Picked up at Astor Wines 1-2 years ago. They had acquired from a prominent Italian collection so provenance seemed great. Stood up for about 8 days to led sediment fall. Decanted at 2:15pm and tasted half a glass: Medium purple with garnet. Nose has a small amount of spice and a tiny bit of red fruit; also smoke and a little runny cheese; overall earthy. Overall the nose is clean, if not subtle. Palate still has some presence and liveliness and a little spicy kick. Perhaps some black plum fruit, it's more of a leather flavor. Pretty decent length. Tannins feel pretty resolved, but can still feel a bit on the cheeks and this wine is still certainly well-structured. Feels fully mature and can't see much improvement from here on this bottle, but enjoyable.
Post decant of ~3 hours, a little more put together. Some cocoa notes on the finish. Nose a little less tired and more fresh. Last glass was best and paired great with pasta with mushroom, pancetta, truffle oil and parmesan. So, definitely stand it up before and give it more air than I did. Think it was starting to open at the 3-4 hour mark.
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excellent traditional barolo, but it needed more air. It was decanted about 4 hours before dinner and was just starting to emerge. Delicious with Piemonte beef, but (error on my part for having them together) blown away by the 57 Cappellano
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Very translucent and rather developed pale brick red color. Pungent, oxidative nose with aromas of smoke, dry-cured game, some wizened dark berries, a little bit of soy sauce and an aldehydic hint of Sherry. The wine is medium-bodied, somewhat dull and moderately oxidative on the palate with flavors of dried sour cherries, some raisiny tones, a little bit of peppery spice, light saline tones of sorrel, a hint of rough bitterness and a touch of meat stew. The tannins are sticking out quite a bit, whereas the acidity feels rather modest. The finish is still rather grippy and aggressive with flavors of raisins, some tar, a little bit of nutty oxidation, light soy sauce tones and a hint of Oloroso Sherry.
Past its peak. Exhibiting quite sherries oxidative tones with very little fruit left here. The acidity either has mellowed down over the years or it has been low to begin with, but the tannins were sticking out quite noticeably, making the wine feel quite astringent and unbalanced as there was very little fruit to offset the grippy structure. Perhaps a poorly performing bottle, so hopefully other bottles of this vintage are performing better.
Jakes says "smells like not black olives, but green olives baked into bread." Initially, the palate shows leather, but then with air the wine broadens and softens and becomes more approachable and gives off warm notes of cinnamon, dried fruit and leather with light herbal notes. Jake's birthyear bottle, at the bar at Racines.
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Amazing 37 year old Barolo from 1978. Didn't have a lot of time to decant before drinking, so decanted it back and forth between two decanters 5x times. Started drinking ~40 min after initial opening and then enjoyed over two hours. Fantastic evolution in the glass during that time. Initially very light with strong aromas of leather, green olive and dark fruits, evolved into a more powerful nose of leather, spice, coffee, cinnamon, chocolate and dark fruit layered over deliciously soft tannins. Perfectly balanced. Bottle sourced from Chambers Street Wines. Was sad to finish the last glass of this. Lucky to have such an amazing birth year wine.
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beautiful, traditional barolo. In order to appreciate this wine, you have to handle it correctly - stand it up for a day or two, or remove from your cellar carefully flat then tip to 45 degrees. Remove cork carefully - this one required the Ah so and a conventional cork screw. There was the initial bullion, bottle funk and prunes from a dull garnet colored wine that could be misunderstood and abandoned, but wait. It was decanted and needed at least 3 hours to show its considerable charm - citrus peel, earth, tar, berries, leather, old tea, cigars- on and on. The residual sediment was aromatic and very bitter (decanting a necessity). This is a beautiful and substantial wine in need of knowledgable drinkers and proper food - great with steak, truffle/mushroom brushetta, autumn vegetables etc. Risotto barolo or Piemonte stewed knuckle of beef would be sublime. Do not waste this wine on the wrong time or food.
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Brownish-red hue and an enticing, earthy aroma. This was very much alive and kept opening in the glass. The palate displayed great depth, complexity and focus and finished with considerable length. A great old bottle of wine.
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Brownish red color. First very matured on the nose with undergrowth, mushroom and old syrup. With some air it revealed a very fresh red berry scent and fine leather. Refreshing in the mouth with a fine acidity. Nicely melted tannins. A joy to drink!
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Special experience. Wonderully mature colour liked brushed burgundy leather, with a sweet soft and spicy nose. It was the texture of this wine that really stood out, gorgeous in the mouth, so light yet unctous fruit and a long savoury finish, with the merest hint of tannin. Real treat and glad to have a couple more.
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Light ruby with a touch of browning at the rim. Great, dark sweet fruit. Long finish and great presence in the mouth. Expansive. Great ripe, sweaty, nebbiolo fruit. Long long finish. Boy this is good.
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Can't add to notes below. Not tons of experience with old wines. Our bottle was a cloudy. More brown at first. Seemed to lighten. There was a bit of a porty / raisiny note that scared me but the rose and tar is there.
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Tria Fermentation School: Beautiful Barolo Master Class (Tria Fermentation School): really brown. knockout caramel nose, with sweet spice and clove -- i spent a long time enjoying the bouquet of this one. palate shows leather, violet, and truffle. medium tannin remains. some black fruit is still in this, and it has time to last. tar and black fruit on med(+) finish. high acid. went exceptionally well with castellmagno cheese. I seemed to enjoy this more than most others.
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Old Nebbiolo at Tolani (Upper West Side, NYC): The 1978 Oddero Barolo was simply gorgeous and just entering its full maturity. After four hours opened in bottle, it began to show earthy mushroom, dried cherry, dusty minerals and roses on the nose. On the palate, it was vibrant and dark with lush red fruits, spice, tobacco and an acidic lift that added remarkable freshness that stayed into the long finish with plum and a bit of citrus rind.
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Old Nebbiolo at Tolani (Upper West Side, NYC): This was one of my WOTN. Deep ruby color, cloudy. Complex nose of walnuts, sweet soy and rose petal, with some café au lait coming out later on. Full bodied on the palate but with great freshness.
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A delicious dinner in Brooklyn. (Suzanne & Kenny's): Initially the wine was dominated by earthy, leathery and licorice components and while fine in an old, perhaps slightly tired way, there was no real spark here. That all changed the longer it stayed in the glass. Though it had been double decanted in the afternoon, it still took about an hour in the glass for the wine to come alive. Without warning, beautiful cherry/raspberry fruit came out of nowhere to take the lead and melded all the components into a beautiful package. Solid A-.
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Very Good, if not Great. Consumed at Diner in Williamsburg. Over the course of two hours the wine improved markedly. Classic tar and roses, good acidity (perhaps a touch volatile, but it calmed down), very rustic. A straightforward and pleasing wine -- nothing surprising here -- which is both the wine's strength and weakness.
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This retains a fantastic, burnished ruby color that is gently edged in orange and classically pale. Apon opening the nose is redolent with spicy tones of salumi, licorice, prune and tobacco. there is a nuance of bouillon and a top note of grassy herbaceousness as well as the sweet, earthyness of boiled pigs tendon and hints of dry, chalky earth. After 3 hours the nose offers up intense floral tones and complex notes of middle eastern spices over a bed of bright simmering raspberry fruit. Nuanced with notes of asphalt, cigar ash, nettle and sweet licorice adding depth to the very complex and increasingly gamey fruit.
This was hightoned and acid driven right out of the bottle with sour, yellow cherry fruit, moderate tannins and good balance if tight right out of the bottle. the finish was lovely with a juicy purity that bade well for the future. After 3 hours this was big and brawny with powerful structure. The fruit had turned very dark and tarry on the midpalate which was chewy and dense with dried tree bark and rich earth tones accenting this taught, dense core of fruit. Still youthfull this offers exceptional complexity and depth on the nose but the palate has yet to catch up. Should only improve 2008-2025
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With Michael Lehmann at Singer & Foy survey of 1978 Barolo. Developed ruby, orange edge. Nose is developed, has cocoa. Big wine in the mouth. Tannic still. Good. 4-8-15-6: 83/100.
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2/2/2024 - kenv wrote:
Brought to the La Festa Gala. Sadly, this was on death's door.
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9/3/2019 - 87tellub Likes this wine: 90 Points
Picked up at Astor Wines 1-2 years ago. They had acquired from a prominent Italian collection so provenance seemed great. Stood up for about 8 days to led sediment fall. Decanted at 2:15pm and tasted half a glass: Medium purple with garnet. Nose has a small amount of spice and a tiny bit of red fruit; also smoke and a little runny cheese; overall earthy. Overall the nose is clean, if not subtle. Palate still has some presence and liveliness and a little spicy kick. Perhaps some black plum fruit, it's more of a leather flavor. Pretty decent length. Tannins feel pretty resolved, but can still feel a bit on the cheeks and this wine is still certainly well-structured. Feels fully mature and can't see much improvement from here on this bottle, but enjoyable.
Post decant of ~3 hours, a little more put together. Some cocoa notes on the finish. Nose a little less tired and more fresh. Last glass was best and paired great with pasta with mushroom, pancetta, truffle oil and parmesan. So, definitely stand it up before and give it more air than I did. Think it was starting to open at the 3-4 hour mark.
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7/14/2019 - bortender Does not like this wine:
Past its prime
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11/8/2018 - vindictive wrote:
excellent traditional barolo, but it needed more air. It was decanted about 4 hours before dinner and was just starting to emerge. Delicious with Piemonte beef, but (error on my part for having them together) blown away by the 57 Cappellano
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2/16/2017 - forceberry wrote: flawed
Very translucent and rather developed pale brick red color. Pungent, oxidative nose with aromas of smoke, dry-cured game, some wizened dark berries, a little bit of soy sauce and an aldehydic hint of Sherry. The wine is medium-bodied, somewhat dull and moderately oxidative on the palate with flavors of dried sour cherries, some raisiny tones, a little bit of peppery spice, light saline tones of sorrel, a hint of rough bitterness and a touch of meat stew. The tannins are sticking out quite a bit, whereas the acidity feels rather modest. The finish is still rather grippy and aggressive with flavors of raisins, some tar, a little bit of nutty oxidation, light soy sauce tones and a hint of Oloroso Sherry.
Past its peak. Exhibiting quite sherries oxidative tones with very little fruit left here. The acidity either has mellowed down over the years or it has been low to begin with, but the tannins were sticking out quite noticeably, making the wine feel quite astringent and unbalanced as there was very little fruit to offset the grippy structure. Perhaps a poorly performing bottle, so hopefully other bottles of this vintage are performing better.
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11/30/2015 - Pknut wrote:
Jakes says "smells like not black olives, but green olives baked into bread." Initially, the palate shows leather, but then with air the wine broadens and softens and becomes more approachable and gives off warm notes of cinnamon, dried fruit and leather with light herbal notes.
Jake's birthyear bottle, at the bar at Racines.
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11/30/2015 - jakenet Likes this wine: 93 Points
Amazing 37 year old Barolo from 1978. Didn't have a lot of time to decant before drinking, so decanted it back and forth between two decanters 5x times. Started drinking ~40 min after initial opening and then enjoyed over two hours. Fantastic evolution in the glass during that time. Initially very light with strong aromas of leather, green olive and dark fruits, evolved into a more powerful nose of leather, spice, coffee, cinnamon, chocolate and dark fruit layered over deliciously soft tannins. Perfectly balanced. Bottle sourced from Chambers Street Wines. Was sad to finish the last glass of this. Lucky to have such an amazing birth year wine.
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9/27/2015 - vindictive wrote:
beautiful, traditional barolo. In order to appreciate this wine, you have to handle it correctly - stand it up for a day or two, or remove from your cellar carefully flat then tip to 45 degrees. Remove cork carefully - this one required the Ah so and a conventional cork screw. There was the initial bullion, bottle funk and prunes from a dull garnet colored wine that could be misunderstood and abandoned, but wait. It was decanted and needed at least 3 hours to show its considerable charm - citrus peel, earth, tar, berries, leather, old tea, cigars- on and on. The residual sediment was aromatic and very bitter (decanting a necessity). This is a beautiful and substantial wine in need of knowledgable drinkers and proper food - great with steak, truffle/mushroom brushetta, autumn vegetables etc. Risotto barolo or Piemonte stewed knuckle of beef would be sublime. Do not waste this wine on the wrong time or food.
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7/6/2015 - kenv Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nebbiolo Lunch with Jeremy Parzen (I Trulli, NYC): Youthful nose. Rich and full. A classic 1978 in very good shape.
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7/6/2015 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Brownish-red hue and an enticing, earthy aroma. This was very much alive and kept opening in the glass. The palate displayed great depth, complexity and focus and finished with considerable length. A great old bottle of wine.
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2/27/2015 - Axone wrote: 87 Points
En fin de vie.
Buvable mais plaisir limité.
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6/1/2014 - Mr.T Likes this wine: 92 Points
Brownish red color. First very matured on the nose with undergrowth, mushroom and old syrup. With some air it revealed a very fresh red berry scent and fine leather. Refreshing in the mouth with a fine acidity. Nicely melted tannins. A joy to drink!
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12/29/2013 - Axone wrote: 90 Points
Beaucoup moins évolué que les précédentes bouteilles ouvertes.
Par contre, assez peu expressif.
A revoir demain sur le fond de bouteille.
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12/14/2013 - Sarahlloyd wrote: flawed
Brown, oxidized, flawed bottle.
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5/31/2013 - Axone Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent.
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3/11/2013 - esibox wrote:
Special experience. Wonderully mature colour liked brushed burgundy leather, with a sweet soft and spicy nose. It was the texture of this wine that really stood out, gorgeous in the mouth, so light yet unctous fruit and a long savoury finish, with the merest hint of tannin. Real treat and glad to have a couple more.
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5/18/2012 - Matt Neel wrote:
1978 Barolo & Barbaresco with The Rare Wine Company (Del Posto, NYC): Blood ruby. Nose a little oxidized, reticent, fruit cocktail. Palate sweet, round, and elegant. Rather outclassed in this flight.
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4/26/2012 - jlemerond wrote: 94 Points
Light ruby with a touch of browning at the rim. Great, dark sweet fruit. Long finish and great presence in the mouth. Expansive. Great ripe, sweaty, nebbiolo fruit. Long long finish. Boy this is good.
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3/6/2012 - EMichels wrote: 86 Points
Smells highly oxidized; Very brown; Tastes ok; Medium depth; Not as oxidized as the nose
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12/24/2011 - AtoZ wrote: 92 Points
Can't add to notes below. Not tons of experience with old wines. Our bottle was a cloudy. More brown at first. Seemed to lighten. There was a bit of a porty / raisiny note that scared me but the rose and tar is there.
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6/23/2011 - ews3 wrote: 94 Points
Tria Fermentation School: Beautiful Barolo Master Class (Tria Fermentation School): really brown. knockout caramel nose, with sweet spice and clove -- i spent a long time enjoying the bouquet of this one. palate shows leather, violet, and truffle. medium tannin remains. some black fruit is still in this, and it has time to last. tar and black fruit on med(+) finish. high acid. went exceptionally well with castellmagno cheese. I seemed to enjoy this more than most others.
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5/6/2011 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 94 Points
Old Nebbiolo at Tolani (Upper West Side, NYC): The 1978 Oddero Barolo was simply gorgeous and just entering its full maturity. After four hours opened in bottle, it began to show earthy mushroom, dried cherry, dusty minerals and roses on the nose. On the palate, it was vibrant and dark with lush red fruits, spice, tobacco and an acidic lift that added remarkable freshness that stayed into the long finish with plum and a bit of citrus rind.
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5/6/2011 - dougsmith wrote: 94 Points
Old Nebbiolo at Tolani (Upper West Side, NYC): This was one of my WOTN. Deep ruby color, cloudy. Complex nose of walnuts, sweet soy and rose petal, with some café au lait coming out later on. Full bodied on the palate but with great freshness.
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7/20/2010 - LoireFan wrote: 91 Points
Still young and needed more opening time. Around hour 4 it was still improving as I was finishing the bottle.
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10/3/2009 - BradKNYC wrote:
A delicious dinner in Brooklyn. (Suzanne & Kenny's): Initially the wine was dominated by earthy, leathery and licorice components and while fine in an old, perhaps slightly tired way, there was no real spark here. That all changed the longer it stayed in the glass. Though it had been double decanted in the afternoon, it still took about an hour in the glass for the wine to come alive. Without warning, beautiful cherry/raspberry fruit came out of nowhere to take the lead and melded all the components into a beautiful package. Solid A-.
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10/3/2009 - TomStephenson wrote:
Very Good, if not Great. Consumed at Diner in Williamsburg. Over the course of two hours the wine improved markedly. Classic tar and roses, good acidity (perhaps a touch volatile, but it calmed down), very rustic. A straightforward and pleasing wine -- nothing surprising here -- which is both the wine's strength and weakness.
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4/12/2008 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 93 Points
This retains a fantastic, burnished ruby color that is gently edged in orange and classically pale. Apon opening the nose is redolent with spicy tones of salumi, licorice, prune and tobacco. there is a nuance of bouillon and a top note of grassy herbaceousness as well as the sweet, earthyness of boiled pigs tendon and hints of dry, chalky earth. After 3 hours the nose offers up intense floral tones and complex notes of middle eastern spices over a bed of bright simmering raspberry fruit. Nuanced with notes of asphalt, cigar ash, nettle and sweet licorice adding depth to the very complex and increasingly gamey fruit.
This was hightoned and acid driven right out of the bottle with sour, yellow cherry fruit, moderate tannins and good balance if tight right out of the bottle. the finish was lovely with a juicy purity that bade well for the future. After 3 hours this was big and brawny with powerful structure. The fruit had turned very dark and tarry on the midpalate which was chewy and dense with dried tree bark and rich earth tones accenting this taught, dense core of fruit. Still youthfull this offers exceptional complexity and depth on the nose but the palate has yet to catch up. Should only improve 2008-2025
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10/26/1990 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 83 Points
With Michael Lehmann at Singer & Foy survey of 1978 Barolo. Developed ruby, orange edge. Nose is developed, has cocoa. Big wine in the mouth. Tannic still. Good. 4-8-15-6: 83/100.
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