went on. Very earthy, fairly harsh tannins, with bright fruit on the palate. Nice long, if somewhat tannic finish. The wine tasted young (especially compared to some of the other lovelies at our table) but all agreed that it has a great future. I've had this wine before and this tasting confirmed it must be decanted at least 1-2 hours before drinking. I wouldn't touch this wine again for at least a few years. This was the #2 fave of this flight. GIACOSA 2001: A lovely medium ruby color, aromas of coffee beans and cedar. Medium bodied with a definite earthiness, this wine had loads of bright fruit on the palate, ripe red berries would be my best description. I detected quite a bit of coffee and cigar box too. Beautifully structured, well-integrated wine, mixing both power and elegance even though still needing time to mature further. As wonderful as this wine was today, it will be even better in the next 3, 6 or 10 years. The powerful nose too held up throughout the tasting. A delicious bottle, it was the group's favorite of this flight, & our 3rd fave overall. GAJA: Of course, everyone had lofty expectations for this wine. Unfortunately, disappointment reigned, with some more dismayed than others. Dark purple color, with a very sweet nose of black cherries & oak, on the palate this wine was very rich, unctuous and overly fruity. Leather, tobacco and earth on the palate. Nice soft tannins, but a bit too oaky for my taste. Very international in style, seemed a bit hot to me too (14% acohol will do that). Though the wine improved in the glass, no one gave this wine very high scores and it was far overshadowed by most of our other contributions. This was not due to any fault of the wine or its maker per say--the wine is obviously well-made & everyone loves Gaja, though the price is way over the top--but more a result of its modern style: We wanted wines tasting of Piedmonte, and this wine could have been from anywhere. **CONTERNO: Bright red color in the glass demonstrating more youthfulness than expected, I didn't detect much of a nose,, though perhaps some faint aromas of cedar. Even as the wine opened up in the glass, it remained short on fruit, showing perhaps some leather & tar. A very gritty wine, with mostly unripe, greenish fruit nuances--no doubt due to the 99 vintage. This wine ranked at the bottom of our 1st flight. SCAVINO: Very deep ruby color, with a very assertive, aromatic nose of roses & cedar. Lots of ripe, dark fruit, mixed with leather & tar. Mocha on the very long finish. In fact, this wine was dark in every way one could expect. At first, I loved this wine--it tasted fresh with ripe fruit, showed great balance and elegance & it was my #1 for awhile. However, as it sat in the glass, it receded terribly becoming very 1 dimensional, its attack of fruit & complexity fading badly. Very disconcerting since this wine was very enjoyable at the outset, showing great promise, only to end up disappointing us as it died in the glass. GIACOSA 1996: A beautiful bright garnet color in the glass. The nose was extremely aromatic with scents of roses, cedar & perhaps some menthol or eucalyptus. However, compared to the 2001, the nose was not as powerful, but more restrained & elegant. The wine was very tight & tannic, very structured, & surprisingly youthful in every way. (My note to myself was not to touch this wine again for at least another 5 yrs). Despite its youthfulness, the wine showed beautiful bright, ripe red fruits (cherries mostly), lots of tar, leather & tobacco, with perhaps some forest floor, wonderful balance & elegance, yet with great structure. Great length too, although I found the tannins to be a bit harsh even as the wine sat in the glass over time. Voted the overall fave of the tasting (my#2). PRUNOTTO: By far the oldest wine of the day, and what a fantastic surprise. A nice medium ruby red color, showing some bricking at the edges, the nose was extremely aromatic with lots of sweet fruit, some cedar and rose petals, & a definite earthiness as well. On the palate, the wine still had lots of life left in it, very rich, ripe red fruits integrated well with leather & tobacco notes. Still, a very restrained, elegant & excellently balanced wine. Unlike the pattern of many older wines, this just got better & better in the glass, with the soft tannins mellowing, & tertiary flavors exuding from the glass--barnyard, mushrooms, & other earthy notes, the wines aromas lingering continually,& the silky smooth finish just going on & on. A truly exceptional bottle of wine, and clearly my favorite of the day, finishing a close 2nd overall. BARBOURSVILLE: We drank this one blind tho we knew it to be a nebbiolo. It was fairly pale colored, had a very oaky nose with a bit of spice there. On the palate, very much fruit-forward showing cherries, coffee & tobacco. Not a particularly complex or elegant wine, it definitely had some nice qualities. However, though a pleasant enough nebbiolo, it couldn't compete with the Italians. No one thought it to be Italian & everyone guessed it to be a New World wine, though no one mentioned Virginia. Still, it was fun to compare.
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Aldo & Giacomo Conterno Dinner (Scopri): First bottle was a little off, oxidized perhaps. Mistakenly tipped that glass before the replacement was poured, the second bottle was much worse.
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Popped and poured half hour before starting. Medium cherry red with little sign of maturity. Strongly funky for about an hour which then subsided to a nice cherry, rose, cedar and licorice nose. Slightly disappointing on the palate until the food arrived. went well with both the braised tripe in a light tomato sauce and fresh pasta with sausage, sage in a truffle sauce (great dish at Le Virtu in Philly). Not a whole lot of fruit--some cherry with oak, minerals and a pleasant earthiness. Sorry I didn't open long before bringing to restaurant. Lacking the petrol and road tar I used to find and enjoy in older Barolos, but seems to have disappeared in recent bottles I have tried. Not tannic and seemed ready to drink, but with a lot of years to go.
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Good color with slightly fading edges. Beautiful nose of dark red fruit and wood-spice. This is a big, brooding CF with wonderfully deep dark cherry fruit. Still young and quite structured but showing gorgeous spicy red fruit and great concentration with this delicious wood-spice complexity. I'd like to drink this at a campsite with bbq'd meats. Bigger and deeper than the '98 but not as fine. Needs time. 93+
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Medium cherry red. Nice nose of cherry, leather, tar and oak. Still young and tight on the palate, but giving much pleasure and great promise to come. Cherry, leather, tar, earth and cedar on a refined balanced palate with some sweet tannin still to resolve. Long finish. A beauty that went well with a variety of truffled cheeses to conclude an at home white truffle dinner.
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Fin da subito grande anguria al naso, ma non solo, anche mineralità, gesso, e poi toni floreali. Un piccolo riassunto della grandezza delle langhe. La bocca è ricca e tosta, con tannino ancora ben presente ma piacevolissima
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Needed half an hour in a decanter to open up, and showed a quite open nose with dried roses, blueberry preserves and tiger balm. Old school and none of the cooked forward modernist fruit. Fresh attack and lovely balance. The tannins are mature and builds to a long finish. Great wine which will hold for 20 years!
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A bit of sulphide to start and quite grumpy, emitting a faint whiff of tar and meat. Really grows and changes in the glass and I wish we could have sat with this wine over the full course of the evening. There is some fabulous fruit lurking below the surface and the structure is big and chewy.
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A regal wine that has closed up since the last time I tasted it. Potent but supple tannins with gorgeous dark cherry fruit with notes of forest floor and wood. Classic and very young but perfectly balanced and poised to be a very top vintage of this wine down the road. 93+
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Giacomo Conterno, Cascina Francia Barolo tasting 2010 (Maialino, NYC Lexington and 21st): I found the nose to be a bit muted but showing cherry and a bit of clove. On the palate this showed a gorgeous structure with more cherry fruit. I feel like I didn't have enough time with this wine and that if I could follow it over time it would have opened up quite a bit more for me.
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Asher's Birthday Bash - The Big 4-0 (Rothmann's Steakhouse, New York): Brad, who has much more experience with Piedmont wines than me, said he thought this wine could have been heat damaged as he found it unusual for it to show beef broth at this early stage. To me it was obvious that we're dealing with an infant here. The color was slightly lighter than the color of the Giacosa. Also, I get a distinct mark of cherry fruit in combination with spices and tar. Again, I adore the subtlety and refinement here - this is not a show horse. Good tannic structure, further time needed to resolve. I bet this one has a great future ahead of it.
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Wines From Barolo and Barbaresco (Barolo): This wine is way less opulent and makes you work harder to find its excellence than the Gran Bussia… starts off very tight and takes some coaxing to get the mossy, wet earth smells to begin to appear… tight cherry fruit then appears with various earthy smells such as the froth on the top of the must after it is pumped, winery floor smell, oysters, definitely some green and herbal notes arrive. On the palate a quicker accent with more noticeable acidity than the Gran Bussia, a tighter midpalate, a reasonably smooth transition into a definitely gritty, high tannin finish… good length. The wine was more expressive in the decanter, the fruit more pure and delineated. The wine has good balance, moderate length, fair intensity, plenty of complexity. The wine has finesse, a very fine texture that still has some rough spots to smooth out (time in the decanter helped). I would give this time. It drank well but never really opened up over the next 2 days.
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Initially the 99 was very tight and did not offer much on the nose. I’ve had the 99 a number of times and it is the first time that I’ve experienced it with a tight nose. After working with it in the glass for a while it started to reveal some of its underlying greatness. The nose revealed cherries, some strawberry and in general small red berries. In the mouth it is very fruit driven, almost Burgundian. It was extremely well structured, with firm tannins and had good distinct acidity. It was very primary and you sensed that this only revealed a fraction of its potential as we definitely caught this at as rather closed stage. After the dinner we tried some of the leftovers and it was quite strange with voluminous sweet cherries. I had a tiny bit left for tonight and it had improved significantly. It was still dominated by cherries but it had lost the voluminous sweetness. On other bottles rose petals have been a very characteristic element in the nose, but I did not pick it up on this bottle. After this showing, I will try to keep my hands away from my remaining bottles. 93+ points.
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This wine was a little disappointing for me. I LOVED the nose, one of the best ever! Roses, licorice and sweetness on the nose. Flavors of basic red fruits with fresh acidity that I liked. Light/Medium Bodied without much sole. Why drink this when you can drink a '99 Red Burg.? I generally like earthy Barolo with body and sole, but this misses.
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My good friend Stu introduced me to this wine almost 2 years ago and it changed my wine drinking habits forever when I realized the wines from northern Italy were probably the greatest wines in the world. This wine has hardly changed in 2 years I'm sure it will easily last another 50. Everything you want in agreat barolo including a souring nose of roses and cherries and endless complexity. It is still aptly named the Converter.
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nose showed very little, hours later this wine was still a massive disappointment. i can hope this wine is a dumb phase and at some point in the future, it will get smarter.....
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My first initial reaction was that of surprise, almost shock really at how different this wine was compared to the other single vineyard Barolo’s I have had to date from the likes of Clerico, Altare, Cesare (Ornato) and Vietti etc. Never in a million years would I have guessed this was a 10 year old wine, as it had a tremendous swagger of acid and tannin that literally made you sit straight up in your chair. But by no means was this some type of monstrosity of force as a hard to describe delicacy and palate balance was prevalent from the get go, and while the fruit wasn’t quite yet there yet, this was classy from the outset. The nose was probably the most “open” part of the experience, yielding lovely layers of cherry perfume and tints of fresh mushroom. The finish literally stained the palate, and I can say without reservation or prejudice that this wine will go 30 years with ease, and probably more. I’m burying my reaming two bottles in the deepest corner of my wine locker, as this really may need another decade to fully blossom. What a great experience.
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A classic in the making. Decanted into a wide decanter at 11 am for a 7 pm dinner. Tannins softened some but could have used 6 more hours. Unmistakeably Cascina Francia nose of baking spices with inflections of rose petals and tar. Nose takes you right to many of the fine CFs had in the past, particularly the 82. Very complex nose. On the palate, tannis still very present but oh so much structure. This wine will be killer in a decade and will have a brilliant future. This wine does not deserve to still be out there on retail shelves, and I am most grateful to retailer who parted with his last 8 bottles recently at $79.... Can't wait to try the 01s and 04s. Classic great effort from G. Conterno!!!!
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Beautiful nose of truffle-earth, rose petals, mushrooms and spicy tar. A massively concentrated but beautifully balanced Barolo that is full of lush dark cherry bark fruit. Finishes long and spicy with an incredible succulence due to the supple but robust tannins. Just this fantastic mushroom/tar thing going on that is so unique and tasty. A great vintage of this wine that is drinking big and beautiful now but still will improve and age for years. 94+
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A lovely, perfectly balanced and rich Barolo that is drinking beautifully now although promises to develop further with time. Silky texture with dark black cherry fruit and a very finely concentrated finish. Really elegant and as good and clean a vintage of this wine that I've tasted. 93+
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Sacrificed in its youth in the name of science based on a few recent reports- popped/tasted and let stand all day. Open, generous, dark and classic serralunga power allied with beautifully ripe fruit. Fennel, rose, tar all making appearances, followed by focused, persistent nebbiolo fruit colored with a distinc mineral strain. Bracing (but not mouth puckering) tannis provide the frame for this beauty. Shows really great promise and worth checking in on if you have more than just a few, just to know where it stands at this point in its evolution.
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Once a Month begins with Nebbiolo; 10/20/2007-10/22/2008 (NYC): This offers a stark contrast to previous wines with it's sappy, almost burgundian fruit that remains cool and crisp and exceptionally primary with it's spicy loganberry character. This enterw the mouth with an explosion of ripe fruit sweetness that spreads across the tongue and offers up an intensity of fruit that is new worldly yet retains balance and sinewy muscularity that is firmly of the old. So round and rich right now, the only relief from the fruit is a lovely mineral tinge on the finish. At this stage the structure is still very much hidden and integrated in the plush fruit. This will be a wicked wine when it matures. 2013-2030
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Uncorked DK BYO to NOMA: La Tāche 96 and fried eggs (NOMA): Dark red. Amazingly sweet and fruity nose with cherries, marzipan, nail polish remover, menthol and flowers. An amazingly hedonistic Barolo, this just has so much of everything. Nice balance, good intensity and long.
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Reticent though rewarding nose of tar, rotting wood, sappy sweet red fruits and liqueur, sun parched earth and some floral notes. On the palate a massive wall of tannin turns your mouth into a clothes wringer. Sweet dried red fruits, leather and mushrooms offset by hints of sweet balsamic and more. Well balanced acidity and a moderate finish. Needs some food and preferably something fatty to chew through now but definitely headed somewhere nice. I wouldn't touch one for another 7-10 years at least.
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Zachys Icons of Italy Tasting (Zachys): A less pronounced nose than the Monprivato. Some alcohol, some good fruit, a bit of tree bark. Over the 20-30 mins or so, the nose improved and became a bit more perfumy. On the palate, lots of fruit, with a touch of something sweet - some cherry maby. Loads of tannin (although less than the Monprivato). Almost rounded yet somehow not. Needs a decade or more. Probably a low-90's score based on this showing but it's too young to know.
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Opened three hours, not decanted. Pale ruby colour with orange flecks. Aromas of leather, currant, raspberry, orange rind, and hints of truffle. Medium-full bodied, with currant, orange rind, and truffle. Long finish, 50s, with red fruit and earth. Slightly closed, but still amazing. Roberto Conterno said he thinks this wine will really start to open up and express itself over the next couple years.
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3/4/2024 - Chris Forno wrote: 95 Points
Opened at 7pm the night before to check on it and double decanted it off of its sediment. I was prepared to sit it on the table and slow-o it until our afternoon lunch the next day but after a little taste, I determined that it didn't need it so I put the cork back in and put it back in the cellar. The next day I decanted it 4 hours before serving and the wine was singing and continued to open over the next hour.
Very similar to my note from last year (2/4/23) but a little more open. It's like a flower that's 2/3's open- you can see the whole flower but you know it'll be even more stunning when it fully expands.
The level of fruit extract and concentration is fantastic, as if the elixir of fermenting grapes was somehow captured as a pungent flavor component, along with earth, herbs, tar and cherry compote.
Two left and I pray I can wait a couple more years before the next one.
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2/23/2024 - astroman Likes this wine:
1999 2000 Barolo Barbaresco (Gemma): Impressions, good fruits, fresh. Drinking beautifully
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2/23/2024 - Sean Tay wrote: 95 Points
Pronounced nose intensity with notes of mushroom, forest floor, toast , char wood. Medium acidity, medium+ tannin. Did not decant. Pop and pour
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1/21/2024 - Bob H wrote:
Decanted approximately two hours - I always feel a little crazy posting this for a 20 year old wine, but this is still quite primary. Ripe red and black fruit on the palate, good acidity and great length on the finish. I may not try another bottle for five years, and if you only have one or two, I would continue to hold, but this is pretty good 👍
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10/17/2023 - Robmcl920 wrote: flawed
Vinous Piedmont Icons Dinner @ Legacy Records (Legacy Records, NYC): 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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9/2/2023 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Weird bottle that was totally shut down and marred by VA. Decant did not help.
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6/12/2023 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 94 Points
Decanted at 4PM for dinner at 7:30. Upon opening, really deep, silky fruit. When we returned to it for dinner, it had stretched out a bit and was more structured. The fruit had backed down to become part of the flavor profile instead of the dominate force. Only a hint of balsamic, but the classic iron notes I get from Francia Barolo. A bit of florals, but more savory notes. This is the best bottle of this vintage I've had and in a great window.
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4/14/2023 - Serge Birbrair Likes this wine:
Fabulous bottle, drink now or in another 10 years
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3/2/2023 - drwine2001 wrote: flawed
Dinner with Iggy and Friends (Le Brasserie, New York): Medium ruby. Tobacco, brown spice, and menthol. Medium body. Subdued flavors of red fruit. Moderately tannic. I’ve had this before and know how great it can be, but this fell far short. Brad picked up some taint on the first pour, but it took me a long time to discern the low grade TCA.
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2/4/2023 - Chris Forno wrote: 94 Points
Doubled decanted at noon for 7pm dinner of osso buco, escarole and creamed parsnips.
Nose: Dried red fruits, dried herbs and spices seem fresh like they just woke up.
Taste: So much still buried in for the future so holding back a bit but the veil of tannin has broken and the red fruits are bumbling up through the top of the baked tar pie crust. Pie filling of tart red fruits sitting on top of fig compote. The medium+ acid adds marzipan flavor but lacks the creamy texture.
Summary: What a great wine! Balance is the name of the game here and lovely persistence. A lot of time left- will hold off for 3-5 years if I’m strong enough.
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9/24/2022 - Arsene Likes this wine: 95 Points
Klar mørkere rød mot orange rand.
I åpningen søtlig floral duft, nesten litt oljene. Mandler, tjære og søte modne kirsebær.
Stram struktur men samtidig mektig elegant. Enorm kropp. Kirsebær-stein. Lakris. Fremdeles fast tanninstruktur. Svak tørr hinne av morkent tre til slutt. Mange år igjen denn. Fantastisk vin.
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4/2/2022 - kenv Likes this wine: 96 Points
1999 Barolo Dinner (Chez Goldberg, Greenwich Village, NYC): [Double-decanted around 2:30pm for 3 hours.] Powerful nose of black fruit and licorice. Still young and tannic, but with massive fruit. Long, complex finish. Juicy and rich.
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2/25/2022 - JWG wrote: 96 Points
An impressive, top-drawer barolo. Open for several hours but not decanted. Leather, licorice, tar on the nose. Very satisfying nose. Palate is intensely dark fruit with licorice, chewy dark cherries, earth, some spice note. Then a long and luscious tannic extension. This doesn't seem to be aging much, probably can go on for almost ever.
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9/7/2021 - bill00 wrote: 95 Points
Classic dark cherry and tar. Concentrated. Very fine tannins. Drinking well in early maturity with a long life ahead.
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6/11/2021 - Chuck Miller wrote:
Slightly oxidised, but drinkable.
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5/9/2021 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 92 Points
Mothers' Day Dinner (The Consevatory, Crown Wine Cellars, 18 Deep Water Bay Drive, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong): Decanted for 7 hours. Semi-Translucent dense deep red cherry skin. Nose is early morning black fresh laid asphalt, fresh but almost chilled raspberries. Palate is slightly softened mellowed tannins but still very tightly wound, fresh acidity. Great dark fruits hiding in the back of a cave like a grumpy growling bear awakening from hibernation. Nicely reverberant and resonant finish but still a work in progress. But it grew on me more with extended time in the glass. Drank alongside the more feminine Bruno Giacosa Falletto 2000. 92+ for now? Can only improve.
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12/16/2020 - rsbeck wrote: 95 Points
Popped, poured into four Bordeaux stems, swirled and let breathe for three hours before consuming over two hours with dinner. Needed all of that and continued to evolve and expand throughout the evening. Very enjoyable now, but should continue to evolve for a long time. I think this is only going to get better.
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12/13/2020 - Outplaying Likes this wine:
I agree with Bob. Delicious and drinking well! Paired with a piece of filet in a Barolo reduction sauce and topped with shaved white truffles.
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12/12/2020 - Bob H wrote:
Decanted 5 hours; this is awesome. Primarily red fruits on the nose with a tar note in the background. Delicious.
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11/26/2020 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Thanksgiving (Chicago, IL): When I opened this about 5 hours before drinking it, this was ornery and dirty. There wasn't much fruit and this had a bit of a muddied character about it. Then when we drank this with dinner, it had lost most of the undesirable traits, and the fruit came out in earnest. Admittedly, it's a little stewed and browning, but there is still life to this. I've not generally loved the Conterno wines of this decade, finding them sometimes a little desiccated, but this bottle did still have some fruit to it. If I had to guess, this is plateauing now.
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8/29/2020 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 92 Points
Friday Dinner at Friends' House (Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong): Double-decanted for several hours before serving. Opaque core, lightening to black/red at the edges. Nose is rose petals and tar...deep and compelling. Palate is absolutely beautiful perfumed, deep and powerful black fruit and black-root spices- liquorice root. Lovely deep, rich black semi-confit berry fruit. The length and resonance is fabulous. This can get better and better with 10 more years. 92+
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8/15/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 96 Points
The '99 Francia is a gorgeous wine and remains powerful and youthful at this stage in life. On the nose, I found classic aromas of dark red cherry fruit, tar, roses, black tea, and tobacco. The nose shows minimal signs of development. On the palate, it remains concentrated and youthful, with waves of dark red fruit complemented by floral tones. It's a powerful wine but also shows elegance, with a beautiful sweetness on the palate and still very present, but fine grained tannins on the back end. In every way, it's a classic Barolo from Serralunga. Based on the evolution to date, it seems likely this has decades left if well stored.
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5/8/2020 - rcg62 Likes this wine:
Not going to rate it here, but was like 90-92. I gave this a super long decant (maybe to blame), maybe 8 hours. Very light in color and palate. Soft and subtle, Burgundian. Nice flavors, but to be honest nothing secondary. Kind of “just nice”. But also had with wood-grilled steak and it just didn’t stand up. Will rate the next bottle!
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5/6/2020 - Serge Birbrair wrote:
I liked it, not almost $500 wotth, but liked it nevertheless.
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1/24/2020 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 98 Points
An amazing bottle of this and one of the stars of this amazing 1999 tasting. While the Giacosa next to it was all about perfume, seductiveness and silkiness, this was nobly austere, but with just text-book Serralunga structure and power. Notes of tar, menthol, dark red fruit, but also dark fruit, black tea, cedar wood, cigar tobacco and also notes of crushed flowers. It‘s medium-full bodied, with medium-high acidity and medium-high but ripe tannin of excellent quality. Superb length. A very complete, mature and nobly austere Barolo of the very highest level. I love this! WOTN for me.
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12/7/2019 - Bob H wrote:
Opened for dinner later tonight.
This also displays ripe cherry fruit on the nose, in an almost candied/confected style.
More buttoned down on the palate than the '98 was. Nice, but still quite primary.
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10/26/2019 - cct wrote: flawed
1999 Piedmont Retrospective (Brooklyn): 1999 Retrospective, Brooklyn
Celery seed, a ton of VA. Flawed. Bummer
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10/19/2019 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 92 Points
An interesting showing. Much like the 1996 at the Southern Jeeb when this is drank with more fully fruited wines, the leanness and precision really sticks out. It was much more strict than the 2012 Roagna, for example (and definitely more than the Allemand). Has a real limestone feel to it. Great shape to the tannin and excellent length. I may try another bottle on its own soon or wait a few more years for the structure to melt a bit.
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7/13/2019 - guitarkim Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow, just stunning. Still youthful, but available with decant.
Closed on the nose at first. But opening up after decant. Dense, concentrated and structured wine with mouth filling texture. Enormous length.
Bravissimo!
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3/10/2019 - cfk49 wrote: 90 Points
Great potential, but still way too young. Tar, and finally four hours after having been decanted, some red cherry. Cellared since original release.
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3/9/2019 - drwine2001 wrote:
Wining Around New York; 3/6/2019-3/10/2019 (Various Venues, New York): Decanted about 4 hours earlier. Impressive even, primary ruby. Explosive black cherry and tobacco. Later, florals and potpourri. Amazing medium bodied glycerine texture from start to finish. Breathtaking sweetness and vivacity of the dark red fruit with light underlying minerality. Round, ripe tannins. Superb and entirely memorable. I'd estimate that it about halfway into its life span. What a magnificent wine this is!
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1/31/2019 - JWG wrote: 95 Points
Pretty much right at the same level of superbness from my last bottle a year ago. See those notes, since it matches exactly. Needs a couple hours to really come out, but once there -- heavenly. No sign of being anywhere except at the top of its game.
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12/31/2018 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 94 Points
New Year's Eve Dinner (The Library, Crown Wine Cellars, Hong Kong): Decanted for 4+ hours. Semi-transparent dusty ruby colour. Nose is earthy but quite reticent. Palate is fresh acidic, lifted attack and an immediate deep, growling, powerful resonance and reverberance that stops you in your tracks. I got into reveries and forgot to write any more detailed notes. Superb and definitely now in its drinking window, unlike the Bruno Giacosa Falletto 2000 we drank alongside it.
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12/17/2018 - aagrawal wrote: 92 Points
Dinner with the wine group (Aicha, San Francisco): Red fruit, cherries, slight VA, slightly sweet; palate is light bodied, high tannins are slightly noticeable, youthful; medium-plus finish. 92+, young.
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12/15/2018 - kfinsrud wrote: 94 Points
Dekantert 2+ t. Innbydende nese med lær, kirsebær, tjære og sopp. Litt mer forsiktig munnfølelse med fortsatt stødig grip i avslutningen. Åpner opp etterhvert og er mer medgjørlig med en herlig mørk rødfrukt. Solid syrestruktur og litt krydret finish. Lang. Bør lagres videre for mer utbytte, dag 2 ga mer!
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12/2/2018 - bjresto Likes this wine: 97 Points
This bottle was wonderful and everything I could have hoped for. Decanted for 4 hours with windows propped slightly open while dinner roasted. Color was the healthiest of a solid, vivid, ruby red, not even a sign of bricking, garnet or orange on this bottle. The aromas were amazingly alive, fresh, floral and open right out of the gate, with red roses, damp soil, a slight fruitcake/Christmas cake note, and a high pitched menthol mint. Medium bodied, fine, integrated tannin, alcohol was modest and food friendly. Refreshing acidity. Over time it retained its freshness and as it developed it showed off more of its majestic, brooding qualities--a wine that seemed more and more like it could be served at a castle in the clouds. The full experience.
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2/18/2018 - JWG wrote: 95 Points
Needs a couple hours to blossom. Nose is leather, tar and some menthol. Palate is dark, earthy, mushrooms, spice. Good acidity balancing the big minerally fruit. Tannins pop out after a while and give the ending a long pop. Definitely in a great zone now, but clearly can go on for years and years.
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11/26/2017 - JWG wrote: 93 Points
A problem at the beginning, but with a happy ending. Opened, and poured to try it out and there was a funk in the nose that was odd for a Conterno. I let it sit for about 5-8 min and tried again, and it was all gone. What remained was the classic nose of this wine -- the light tar, the leather, the dark fruit. The palate was wonderful as before -- earth, dark fruit, some good acidity, a bit of spice. Moderate tannins let the flavors roll on. Delicious, once past the odd opening.
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11/22/2017 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful wine drinking so well at present. Great balance and long finish. Still lots of life but in a great spot right now.
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11/20/2017 - LWI wrote: 95 Points
Some animal notes with leather and barnyard, bonfire, underbrush, nice depth to it; rather cool fruit, very structured, fresh, intense and long.
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11/20/2017 - Happybob wrote: 92 Points
Very nice although this particular bottle had a bit of carmelization - so had perhaps gone a bit too long. It opened nicely, was full, big, tannic, complex, great nose. Focus was on size over complexity, but still a great wine
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9/30/2017 - AudunG wrote: 94 Points
Developed Nebbiolo aromas, with notes of forest floor, liquorice and tar. Ripe and sweet red fruit on the palate. Meaty, intense and concentrated. Feels young. A great Barolo!
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7/23/2017 - the godfather wrote: flawed
Say it ain't so, drank like port
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5/27/2017 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dinner with Friends (Our House, Hong Kong): Decanted for 2 hours then drank over the next three. Opaque crimson with a translucent edge. Nose is warm, welcoming sun-kissed thyme and oregano hillsides, coking coal, tar, violets. Palate is wonderful.... very peppery, sour cherry, acid-drop cherry candy that cuts the roof of your mouth. Then in mellows but still maintains the cherry character as its key characteristic. Good resonance and reverberance on the finish but I'm guessing this will get a lot more predominant over the next 10 years as this wine is still quite tightly furled, if already very enjoyable.
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3/30/2017 - JWG wrote: 94 Points
Leather and tar on the nose. Big nose, satisfying. Palate is dark fruit, spice, earth and a good hit of acidity. Tannins give an extra push to the finish. Very satisfying, though not quite as big as the bottles from a couple years ago. Still spritely and lively, no sign of being near its peak.
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3/13/2017 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
NY Vinous group 1999 Barolo dinner at Hearth. Gorgeous earthy and fruity bouquet and more open than the bottle this group had two years ago, but still very young. Beginning to show signs of emerging into the great wine it is destined to be.
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12/23/2016 - JOsgood wrote: flawed
So sad this was corked.
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11/25/2016 - dglebo wrote: 96 Points
Decanted for 1.5 hours. Defined brown rim. Soft ruby color. Sweet must on the nose. Maybe figs and tree sap? Well structured tannins, perhaps a bit hot but not detractingly so, coating the tongue with length. Dark berry, still surprisingly young, but certainly approachable.
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10/11/2016 - beatles wrote: 95 Points
An evening with Mrs. Sunshines husbond... (Søerne): What a wine - and so young, concentrated, tannic but with a big, rich fruit, tightly kept in balance by minerals galore. Sinful to drink it now, it will peak in 5-10 years IMHO. 95+
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10/7/2016 - ozyloy wrote: 92 Points
Clear, ruby-garnet.
Red fruits, tar, crushed flowers, tea leaves and a hint of earth and herbs.
Medium bodied. Still-generous acidity and medium(+) integrating tannins. Drinking quite well now, but give it a couple of hours in the decanter first.
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10/7/2016 - astroman Likes this wine:
Sweet peppermint with rose. Very youthful still despite the age. Can definitely go on for another 10 years.
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10/7/2016 - kelvchua wrote: 92 Points
Anything B at Wah Lok (Wah Lok): Appearance was clear, medium intensity ruby (slight garnet). Legs.
Nose was clean, with aromas of soy sauce, earth, red cherries, plums, tar.
Palate was dry, medium high acidity, full bodied, high tannin, with flavours of vanilla, tea leaves, cherries, and plums.
Long finish.
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9/10/2016 - Bob H Likes this wine:
This actually looks a shade lighter than the three previous wines. Ripe red fruits on a primary nose.
Oooh, nice palate presence here - at first glance, my favorite of the four wines on the palate. There is still a tannic nip on the finish, but this is looking like a very nice wine - can't wait to see what it looks like in six hours!
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7/27/2016 - giba ochman Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decant 2 hours. Great nose of red berries, flowers,and a touch of leather and truffles. Early signs of maturity. Drink now with or hold 5-10y
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4/14/2016 - dream wrote:
A bit too much brett in this bottle for my palate
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2/17/2016 - JWG wrote: 92 Points
Surprisingly lackluster comparatively to previous bottles. Still a lovely bottle, but compared to the two bottles from last year, which were knockout, rich bottles of barolo, this one was muted and soft. Similar flavors but somehow lacking punch. Nothing flawed about it, and a very pleasing bottle, just not extraordinary. Since I have a case, I'll check out the next bottle, which hopefully will get back in the upper 90's level of nirvana.
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11/17/2015 - Pknut wrote:
I opened this a couple of hours before dinner, poured some out into a glass, no full decant. Surprised initially at how brown this looked in the glass. Initial taste was fiercely tannic, with notes of soy, balsamic and tea. By dinner, the color took on more deep red, and the palate sweetened up considerably. This is one dense, concentrated wine. There is a huge amount of Middle Eastern bazaar spice on the nose and palate. A deep pool of fruit, red to black to brown fruit tones, and complexities of dried spices. Long, deep, rich finish. Really impressive. Co. pizza with RR.
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11/4/2015 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 93 Points
Backward and restrained for quite awhile, despite a 6+ hour double decant and slow ox. With further time, the wine began to show glimpses of its impressive potential. Classic floral notes, alongside tar and strong, mineral backbone. A very long finish, exhibiting tremendous typicity at every step.
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5/14/2015 - kenv Likes this wine: 93 Points
G. Conterno Barolo vs. L. Sandrone Barolo (Morrell Wine Bar and Café, NYC): [Opened at 1pm. Double decanted at 5pm.] No nose. Hugely tannic. So backward and shut down. Thick and juicy, but so tight. Needs a lot of time or a lot of air. Hard to say how terrific it might eventually be, though a bottle tasted last year was open and incredibly good. 93-??
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5/14/2015 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 96 Points
The Icon Vs. The Iconoclast: Giacomo Conterno & Luciano Sandrone (Morrell Wine Bar): The ’99 Cascina Francia opened with a dark and brooding bouquet of earth, animal and fruit, showing soil-laden minerals up front, leading to dried flowers, animal musk and dark berry tones. On the palate, it showed brilliant, yet tart, wild berry and strawberry fruits, minerals, and fine tannin that saturated the senses. It finished clean and youthful with hints of dried fruits. This is so young today, and it should continue to evolve into something very special over time.
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5/14/2015 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Vinous group dinner at Morrell. 4 hour slo-o (3 hours in cellar). Surprisingly this was tighter than the Monfortino. The wine had a lovely earthy bouquet like the Monfortino, but the fruit was not as prominent. While it did drink very I think its best years are still ahead. I will definitely decant my next bottle for a least 4 hours.
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3/17/2015 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Great pedigree here,. Took a while to begin to show its stuff. Wonderful balance, focus and depth with a lengthy finish. I think that this will benefit from a few more years in the cellar.
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2/23/2015 - JWG wrote: 96 Points
Licorice, leather, tar on the nose. Big nose. Rich power in the flavors of dark fruit, spice, an undertone of acidity. Then a lovely bit of tannins extending the finish.
Upon second tasting (using Coravin) I had to bump this up to 96. Just a stunning barolo, that got even deeper and richer. The beginning and end just got even better.
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2/14/2015 - JWG wrote: 96 Points
Licorice, leather, tar on the nose. Big nose. Rich power in the flavors of dark fruit, spice, an undertone of acidity. Then a lovely bit of tannins extending the finish. Extremely satisfying!
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1/22/2015 - Nanda wrote:
Chicago Italian Lovers: 1999 Barolo (Bascule Wine Bar): Decanted ~8 hours prior to dinner and shut down hard by the time this flight came around. Real bummer as we all had high expectations. Apparently it was singing when initially opened and decanted. By the time we got to it you really had to coax any aromas out of the glass and the palate was wall-to-wall structure. One instance in support of the don't decant "young" Barolo strategy.
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10/24/2014 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
A great Italian evening in Belgium: Beautiful bouquet with dark berries, pleasant barnyard and earth. On the palate a full bodied and juicy wine, with dark berries, Autumn impressions, some sweetness, good acidity and tannin. Very beautiful and complex wine.
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10/24/2014 - jkoenen wrote: 95 Points
Italian night @ Stappato (Enoteca Stappato, Leuven (Belgium)): Impressive, seductive. Full of class, power and elegance. Palate is very rich, ripe, yet has the classic austerity and civilisation I expect from this producer. Black cherry, peat, truffles, magnificant....
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9/12/2014 - kenv Likes this wine: 99 Points
Barolo 1999 vs. 2001 Blind (New York Vintners, NYC): Sweet red fruit nose. Perfumed and exotic in the mouth. A complex melange of flavor. A stunningly great wine giving a load of joy tonight. WOTN so far. I correctly guessed that this was the 1999. 98-100 points.
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9/12/2014 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dueling Blind Barolo Vintages (New York Vintners): The nose was dark and enticing with an exotic twist and all the iron, mineral-laden Serralunga character you could ever hope for. A mix of ripe strawberry, brown sugar, orange peel, tea leafs, iron and rich dark soil tones formed the bouquet. On the palate, it was firm yet crystalline focused, showing dried red fruits, dark soil tones, and a hint of grapefruit. Tannin continued to build throughout the finish nearly masking its tightly coiled fruit and permeating notes of dried florals and fall leaves. It was an unbelievably beautiful wine.
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6/5/2014 - cephomer wrote: flawed
Westchester Wine School - Premium Wine Tasting (Bar Lees, Mamaroneck, NY): Drank at WWS tasting. The wine was corked. Bad bottle, but per my previous notes, this wine is on its way out in any event.
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5/22/2014 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Clearly a top vintage for Conterno, this is silky and fine with fabulous dark red and black fruit flavors to go along with notes of forest floor, licorice and tar. The finish is firm and structured with some smoky tea leaves beginning to show up. Still fairly tannic and in need of more time but this is a classy, full, refined vintage for this wine. 94+
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5/18/2014 - amateurwino wrote: 95 Points
Pretty, floral on the nose, with juicy acidity, structure to add depth to the palate - and it all comes together as the most complete wine (as of today) among the very strong wines in this flight. Would love to see if the Giacosa Rocche del Falletto passes this years down the line. Delicious now but I can only imagine how good this will be. Awesome. 95+
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5/18/2014 - salil wrote: 95 Points
Leo's Blind Tasting Group - May '14 edition (Ben's (NYC)): A wow from the fragrance alone. Red fruits, spice, flowers, and more savoury earthy and anise-like notes combining into one incredible scent that's echoed on the palate. It's still showing some fine grained tannin on the back end, but the balance is stunning and there's a really finessed, polished texture here. Spectacular wine.
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4/2/2014 - Gian wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured , too close at the beginning but with time have smoothed. Garnet color , red fruits , floral , Mineral , on the palated full bodied , hight acidity and the tannins still too much present. Maybe it was better wait 2/3 more year before opening.
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2/24/2014 - LSussman wrote: 92 Points
Drinking well now
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1/18/2014 - alittle wrote: 90 Points
Year 2; Tasting 1 of 5; Dave does Barolo (1955-1999) (Dave's House): Popped and poured, followed approximately 2 hours in the glass. Garnet in colour, with a nose showing typical Barolo notes of red fruits, mint, tar, baking spice and florals, but overlaid with some very strange lemon detergent notes. These were absolutely not due to the glassware being used, as the notes were consistent no matter what glass the wine was poured in. Very peculiar. On the palate, well balanced, but still quite structured; medium plus acid, moderate tannin; finishes at moderate length with some grainy tannin.
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1/18/2014 - Wine Canuck wrote: 92 Points
Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 6 - Dave does Barolo (Dave's House - Kitchener, ON): A complex, but very wild, and peculiar showing. Nose of mint, high toned lemon (akin to dishwasher detergent), ashtray, urinal puck. Palate is pleasing repeating lemon cleaner notes, finish is light but fairly long. Seems to have potential for future development, if a bit bizarre. Strangely I still kind of liked this.
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1/18/2014 - Dave Canada wrote: 91 Points
Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 5 - David does Barolo (Kitchener, Ontario): The nose is quite closed on this wine...some mint, spice and minerals
The palate was a bit more open showing mint, tar and cherry flavours but there was an interesting (read strange) lemon note that seemed a bit out of place.
The finish was medium length with good complexity.
Not sure what to make of this....assume its just closed up. I need to understand more of the vodoo behind extended decanting of Barolo. I can't get my head around it from a scientific perspective but I am open to experimentation after this bottle.
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12/31/2013 - Guitarophile Likes this wine: 95 Points
I bought 2 cases of 99 years back at a good price and drank 5 bottles to date. The first 4 in 07' 09 and 10 made me feel my money was better spent elsewhere. Finally now at age 15, this barolo has left its hibernation. Medium bodied with good transparency, tar, earth and after an hour floral notes emerge woven with exceptional length and finish. I will certainly try to hold off on opening my later vintages as this traditional icon needs time to come into its own.q
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11/13/2013 - vespa110 wrote: 92 Points
Granato, naso gomma, frutto scuro in sottofondo, minerale scuro, cenni floreali secchi, pepe bianco, bocca fresca, fruttata, tannino dolce, alcol integrato nel finale goloso e lungo con cenni di goudron.
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11/6/2013 - Harley1199 Likes this wine:
Pure black truffle, wet earth, rotten roses.
Text-book Barolo. A perfume. Ashes. Chimney.
Silky texture on the palate. Fine acidity.
Heat killed its soul? Who knows...
Matched some changurro caneloni and some tapas at Restaurant Cuenllas in Ferraz street, Madrid
Pura trufa negra, tierra mojada, rosas podridas.
Un Barolo de libro. Un perfume. Cenizas. A chimenea.
En boca sensación a seda. Buena acidez.
¿El calor mató su alma? Quien sabe...
Marido unos canalones de changurro y algunas tapas en Cuenllas, Madrid.
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9/1/2013 - PSPatrick wrote: 91 Points
Concerto del vino italiano workshop “Barolo 2009 vs 1999”, Pairing 4: Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia. Both wines were poured into the glasses approximately four hours prior to the tasting.
The 1999 was medium garnet in colour and offered a rather reserved nose, with shy red fruit aromas, hints of hey and marzipan, and herbal notes. On the palate the wine seemed equally tight, with rosewater, cherry, tea and herbal notes, paired with medium-plus to high fine, ripe tannin and incredible length. The finish of the elegant and very balanced wine actually lingered for quite some time. This was the most youthful and potentially the longest-lived of the six 1999s tasted and the only 1999 that showed further upside potential. My second favourite wine of the tasting – second only to the Cascina Francia 2009. 91
The 2009 was medium ruby in colour and offered floral notes, red fruit, hey and ethereal notes on the nose. On the palate the wine showed red fruit, rosewater, some mild tea, herbs and mineral notes, paired with medium-plus to high acidity, high, ripe, ultra-fine tannin and incredible length. The medium- to full-bodied Barolo was elegant and very balanced and showed good energy on the palate. My favourite wine of the twelve Barolos poured at the tasting. 92
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5/10/2013 - aajder wrote: 91 Points
Good color, fading a bit at the rim. The nose shows floral high notes, cherry, earth, plum, and a bit of a prune quality. On the palate, this is rich and concentrated, and the energy is wonderful. It does seem just a bit overripe to me. The finish is long and the tannins are very well integrated. This wine is full of finesse.
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5/9/2013 - Rubinstein wrote: 93 Points
Still years from peak. Good things are there and with time (5-7 Years ) a stunnig Barolo will emerge 93+
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1/1/2013 - Rezy13 Likes this wine: 92 Points
2013 New Year's Day Tasting (Marietta, GA): Red fruit, grainy tannin, oak?, cranberry, red apple skin, good acid, liqueur, sweet finish. The oak notes made me think this was a different Conterno. No brett either. Needs more time.
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12/26/2012 - vespa110 wrote: 92 Points
Granato scarico, naso spinge su note di frutta rossa, melagrana, fragola, poi un mix di fiori secchi e un secchio di spezie di tutti i tipi assieme a note di goudron, non è mobilissimo come naso ma molto godurioso.Bocca fresca, tannino presente , abb sapida, chiude con un sentore di liquerizia e acidità .
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12/12/2012 - cephomer wrote: 89 Points
For our annual wine luncheon, we chose a Piedmonte theme & dined at Lincoln (Lincoln Sq). Each wine was decanted briefly & then tasted in 2 flights of 4 each. The 1st flight included:
2004 Moccagatta Barbaresco Bric Balin;
2001 Giacosa Rabaja Barbaresco Riserva;
2001 Gaja San Lorenzo; &
1999 Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia.
The 2nd flight included:
Scavino 1996 Carobric Barolo;
1996 Giacosa Falletto Asili Barbaresco;
1990 Prunotto Bussia Barolo; &
2009 Barboursville, VA nebbiolo, a ringer that we at first tasted blind.
We chose a best of each flight & then our 3 faves of the tasting.
A disclaimer re my notes: We sat for more than 3 hours during which time the wines continually evolved & changed such that a #1 fave at 230 morphed into the #4 wine an hour later, & vice versa.
MOCCAGATTA: Medium color, very oaky, yet spicy aroma with hints of anise. This wine is still a baby, & started out very closed, though it opened up substantially as time went on. Very earthy, fairly harsh tannins, with bright fruit on the palate. Nice long, if somewhat tannic finish. The wine tasted young (especially compared to some of the other lovelies at our table) but all agreed that it has a great future. I've had this wine before and this tasting confirmed it must be decanted at least 1-2 hours before drinking. I wouldn't touch this wine again for at least a few years. This was the #2 fave of this flight.
GIACOSA 2001: A lovely medium ruby color, aromas of coffee beans and cedar. Medium bodied with a definite earthiness, this wine had loads of bright fruit on the palate, ripe red berries would be my best description. I detected quite a bit of coffee and cigar box too. Beautifully structured, well-integrated wine, mixing both power and elegance even though still needing time to mature further. As wonderful as this wine was today, it will be even better in the next 3, 6 or 10 years. The powerful nose too held up throughout the tasting. A delicious bottle, it was the group's favorite of this flight, & our 3rd fave overall.
GAJA: Of course, everyone had lofty expectations for this wine. Unfortunately, disappointment reigned, with some more dismayed than others. Dark purple color, with a very sweet nose of black cherries & oak, on the palate this wine was very rich, unctuous and overly fruity. Leather, tobacco and earth on the palate. Nice soft tannins, but a bit too oaky for my taste. Very international in style, seemed a bit hot to me too (14% acohol will do that). Though the wine improved in the glass, no one gave this wine very high scores and it was far overshadowed by most of our other contributions. This was not due to any fault of the wine or its maker per say--the wine is obviously well-made & everyone loves Gaja, though the price is way over the top--but more a result of its modern style: We wanted wines tasting of Piedmonte, and this wine could have been from anywhere.
**CONTERNO: Bright red color in the glass demonstrating more youthfulness than expected, I didn't detect much of a nose,, though perhaps some faint aromas of cedar. Even as the wine opened up in the glass, it remained short on fruit, showing perhaps some leather & tar. A very gritty wine, with mostly unripe, greenish fruit nuances--no doubt due to the 99 vintage. This wine ranked at the bottom of our 1st flight.
SCAVINO: Very deep ruby color, with a very assertive, aromatic nose of roses & cedar. Lots of ripe, dark fruit, mixed with leather & tar. Mocha on the very long finish. In fact, this wine was dark in every way one could expect. At first, I loved this wine--it tasted fresh with ripe fruit, showed great balance and elegance & it was my #1 for awhile. However, as it sat in the glass, it receded terribly becoming very 1 dimensional, its attack of fruit & complexity fading badly. Very disconcerting since this wine was very enjoyable at the outset, showing great promise, only to end up disappointing us as it died in the glass.
GIACOSA 1996: A beautiful bright garnet color in the glass. The nose was extremely aromatic with scents of roses, cedar & perhaps some menthol or eucalyptus. However, compared to the 2001, the nose was not as powerful, but more restrained & elegant. The wine was very tight & tannic, very structured, & surprisingly youthful in every way. (My note to myself was not to touch this wine again for at least another 5 yrs). Despite its youthfulness, the wine showed beautiful bright, ripe red fruits (cherries mostly), lots of tar, leather & tobacco, with perhaps some forest floor, wonderful balance & elegance, yet with great structure. Great length too, although I found the tannins to be a bit harsh even as the wine sat in the glass over time. Voted the overall fave of the tasting (my#2).
PRUNOTTO: By far the oldest wine of the day, and what a fantastic surprise. A nice medium ruby red color, showing some bricking at the edges, the nose was extremely aromatic with lots of sweet fruit, some cedar and rose petals, & a definite earthiness as well. On the palate, the wine still had lots of life left in it, very rich, ripe red fruits integrated well with leather & tobacco notes. Still, a very restrained, elegant & excellently balanced wine. Unlike the pattern of many older wines, this just got better & better in the glass, with the soft tannins mellowing, & tertiary flavors exuding from the glass--barnyard, mushrooms, & other earthy notes, the wines aromas lingering continually,& the silky smooth finish just going on & on. A truly exceptional bottle of wine, and clearly my favorite of the day, finishing a close 2nd overall.
BARBOURSVILLE: We drank this one blind tho we knew it to be a nebbiolo. It was fairly pale colored, had a very oaky nose with a bit of spice there. On the palate, very much fruit-forward showing cherries, coffee & tobacco. Not a particularly complex or elegant wine, it definitely had some nice qualities. However, though a pleasant enough nebbiolo, it couldn't compete with the Italians. No one thought it to be Italian & everyone guessed it to be a New World wine, though no one mentioned Virginia. Still, it was fun to compare.
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10/18/2012 - bendid wrote: flawed
Aldo & Giacomo Conterno Dinner (Scopri): First bottle was a little off, oxidized perhaps. Mistakenly tipped that glass before the replacement was poured, the second bottle was much worse.
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9/29/2012 - dd wrote:
awesome
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7/26/2012 - cos82 wrote: 91 Points
Popped and poured half hour before starting. Medium cherry red with little sign of maturity. Strongly funky for about an hour which then subsided to a nice cherry, rose, cedar and licorice nose. Slightly disappointing on the palate until the food arrived. went well with both the braised tripe in a light tomato sauce and fresh pasta with sausage, sage in a truffle sauce (great dish at Le Virtu in Philly). Not a whole lot of fruit--some cherry with oak, minerals and a pleasant earthiness. Sorry I didn't open long before bringing to restaurant. Lacking the petrol and road tar I used to find and enjoy in older Barolos, but seems to have disappeared in recent bottles I have tried. Not tannic and seemed ready to drink, but with a lot of years to go.
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3/31/2012 - mdavis wrote:
Pronounced aromas dominated by mint and red fruits...slightly tannic and quite young - certainly needs another decade or two...
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10/23/2011 - cubswinws wrote: 93 Points
Nice berry and incredible length and depth. Looks to be on the upswing. Very nice.
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10/2/2011 - dream wrote: 93 Points
Good color with slightly fading edges. Beautiful nose of dark red fruit and wood-spice. This is a big, brooding CF with wonderfully deep dark cherry fruit. Still young and quite structured but showing gorgeous spicy red fruit and great concentration with this delicious wood-spice complexity. I'd like to drink this at a campsite with bbq'd meats. Bigger and deeper than the '98 but not as fine. Needs time. 93+
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4/1/2011 - goofy Yno wrote: 94 Points
great bottle, in good spot. very approachable.
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10/25/2010 - cos82 wrote: 93 Points
Medium cherry red. Nice nose of cherry, leather, tar and oak. Still young and tight on the palate, but giving much pleasure and great promise to come. Cherry, leather, tar, earth and cedar on a refined balanced palate with some sweet tannin still to resolve. Long finish. A beauty that went well with a variety of truffled cheeses to conclude an at home white truffle dinner.
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10/8/2010 - goofy Yno wrote: flawed
VA
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9/19/2010 - Jossik wrote: 95 Points
Fin da subito grande anguria al naso, ma non solo, anche mineralità, gesso, e poi toni floreali. Un piccolo riassunto della grandezza delle langhe. La bocca è ricca e tosta, con tannino ancora ben presente ma piacevolissima
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8/26/2010 - UTPK wrote:
Needed half an hour in a decanter to open up, and showed a quite open nose with dried roses, blueberry preserves and tiger balm. Old school and none of the cooked forward modernist fruit. Fresh attack and lovely balance. The tannins are mature and builds to a long finish. Great wine which will hold for 20 years!
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8/21/2010 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
A bit of sulphide to start and quite grumpy, emitting a faint whiff of tar and meat. Really grows and changes in the glass and I wish we could have sat with this wine over the full course of the evening. There is some fabulous fruit lurking below the surface and the structure is big and chewy.
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8/21/2010 - Brady D Likes this wine: 92 Points
No notes taken. Opened four hours before serving. It was excellent but very tight. Hopefully it opens more in few years. Hold.
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6/4/2010 - dream wrote: 93 Points
A regal wine that has closed up since the last time I tasted it. Potent but supple tannins with gorgeous dark cherry fruit with notes of forest floor and wood. Classic and very young but perfectly balanced and poised to be a very top vintage of this wine down the road. 93+
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3/28/2010 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 93 Points
Giacomo Conterno, Cascina Francia Barolo tasting 2010 (Maialino, NYC Lexington and 21st): I found the nose to be a bit muted but showing cherry and a bit of clove. On the palate this showed a gorgeous structure with more cherry fruit. I feel like I didn't have enough time with this wine and that if I could follow it over time it would have opened up quite a bit more for me.
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12/27/2009 - pbaek wrote:
Asher's Birthday Bash - The Big 4-0 (Rothmann's Steakhouse, New York): Brad, who has much more experience with Piedmont wines than me, said he thought this wine could have been heat damaged as he found it unusual for it to show beef broth at this early stage. To me it was obvious that we're dealing with an infant here. The color was slightly lighter than the color of the Giacosa. Also, I get a distinct mark of cherry fruit in combination with spices and tar. Again, I adore the subtlety and refinement here - this is not a show horse. Good tannic structure, further time needed to resolve. I bet this one has a great future ahead of it.
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11/1/2009 - Grinner wrote: 89 Points
13th Annual Lyon 10 year Retrospective (Eugene, Oregon): Nothing wrong with it but it didn't show well blind with mostly cab based wines. Cherry, leather and tar notes, slightly green for me. Food helped.
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9/18/2009 - markjanes wrote: 93 Points
Wines From Barolo and Barbaresco (Barolo): This wine is way less opulent and makes you work harder to find its excellence than the Gran Bussia… starts off very tight and takes some coaxing to get the mossy, wet earth smells to begin to appear… tight cherry fruit then appears with various earthy smells such as the froth on the top of the must after it is pumped, winery floor smell, oysters, definitely some green and herbal notes arrive. On the palate a quicker accent with more noticeable acidity than the Gran Bussia, a tighter midpalate, a reasonably smooth transition into a definitely gritty, high tannin finish… good length. The wine was more expressive in the decanter, the fruit more pure and delineated. The wine has good balance, moderate length, fair intensity, plenty of complexity. The wine has finesse, a very fine texture that still has some rough spots to smooth out (time in the decanter helped). I would give this time. It drank well but never really opened up over the next 2 days.
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6/13/2009 - NicolaiS wrote: 93 Points
Initially the 99 was very tight and did not offer much on the nose. I’ve had the 99 a number of times and it is the first time that I’ve experienced it with a tight nose. After working with it in the glass for a while it started to reveal some of its underlying greatness. The nose revealed cherries, some strawberry and in general small red berries. In the mouth it is very fruit driven, almost Burgundian. It was extremely well structured, with firm tannins and had good distinct acidity. It was very primary and you sensed that this only revealed a fraction of its potential as we definitely caught this at as rather closed stage. After the dinner we tried some of the leftovers and it was quite strange with voluminous sweet cherries. I had a tiny bit left for tonight and it had improved significantly. It was still dominated by cherries but it had lost the voluminous sweetness. On other bottles rose petals have been a very characteristic element in the nose, but I did not pick it up on this bottle. After this showing, I will try to keep my hands away from my remaining bottles. 93+ points.
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4/17/2009 - AMM3RD wrote: 90 Points
This wine was a little disappointing for me. I LOVED the nose, one of the best ever! Roses, licorice and sweetness on the nose. Flavors of basic red fruits with fresh acidity that I liked. Light/Medium Bodied without much sole. Why drink this when you can drink a '99 Red Burg.? I generally like earthy Barolo with body and sole, but this misses.
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2/15/2009 - the godfather wrote: 95 Points
My good friend Stu introduced me to this wine almost 2 years ago and it changed my wine drinking habits forever when I realized the wines from northern Italy were probably the greatest wines in the world. This wine has hardly changed in 2 years I'm sure it will easily last another 50. Everything you want in agreat barolo including a souring nose of roses and cherries and endless complexity. It is still aptly named the Converter.
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2/15/2009 - carlwhat wrote:
nose showed very little, hours later this wine was still a massive disappointment. i can hope this wine is a dumb phase and at some point in the future, it will get smarter.....
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2/14/2009 - sosgoodjhu wrote: 93 Points
my intro to the wine the godfather calls The Converter. perfectly balanced with lots going on, still has many years of greatness left to come.
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2/2/2009 - Dale M wrote: 94 Points
My first initial reaction was that of surprise, almost shock really at how different this wine was compared to the other single vineyard Barolo’s I have had to date from the likes of Clerico, Altare, Cesare (Ornato) and Vietti etc. Never in a million years would I have guessed this was a 10 year old wine, as it had a tremendous swagger of acid and tannin that literally made you sit straight up in your chair. But by no means was this some type of monstrosity of force as a hard to describe delicacy and palate balance was prevalent from the get go, and while the fruit wasn’t quite yet there yet, this was classy from the outset. The nose was probably the most “open” part of the experience, yielding lovely layers of cherry perfume and tints of fresh mushroom. The finish literally stained the palate, and I can say without reservation or prejudice that this wine will go 30 years with ease, and probably more. I’m burying my reaming two bottles in the deepest corner of my wine locker, as this really may need another decade to fully blossom. What a great experience.
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11/29/2008 - baroloboy55 wrote: 95 Points
A classic in the making. Decanted into a wide decanter at 11 am for a 7 pm dinner. Tannins softened some but could have used 6 more hours. Unmistakeably Cascina Francia nose of baking spices with inflections of rose petals and tar. Nose takes you right to many of the fine CFs had in the past, particularly the 82. Very complex nose. On the palate, tannis still very present but oh so much structure. This wine will be killer in a decade and will have a brilliant future. This wine does not deserve to still be out there on retail shelves, and I am most grateful to retailer who parted with his last 8 bottles recently at $79.... Can't wait to try the 01s and 04s. Classic great effort from G. Conterno!!!!
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8/16/2008 - dream wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful nose of truffle-earth, rose petals, mushrooms and spicy tar. A massively concentrated but beautifully balanced Barolo that is full of lush dark cherry bark fruit. Finishes long and spicy with an incredible succulence due to the supple but robust tannins. Just this fantastic mushroom/tar thing going on that is so unique and tasty. A great vintage of this wine that is drinking big and beautiful now but still will improve and age for years. 94+
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1/1/2008 - dd wrote:
wow great fruit sweet tannins awesome stuff, this is wine that hooks you in and never lets go
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12/5/2007 - dream wrote: 93 Points
A lovely, perfectly balanced and rich Barolo that is drinking beautifully now although promises to develop further with time. Silky texture with dark black cherry fruit and a very finely concentrated finish. Really elegant and as good and clean a vintage of this wine that I've tasted. 93+
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11/1/2007 - 97mjr wrote:
dense, thick fruit; good structure. Just a baby. Plan to buy more and bury it deep in the cellar
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10/31/2007 - i musicisti di boston wrote:
Sacrificed in its youth in the name of science based on a few recent reports- popped/tasted and let stand all day. Open, generous, dark and classic serralunga power allied with beautifully ripe fruit. Fennel, rose, tar all making appearances, followed by focused, persistent nebbiolo fruit colored with a distinc mineral strain. Bracing (but not mouth puckering) tannis provide the frame for this beauty. Shows really great promise and worth checking in on if you have more than just a few, just to know where it stands at this point in its evolution.
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10/23/2007 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 94 Points
Once a Month begins with Nebbiolo; 10/20/2007-10/22/2008 (NYC): This offers a stark contrast to previous wines with it's sappy, almost burgundian fruit that remains cool and crisp and exceptionally primary with it's spicy loganberry character. This enterw the mouth with an explosion of ripe fruit sweetness that spreads across the tongue and offers up an intensity of fruit that is new worldly yet retains balance and sinewy muscularity that is firmly of the old. So round and rich right now, the only relief from the fruit is a lovely mineral tinge on the finish. At this stage the structure is still very much hidden and integrated in the plush fruit. This will be a wicked wine when it matures. 2013-2030
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10/19/2007 - gorm wrote: 95 Points
Uncorked DK BYO to NOMA: La Tāche 96 and fried eggs (NOMA): Dark red. Amazingly sweet and fruity nose with cherries, marzipan, nail polish remover, menthol and flowers. An amazingly hedonistic Barolo, this just has so much of everything. Nice balance, good intensity and long.
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5/1/2007 - the godfather wrote: 95 Points
My friend calls this wine the "Converter" meaning if you are not a Barolo fanatic you will be after you have this. That was the case for me.
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3/3/2007 - pbjosh wrote: 91 Points
Reticent though rewarding nose of tar, rotting wood, sappy sweet red fruits and liqueur, sun parched earth and some floral notes. On the palate a massive wall of tannin turns your mouth into a clothes wringer. Sweet dried red fruits, leather and mushrooms offset by hints of sweet balsamic and more. Well balanced acidity and a moderate finish. Needs some food and preferably something fatty to chew through now but definitely headed somewhere nice. I wouldn't touch one for another 7-10 years at least.
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9/19/2006 - trankin wrote:
Zachys Icons of Italy Tasting (Zachys): A less pronounced nose than the Monprivato. Some alcohol, some good fruit, a bit of tree bark. Over the 20-30 mins or so, the nose improved and became a bit more perfumy. On the palate, lots of fruit, with a touch of something sweet - some cherry maby. Loads of tannin (although less than the Monprivato). Almost rounded yet somehow not. Needs a decade or more. Probably a low-90's score based on this showing but it's too young to know.
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6/7/2006 - futronic wrote: 94 Points
Opened three hours, not decanted. Pale ruby colour with orange flecks. Aromas of leather, currant, raspberry, orange rind, and hints of truffle. Medium-full bodied, with currant, orange rind, and truffle. Long finish, 50s, with red fruit and earth. Slightly closed, but still amazing. Roberto Conterno said he thinks this wine will really start to open up and express itself over the next couple years.
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