This seemed perfectly mature. Nevertheless, there were some of these slightly „unclean“ Monprivato notes I sometimes struggle with, first I thought it might have some TCA or Brett. Besides that, the wine was showing very nicely though. Notes of darker red fruit, some cellar notes too, there is also some animalic notes, tobacco, tar. It‘s medium+ bodied, with good persistence, some medium-high acidity and medium tannin that is very silky. Good length. Maybe I just don‘t get these wines completely.
I bought 3 bottles from Garagiste back in the day. My 3rd corked bottle (100 percent corked🤪. Congrats Garagiste!). I get some cherries so you get some points from being 70. Disappointed for sure. I need a Two Buck Chuck to cleanse my palate! At least if the cork was stuck in my *ars the barnyard would make me think some type of Rhone wine with some additional points. Nope. Good God...next.....
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Both bottles (from different cellars) showed similarly (and well). Black cherry, tar, and roses, some tannic structure but quite approachable. Lovely. A-
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Floral Nebbiolo aromas with forest floor, tar, liquorice and caramel/vanilla. Light, intense and delicate for a Barolo. Still with great concentration and nice structure. Delicious!
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Another good, not great bottle of traditional barolo. Tar, black cherries, truffle, earthy, pine/forest. Difficult for me to even write a review since this vintage has just been disappointing for a wine of this caliber. Had four of these. One was horribly corked, one wasn't very good, and two were good, but didn't live up to this wines potential. We did visit the winery 10 years ago and after seeing the winery, not surprised by the wines seeming a bit off. Have three 21's left...
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Our bottle seemed slightly off and imbalanced. What wasn't flawed was big, muscular, mushroomy. Didn't love the weight and wouldn't have praised the wine since I prefer elegance in Barolo.
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Double decanted in the AM and drunk over several hours.
A deep perfumed nose with tar, roses and balsam. Still quite brooding and young. Darker nebbiolo fruit, intense and still holding back some. There's huge depth and graceful inner perfume beautifully balanced in this adolescent wine. This grew with air over several hours fanning out and growing in multiple planes. This is going to turn into a stunner. Delicious now in a youthful mode, but much more to come. 95+
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This came as a late decision to accompany home made pasta with mushrooms and smoked duck. So instead of my favorite treatment of slow ox it went into a large (magnum) decanter to blow off some initial bottle funk mustiness. within 20 minutes we started to sip and 10 minutes later the fireworks started. At first this was a little shy with dark fruit (cherry) dominating but the long finish gave us a great intro to what's to come. A classic Barolo evolution in the glass with a kaleidoscope of scents and flavors continuing to emerge, tapanade and herbs come into the fold and some forest floor, then more red fruit and an hr into it the proverbial roses and tar. A softer velvety mouth feel as it opens and warms up. Eventually leading to strawberry and brown sugar sweetness and Umami porchini whifs on the finish. This walks a really nice balance between power and elegance and is drinking beautifully right now at what i expect is just getting into an optimal zone. I looked at Galoni's drinking window which gave it up to 2024 and IMO it is way underestimating the potential longevity if this bottle is a good indication. This was sipped over 2.5 hrs and was truly meditative, so good nothing was left for the next day. to truly appreciate this wine I highly recommend quite enjoyment and make sure you don't over decant as in such a case you may miss a good part of the show.
What a great bottle of wine. Ruby with an orange rim. The nose is so funky and intense. Classic with aromas of cherry fruit, worchestershire and dried flower petals. Medium bodied but so impactful. Tactile and dry yet fill with mature fruit and a tobacco leaf finish. I love the weight, style and complexity. Finish goes on and on. (94)
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Mørk musteinsrød, nesten brunlig. Orange mot vandig rand. Utviklet. Kaffe, sjokolade og svisker. Streif av friskhet fra modne røde bær. Kirsebær I munnen er uttrykket nesten motsatt. Syrlig.Tørr. Volantil i staren. Etterhvert deilig balansert men mektig. Moden. Karamell og vanilje. Pepper..Lakris inn i utgangen. Opplever vinen i stadig endring. Nyansert og mystisk. Vekker nysgjerrighet hele veien.
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Popped & poured. Light tawny-red color. 30-60 minutes in and this really starts to sing. Explosive menthol, bruised rosemary, roses and dark, lurking fruit. Strong aromas with good detail and transparency. Big palate impact of sweet fruit and racy acidity with a strong current of herbs, black olive tapenade and balsamico. Tannins are classic Nebbiolo but well integrated to the deep, dark fruit flavor. This bottle is gorgeous - keeps building for hours and on day two was still delivering the goods. Classic and hugely gratifying! Much better than a tired bottle tasted a year earlier.
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Mild cork taint unfortunately killed the nose on this bottle. The palate was good enough to enjoy but not the magic that I know this vintage is capable of.
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16/09/07/06/04/03/01/99/98 vertical. So good, but probably still just a touch too young. Interesting the 01 and 04 showed a bit more ready and firing-on-all-cylinders to me. This was close to those wines but just a touch inward and less expressive. An outstanding wine that is inching towards a a peak window.
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Monprivato dinner at Osteria Langhe (Chicago, IL): No. 15494. Another splendid, old school, classic Monprivato. In some ways, this is very close to the brilliant 2001, but it is missing some of the brightness and exuberance that its younger sibling has. In addition, the tannic structure here is more firm, making me think that this needs a good amount more time before it really comes around, unlike the 2001 which is drinking so incredibly well tonight.
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Nose of metallic red fruits, a hint of caramel, charming! The palate is slightly sweet and rustic! Brownish colour reflect the wine did reach some stage.
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I was expecting this to be over the hill and I neglected to stand it up over night. Amazingly, this was still very good (albeit past its prime, like most of us:), and there was no sediment. It was not decanted and consumed over an hour, it did not fall apart.
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No time to decant. Saturated tawny upon PnP, with muted nose. Palate however was dark fruits, dust, mushroom, with sweet fine tannins and balanced acid levels. Turned to deep ruby after about 1 hour, and nose bloomed to spice and plum. Very nice.
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Scored as 'Excellent' on the CT scale and I note that had the cork been in better condition the elements that I don't like could easily have seen a score more in line with the tremendous reputation of the vintage.
The cork in this bottle broke about half way down; the next go gave me a core sample without removing the remnant cork, before a third dig gave me the rest of the cork. I felt a bit like a drunken dentist removing a troublesome molar. Have I ever mentioned that I hate cork as a closure?
Anyway, on to the wine. The colour is deep, all brick red and brown hues, speaking to the prospect of a closure problem, although the ullage was not significant and Barolo does tend to the earthy hues.
The nose has a distracting 'sherry' element that I cannot love and can barely tolerate. Under it there is some lovely plum and strawberry and Balsamic. The nose may trouble many others less than it does me.
The palate is where this wine comes into its own. It fills the mouth with a an almost unctuous melange of plum, macerated strawberry, Balsamic and a hint of tar. There are supportive but well resolved ripe tannins that stop this from being flabby.
The mouthfeel alone is worth the price of admission. This part I really love, to the point where I am placed in a dilemma - do I score this based on the palate (which I love) or the nose and the palate? I have to score this on an overall impression and it is true that the sherry element is present (albeit less distractingly so) on the palate too.
I guess this is an example of the truism that there are no great old wines, just great old bottles. With a more reliable closure this would certainly be a great old wine. As it is, it is a very charming, but eccentric old thing.
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Near the end in a long line-up of wines with birthday dinner and didn't really stand out. Some drying tannins, still quite structured - a bit withholding aromatically. Don't think this is ready for prime time yet, but at the current price point would not be a repurchase for me.
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From memory from a few weeks ago so not very detailed notes. This was drinking quite nicely though. Paired with a steak dinner for a friend's birthday and this held up to the meat well and perhaps appreciated some of the extra structure that this wine tends to bring. It was fairly well integrated by this point. I would say in drinking window, but on the early side and likely to improve with some more years.
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(at Vito's - Baltimore) Fantastic - floral and meaty - the nose is uplifting. The wine is so pure and lingers on the palate. Stays with you even after moving to other wines. This is my favorite style of Nebbiolo - pure fruit, a tiny bit of funk and perfectly integrated acidity with no window dressing. Will last for years. (95)
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Strong balsamic nose with underlying cherry liqueur…just lovely. Classic Barolo on the palate. Roses, tar, dried cherry and a sweet lingering finish. Tannins hold firm but do not detract.
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Classic nose: tar, balsamic, rose petals, an attractive minerality. Beautifully aromatic. Lovely cherry-fruited presence on the palate, really elegant. Terrific finish, lots of fine tannin enrobed in matière and very long. Super freshness throughout. This is really too-notch, in a fairly understated way.
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Required 4 hours in the decanter and 2 hours in the glass, just as in the previous taster’s note. Darker translucent scarlet ruby hue. Nose of balsam, voluminous rose petals and violets, strawberries, iodine, and camphor. Layers of tarry black plum, cool strawberry, and deep sweet earth unrolling on the palate like a delicious carpet. Beautiful acidity and firm but fine tannin. Long finish of anchored plum fruit, tar, delicate sweetness, and quenching freshness. Tasting this is a gift.
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Popped, decanted for four hours before consuming over next two. Needed all of that air and continued to develop, add flesh, and reveal nuance after pouring. This was paired with smoked rib-eye and I think the pairing helped the wine’s performance. The wine still has a fair amount of powdery tannin and I also believe this has the fruit and structure to continue to develop for years and years. This was elegant, well balanced, complex and fascinating.
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Good deep color with bricking. The nose shows aromas of dried raspberries, flowers, tar, leather and a hint of tobacco. This is medium full bodied on the palate with excellent concentration and wonderful class. Good finesse. The fairly long finish shows firm, integrated tannins and good acidity. Excellent balance.
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Nebbiolo aromas with tar, wet wool and some wood. Structured and quite tannic mouth feeling. Semi modern Barolo of high quality. A lot better and less developed than a bottle tasted a year ago. Tasted better in a Zalto Bordeaux than in a Zalto Burgundy.
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This bottle was a return to my earlier experiences with this vintage, where it is worthy of a serious rating. The previous bottle we had was an outlier, since it was so lackluster, but this one returns with beautitful barolo notes which mirror my detailed notes of 2017.
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This bottle was more like it. Firing on all cylinders and really beautifully balanced between the dried fruit, spice, tannis and alcohol. What you hope it will be when you lay down the money for this kind of wine.
Not the best bottle of this I have had (tried 3 over the last 3 years), but the nose was just beautiful. Ever-changing, complex and inviting. The palate was not as focused as I remember, but had mid-plus complexity and kept your attention for a while. Quite elegant to drink now and the tannins have resolved nicely. Had hoped for a bit more fireworks, but very good nonetheless.
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We were suspecting a hin of a flaw here at the beninning, but it quickly wore off and and lef a very elegant, almost femining, somehwat light, yetintense barolo with tobaco and roseleaves and a sweet red fruit. Seems ready to drink - but no hurry here. #Bæst
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Deeper red fruited, with nice minerality, some flowery notes, but also some notes of tar. It‘s medium bodied, has medium+ acidity and medium-high tannin that is literally sneaking up on you. Some people called this Burgundian, I didn‘t really get this as I thought that the tannin was slightly out of balance in context of the body and fruit. Excellent length. A very good Monprivato but I am still waiting for this wine to touch me.
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This is a stunning bottle! Wonderfully complex aroma of menthol, roses, and tar. Medium body with subtle and complex flavors on the perfectly balanced palate, and a satisfying long finish. The most surprising thing to me was how well integrated the tannins are now. This is drinking beautifully!
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Medium color with significant fading. The nose shows somewhat oxidized aromas of raspberry, tobacco, tar, flowers, nuts and a hint of spice. This is medium full bodied on the palate with excellent concentration and excellent class. Lovely balance. The fairly long finish features ripe tannins. A shame that it wasn't as fresh as it should have been...
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In good shape and drinking very well- in fact this particular bottle is pretty close to peak form. Complex, showing some tertiary flavors but has retained enough fruit to round things off, tannins have mostly resolved. A beautiful wine.
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Brown appearance. Aromas of very old Barolo, with wet wool, sausage water and terpentine. Thought it could be something like 40-50 years. Still rich and generous, though.
~3 hour decant, and could have used another 5 hours. Very primary, but still quite delicious. Abundant rich fruit that is laced with florals and musk. Rich and still chewy. Better in 5-10 years.
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Okay, but not what I expect from this producer and vineyard in this vintage. Not overtly flawed, yet not great either. Palate is better than the reticent nose, with a spiced note on the red fruit. But overall, just acceptable (which might be okay for a Wednesday night).
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Tooch Going Away Dinner (TDS): I really, really liked this. Bottle opened and slow-oxed 8-9 hours before dinner. Full nose of musk, spice, licorice and dried and young black cherry fruit. The palate is round and fleshy with emerging complexity. Intense spice and musk in the finish. Still not fully ready at age 20. Upside from here.
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A farewell to Tooch (Chicago, IL): The nose on this shows some really pretty red fruit, as well as some mild floral elements. It's not something that immediately screams out to me as nebbiolo, at least, until you taste it. There, you definitely get the tannic structure, but also much of the same red fruit and florals on the nose. A hint of earthiness here also adds interest.
At first, the bouquet on the ‘99 Monprivato was restrained, yet it quickly evolved in the glass to reveal a beautiful expression, as bright strawberry, dusty roses, hints of savory herbs, dried flowers, and crushed stone minerality filled the senses. With even more time, notes of savory meat and undergrowth added even more complexity. On the palate, I found a finessed and feminine display, with lifted textures giving way to notes of tart strawberry, with a mix of acid and minerality that saturated the senses, making them water and adding a sweet hard red candy note to the experience. The finish was long and very pretty, resonating on inner florals and minerals in a more savory than sweet expression. Beautiful.
Very aromatic and typical in a rather advanced stage. Silky smooth for a monprivato. Good fruit but lacking some freshness. Very nice finish. I would prefer to drink sooner rather than later.
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The structure has finally smoothed out enough to make this drinkable, no longer the blitzkrieg of tannin it was for so long. But not much more to say about it beyond that - it'll probably need another decade to show much personality.
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This bottle was a disappointment. Had a funk to start, though it blew off after about 15 min. But the wine never really recovered to have any of the great nose and palate features described in my earlier bottles. So, I conclude this bottle was tainted in some way, even though it was still pleasant and drinkable. Just not the barolo it normally is.
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Still early in the drinking life of this powerhouse barolo. 3 bottles, all opened 6 hours before, then decanted an hour prior to serving. Beautifully balanced wine, absolutely no tannins and a very smooth finish. Hint of oak and cherries.
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Erbaluce. Not a good bottle, though no obvious flaw. Quite mute on opening and after 5 hours of slow O and a couple of hours in the decanter, still not very expressive. I think not just an issue of being too young.
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No Morissio in 99 so those grapes are in this wine. Color is much darker than the 05 Monprivato in the next glass. Great balance of fruit, tannin and alcohol. Tannins are grippy. Goes really well with food at this stage. Much more complexity than the 05. More depth and nuance. Really good.
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Italian Wines in Boston: Medium brick red. Some nail polish. Tannins still resolving. A bit thin on the finish - ends on a simple note of fruit and tannins.
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Wow - this was just fantastic. Slow ox for a couple hours, but started signing before then and was hard to keep away from it. Then followed in decanter for the rest of the evening. Nose had strong balsamic and loads of truffles and earth. Palate was power and elegance with perfectly integrated tannins. It peaked about 4-5 hours with rich dark elegant texture that was outstanding. I wish I had more of these to drink now or hold for another decade.
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Deep nose -- lots going on under the surface. Dusty tar and floral note and some tobacco in there. Bloody meat and a bit of balsamic. Palate has dark cherries, and a chewiness along with tobacco and earthy tones. Small tannins round out the end.
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Opened the bottle about 4 hours prior to tasting and it was perfect. Fantastic earthy rich fruit, lush waves of strawberries, prunes and structure to carry the low acidity. The mid palate had a finish that just evolved as the wine settled. a solid old school Barolo that had another 5-10 years easily.
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Upon opening, gorgeously aromatic but tons of fine sediment. Poured off the sediment and back into a sealed bottle. 6 hours later, served and it's like an over the hill wine, all sous-bois, still some richness but no fruit or or other complexity. Very odd experience. Cork was clean, this was a replacement for a corked bottle provided by the importer.
Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity and high tannins. The structure is still imposing, but the feel is gorgeous underneath with wild flowers, red cherries, strawberries, violets, black truffles, leather, and roasted herbs.
Overall: This is still a baby. It has a lot more to give, but it is absolutely gorgeous right now. It needs a good bit of air to fully get going, but it's a real treat once it does.
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Older Barolos at Osteria Langhe (Chicago, IL): #15423. Slow-oxed for six hours. A brilliant Barolo. The nose on this is explosive, with brilliant red fruits and florals all emanating out in a luscious perfume. The palate is light and elegant, but despite that, it's never watery or dilute. Not heavily extracted, this still manages to punch very, very hard. The red fruit comes off with a similar perfumed quality on the palate, and the acidity balances out the ripeness perfectly. There's still quite a bit of tannin to resolve, but this is already incredibly delicious.
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Unfortunately Flawed. (I included a tasting note of a ‘99 opened a year ago; However, it’s important to note that the bottle I had previous to that one was flawed as well. Following is the original note from the previous bottle). Back to form after my last bottle, the 1999 Monprivato was classic and refined, with a nose full of dried cherry, dusty spice, undergrowth, minerals, and rosy floral notes. On the palate, it was angular and austere, yet the potential in this wine lurks right below the surface, with notes of dried cherry, dark chocolate, balsamic tones and minerals hinting at a bright future. Staying red fruit saturated the senses throughout the finish, along with inner floral notes, dried leaves and soil. Wow!
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Decanted for 4 hours. Explosive nose of red fruits and flowers. Bright red with fresh acidity and palate, opened at a small dinner party with wine braised pot roast and served next to a 99 Clerico CMG. The Mascarello was the group favorite unanimously.This may get better but it is drinking quite beautifully now.
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Beautiful wine showing delicious red fruits and plenty of flesh to go along with the classic Mascarello structure and acidity. Finishes with excellent mineral crunch. The tannins are softening and this is approaching it's peak drinking window with many years of enjoyment and tertiary flavors to come. 93+
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Opened 3+ hours before serving. Tannins integrated and showing roses, cherry, and tobacco flavors. Really balance with a long finish. Will be great now or for a number of years. What I love about Nebbiolo.
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I'll write more but will just start by shaking my head and saying that this was an object lesson in the utter greatness of Nebbiolo. Light ruby center with gentle gradation to a mature, light rim. After a 2 hour decant, explosive, powerful, almost dizzying aromas of tobacco and anise with some enlivening volatile acidity. Then the register changed to high toned florality, mint, and mocha. Finally, concentrated dark cherry appeared after a few hours. The palatal progression was similarly fascinating-first fairly concentrated, clenched, and terrific acidity, then finer and more open with subtly ripe red fruit and chocolate, ultimately then sturdier cherry accompanied by a backbone of minerality. During the middle phase of its evolution in the glass, I thought that the wine must be at or at least close to maturity, but in the end, it is hard to imagine that such a dynamic, complex wine would not have several more decades of pleasure to give. While I may be confused about its future, there is no doubt about the present: this is one fabulous Barolo! If you find it, drink and savor it.
A wine in its infancy. Mushrooms, medium roast, coffee, seared steak create the base, with an uplifting floral its and dark cherries. This was a knockout, and will only get better over the decades.
Really primary cherry palate, kirsch, some alcohol is noticeable. This bottle didn't see very much air and the showing was young and primary but not that tight structurally. Needs more time in bottle. In Vegas with R.
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An evening of Barolo and screening of The Barolo Boys (Old World Deli, Bellingham, WA): Initially reticent, but later in the evening I caught a stunning floral nose. Sampled throughout the evening, this bottle had wonderful subtlety and complexity. There is a finesse of the elements and their interplay with the resolved tannins that sets a bottle like this above the rest. Gentle tones of orange peel and marmalade that the other bottles did not have. I thought this element was unusual but a welcome chromatic feature of the palate. Balanced red fruit, earth, and dried herbs, all with remarkable finesse. A distinctive wine, drinking beautifully.
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1999 Barolo Tasting - TWG; 9/17/2015-9/18/2015: I liked this a lot. Lighter color. Silky on the palate. Sweet strawberry fruit. Has a hint of VA, but just enough to give it some nice lift. My favorite wine of the tasting.
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Nose: It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, the aromas of rose petals, red cherries, violets, roasted herbs, wild flowers, fresh picked berries, tar, incense, and a touch of leather. There is a lot of layering and perfume to this, while having a freshness to the tones as well.
Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity and youthful tannins. While the structure is certainly there, the feel is refined and regal with rose petals, red cherries, violets, roasted herbs, incense, tar, and wild flowers on the back end.
Overall: This is an absolutely gorgeous Monprivato. There is still a lot of freshness to the tones, but with a lot of room to grow. This needed about 4 hours of air to really start showing itself and it kept growing until it was finally done 8 hours later.
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Nose is dark and rich -- there is a beefy, molasses quality to the nose along with a nice background of alcohol. The palate is dark cherry, chewy, with well integrated acidity to counter those tastes. Tannins are quite integrated and not that significant at this point, but there is still a subtle drying at the end.
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Lunch 5/2015: Corked. Very badly. The one sip I could bear to take revealed lovely texture and balance, and even some fruit flavours that were strong enough to survive the TCA. But the nose was totally compromised.
Drank on Mother's Day. I don't have a ton of experience with top-end Barolo, but this is by far the best example I've ever tasted and I can't imagine it getting much better. I understand that Riserva Ca' d'Morissio was not made in this vintage, so even the very best fruit went into this bottling. Anyway, it is drinking very well now, but still seems to be retaining a good bit of its youth (there are still notes of primary fruit), and I think this will age beautifully for another 20 or so years. The tannins have mellowed down now, and there is an interesting interplay between the primary fruit, oak-aging and bottle--aging elements. In a word: spellbinding. If you (are lucky enough to) have some of this, I would open a bottle every few years to enjoy how it evolves.
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Wow, this is a super vintage for this wine that is still quite young but with a long decant (double-decanted 3 hours before serving) it shows a gorgeous nose of menthol, dark cherry and tree bark. On the palate, it is so fresh, intense and balanced with regal Barolo flavors of crisp dark cherry, sweet truffles, fabulous spicyness and smoky minerals. The finish is deeply concentrated with notes of menthol and cherry tree bark. One of the best Monprivato's I've tasted and still in need of many more years in the cellar. 94++
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Had been decanted for about seven hours. Great depth of fruit, and this is approachable already, but so much more to come. Lots of underlying fruit and power here, yet the palate is refined and silky. Thrilling now but lots more to come. Jewel Bako with Chet and Herwig.
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Sweet and fruity nose with berries, iodine, musk and some earth. Light colour and burgundylike both on nose and palate. Some tannins left but very much in the background. Typical for the traditional producers I assume. Very elegant and drinkable. I agree with fellow tasters that this is still a bit closed. I decanted in open caraffe for 3 hours.
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Some fruit compote with dusty cherry, some tar and a hint of roses. Nice wine that will likely get better, though maybe not by a lot. My second in a flight of 1999 Baroli with Bartolo Mascarello (#1), Giacosa white label (#3) and the Aldo Conterno Granbussia bringing up the rear (#4). All good wines and the general consensus that the 99s are starting to drink well but have lots of room to grow.
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Chicago Italian Lovers: 1999 Barolo (Bascule Wine Bar): Decanted ~7 hours prior to dinner and apparently was never right from the get go. But at dinner this was closed off and totally muted. Perhaps it's just shut down but most at the table agreed this was an off bottle.
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Decanted for about 7 hours, nose is flat and not showing much of anything. Palate is dis-jointed in that it doesn't have that great Monprivato core, this is just off. I am unsure if this bottle is flawed or if the decanting was too extreme, but I think primarily the former.
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Musty and a little thin without much complexity. Dissapointing and Azelia San Rocco 1996 Barolo faired much better. This got better with some air time but not never really got going.
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This is a special wine. First bottle from a case I bought when I lived in New York. The color is light red with an orange tinge. The nose is so fragrant and powerful, there is a garden of flowers oozing from the glass along with dusty fruit and spices. The wine is so powerful on the palate, yet soft as a pillow. Dusty cherry fruit and spices in the refined, elegant way. This is so genuine and transparent, a wow wine. Wow.
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This tasting of this wine was a lesson in how context is so important. Earlier in the year, I tasted this in a flight of very high level Barolo and while I liked it plenty, I had it as 3rd favorite out of 4. Tonight, allowed to shine on its own merits, this tastes like a world-beater. Classy red-fruited Barolo in a nuanced style, this shows harmony and beautifully delineated fruit, leather and earth. Wines like this are why I drink wine.
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Back to form after my last bottle, the 1999 Monprivato was classic and refined, with a nose full of dried cherry, dusty spice, undergrowth, minerals, and rosy floral notes. On the palate, it was angular and austere, yet the potential in this wine lurks right below the surface, with notes of dried cherry, dark chocolate, balsamic tones and minerals hinting at a bright future. Staying red fruit saturated the senses throughout the finish, along with inner floral notes, dried leaves and soil. Wow!
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Mike on Tour - the Count's Manor: DAMN. soy, cherry, mushroom, ripe but absolutely clean mid. sweaty cherry fruit with a kick of acid. power under the hood waiting to burst open. unending finish. a stunning example - and one that will age. silky, full of cherries and strawberries, earthy.... just damn good.
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A great Italian evening in Belgium: Complex and quite mature bouquet with earth, chocolate, mocha and celery. Same on the palate. A lot of earthy impressions, celery again, but also good and juicy acidity as well as soft and slightly drying tannin. Not really sure what to think. Seems to be quite ready now. Could be the bottle… I scored the wine 91 for tonight.
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Barolo 1999 vs. 2001 Blind (New York Vintners, NYC): Incredibly dark black fruit nose. Brooding and backward. I had trouble guessing whether this was the 01 Monprivato or the 01 Ca, but never thought it was the 99. I guess the Ca fruit went into the 99 Monprivato making it more like the Ca. Anyway, this is probably the most backward of the 99's so far. A terrific wine. 95-97 points.
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Dueling Blind Barolo Vintages (New York Vintners): The nose was beautiful, with dark, spiced cherry sauce, dusty minerals and a hint of VA. Yet on the palate, this wine took a downturn for me, as it was tight, ungiving and seeming almost diluted. The finish showed hints of red fruit yet remained unyielding. Maybe this was a bad bottle, yet others at the tasting seemed less bothered by its performance.
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This was drinking in a very odd place on this evening. At times it was beautifully floral, expressive of tar and crushed berries, but then a few minutes later it was overly acidic and seemingly closed down. Nice texture in the mouth throughout. Fresh glasses from the bottle were best, but as this got air it shut down. I knew it was too early to drink a traditional 1999, but decided to check in with a bottle. It's amazing how young this wine is drinking, though it wasn't overtly tannic. I'll hold off on another bottle for at least 5 years, but surely it needs yet more than that to come around.
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Pretty, slightly floral nose; open and airy. Red-fruited with good acid on the palate but to me this wine is disjointed at this stage; feels a bit shrill with not a lot of harmony going on yet. Good wine but needs time. 91-92
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Leo's Blind Tasting Group - May '14 edition (Ben's (NYC)): A touch reserved on the nose, but the palate here is absolutely incredible with a core of sappy red fruited flavours conveyed with a really delicate, silken touch and remarkable finesse. There's great intensity of flavour but barely any sensation of weight, and it's very long and finessed on the back end. Still very youthful and primary, but a really stunning wine.
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Ah the virtues of patience. My first bottle in four years and the time has really made a difference. Decanted for 3 hours. Stunning wine. Gorgeous color, seductive earthy bouquet. Mouthwatering palate of vibrant fruit with a long and very elegant finish.
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Verticale Monprivato Giuseppe Mascarello: Scuro, chinotto, rabarbaro, menta, si discosta un po' dagli altri, sembra avere più peso, il produttore conferma che la vendemmia è stata leggermente tardiva. Bocca sul frutto disidratato e i fiori appassiti. Si beve bene e sarei curioso di riassaggiarlo tra qualche anno, sembra non essere del tutto compiuto. Finale amaro di erbe e di olive nere.
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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. Medium translucent garnet in colour. On the nose, this started out quite reductive, showing heavy notes of burnt rubber, but opened up to reveal notes of cherry, strawberry, baking spice, tar, wet earth, and sweat. On the palate, some reductive tastes present, but also showing some cherry, spice and tar notes. Without the reductive quality, this could have been quite a stunning wine. A shame, really.
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Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 6 - Dave does Barolo (Dave's House - Kitchener, ON): Initally was extremely reduced with tarry, burning rubber tire notes. It did seem to blow off a fair bit. Nose of sweat, saliene, funk, rubber, undergrowth, and black currant. Palate isn't too dryingly tannic with some sweet fruit leaving a slightly sweet impression. Nicely done with some definite upside.
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Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 5 - David does Barolo (Kitchener, Ontario): Pure strawberry, cherry, spice and tar...very pretty nose. The palate was similarly open with plum, truffle, minerals, nutmeg, cherry, and red florals. The finish was long, spicy and pure. I loved this wine...and it will only improve.
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Drinking beautifully. A nose of road and dirt. Amazingly smooth for a Barolo, but has the character to carry it off. This has time to run but is at a great place right now. Drank at a celebration dinner with a lot of great wine. This was the wine of the evening for me.
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Tasty cherries, tar, roses -- check. But also a slightly watery, oxidized note. Would have expected more spine from this. Probably an off bottle, though still very good in the scheme of things. This bottle probably a 91. Would like to try another.
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Zachys La Paulee Auction, Day Two (Smith & Wollensky - New York NY): Fresh rose aromas with some licorice, black cherry. Black and red cherry flavors again showing licorice elements. slightly sweet start, firming up with more structure towards long finish. Good now, certainly better with another decade.
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Dinner with Kent (Bella Trattoria, San Francisco): This was a fascinating wine, though I suspect that it was somewhat closed all night. Nose showed red fruits, spice, a little tight; palate was very traditional and focused on structure, nice balanced fruit, great acid that cut through any tomato sauce. This was a superb food wine, but it was primary, young, and needed plenty of time to open up. I would love to try this again in a decade. 91-93
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Spash decanted a couple of hours before conuming at restaurant. Nose was still rather muted but the palate showed balance and intergration of black cherry and tobacco. My last bottle will wait for quite a while before opening.
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Enjoyed this at Coco Pazzo in Chicago, IL. Beautiful wine that evolved throughout the meal and benefited for being decanted. Initially showed balsamic notes of menthol along with blacker tones of licorice while on the savory side. With air this wine became prettier and prettier brightening up gradually to a point where rose petal floated over the top of black cherries with berries and wild fennel. The palate was a model of balance, showing feminine elegance and refined structure. So much to enjoy now but also look forward to with this wine.
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1999 Barolo and Barbaresco: Right on Track (Via Emilia, 47 East 21st Street, Manhattan, NY): The nose showed sweet dark cherries and roses with spice and licorice. On the palate it was balanced and feminine with ripe cherry and spices, all driven by juicy acidity that brightened up the palate and nearly masked its underlying structure. The finish was fresh and juicy with inner floral notes lingering throughout.
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Really enjoyable, but a bit paradoxical. Started lean, structured and square as one would expect. Opened nicely and smoothly with a nice fruit core and nicely faceted structure. Gained weight and body. Drank really well and delivered pleasure for a while. But body grew first into a really sensual voluptuousness then passed into thick,dull and flabby. A few hours produced the motor oil weight of a caricature Shiraz - and not drinkable.
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Great stuff. Rich nose. Juicy fruits on the palate with lots of tar. Full on the palate. Slightly better than the 2001 Monprivato on this night. Superb.
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second bottle from the same source. heat damaged as all the freshness was gone and there was a stewed fruit profile along with brown sugar on the nose. shame on that retailer!
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Shut down. No nose whatsoever, but a bit more fruit than the 2000, good tangy cherry. Too young by a decade, and I don't have enough experience to give this a score based on potential.
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Barolo Dinner (Paese Restaurant, Toronto): Decanted 1 hour. Medium-garnet colour. Aromas of cherry, talc, leather, rosemary, potpourri, mushroom, sliced plums, mint. Full-bodied, delicious, with cherry, leather, sliced plums, truffle, earth, and mushroom. Moderate-length finish, ~40s, with red fruit and earth. This is just a baby, but man is ever delicious. Additional cellaring will allow this wine to develop into something truly special. 96+ points. Drink 2015-2025+.
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opened for 2 hours in the wide bottomed decanter. This is a lovely wine. Just starting to open with red fruit, baking spice and a sweet finish. Tannins were very soft and in the background
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Upon opening the wine had a gorgeous nose and nice earthiness on the palate with fruit still in the background. Decanted for 2 hours and the wine shut down completely. Nada, nothing. After another hour the wine began to emerge, terroir was back and purity of fruit was beginning to show. Better a half hour later but finish was very short. Not up to bottle I had in March of 2009. Perhaps it was just this bottle or the wine needs more cellar time. Will try again very soon.
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Slightly disappointing this time - the usual nerve and perfume were abscent; sour cherry and wood - almost like it had passed the top, which seems strange.
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Not the last dinner at Rothmann's (NYC): Wow. Red fruit, cinnamon. Tannic, but soft tannins, high acidity. Really quite good and regal. Amazing purity and richness, while no heaviness at all. This wine just unfolds over your tongue with red fruit and pretty perfume, feminine, but with that underlying young Barolo firmness hiding behind the satin curtains while the young red fruit steals the show . . . for now. This hasn't really developed much in the two years since my last bottle (I brought to Gary Z.'s in Sag Harbor); the wine is just as pure and captivating, although maybe, just maybe, a touch more user-friendly this time. With time, Cousin Dave says "blueberry ink", while to me, this is showing more red fruited, with mincemeat pie and very herbal. I'm sipping a final glass the next night, with no degradation, just the same red fruit purity. Better tonight, more focused. This is the kind of wine I am proud to cellar. Thanks to Bruce for sacrificing one of his.
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Okay, I'm just going to say one word about this wine - WOW! Best Barolo I've ever had... I won't try to recite all the nuanced notes coming out on this one, it's just an all around bad-ass wine. Beautiful in every sense of the glass - an aroma that just screams high-quality quintessential Barolo and balanced all the way through the extremely long finish. Drinking beautifully right now. If you have more than one bottle, pop one now and enjoy. No need to decant for hours on end, it was absolutely singing 30 minutes after we uncorked.
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Popped the cork early in the morning and audouzed until 3PM when I decanted it for two hours before leaving for the party. Classic young barolo showing some floral notes along with some smokiness on the nose. I think I'll sit on my remaining bottles for a number of years before trying again.
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Just slightly oxidized I thought compared to some other '99 barolos like the Scavino Bric del Fiasc but what's a little oxidation to a barolo I ask you? On the nose I'll go along with the rose petals and the classic woody elements of camphor, eucalyptus, and subtle oak. But also I get kirsch, an elusive hint of green olive, mashed, ripe satsuma plums, fig, and orange peel. However, I won't accede to the tar and gravel (opps, that's my roof I'm talkin' about--skip the gravel part) and tobacco tropes. Those elements may yet ooze forth from the sticky goo of macerated plum and fig but it will take another five to ten years. In the meanwhile, who cares? I'm not familiar with Mascarello so the slightly oxidized quality may be--a Feature!--no, seriously, it may be a tic common to this winemaker as two bottles showed the same profile which I think would be really bad luck with a barolo if it weren't. I guess I'll just have to drink more and learn. Darn!
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At Pratts for Lugeresque. Just begining to hit its stride. Excelent balance, wonderful mouth feel, red fruit, earthy, mushrooms, some leather, classic Barolo flavors .
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The bottle was slightly off so it didn't have the aromatics and complexity that it should have. Some tar and roses although the finish was short. My west coast luck isn't so good. Purchased from Woodland Hills Wine Co.
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Glenn K brought this bottle to the Black Sheep for dinner. I have minimal experience with Baralo so take the following note with grain of salt. The nose was hot and lacking the delicate structure I would expect from a barolo. Very fruit forward nose with some leather. On palate it is a little thin with a clipped finish.
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Let slow-o for 4 hours prior to serving. Nose was a bit muted at first but provided some nice crushed berry aromas as it opened up. Really full and rich on the palate with tons of ripe black cherry leading to a long and sweet finish. It was enjoyable now, but this obviously needs more time so I’m going to hold my remaining bottles for 5+ years.
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Ruby color with perfect clarity. Nose of baking spices, floral and a bit of tea leaves. Loads of juicy red fruit (cherry and strawberry) on the palate with medium+ acid and tannin. Silky smooth mouthfeel, seamless transition to mid palate and a nice dry finish even though the wine is incredibly juicy on the palate. Excellent barolo.
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One of my absolute favourite Barolos. Burgundy like - light, fruity with considerable complexity on the nose and palate. Yet another great evening enjoying Monprivato.
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Sadly, no chance to decant several hours in advance. Opened for an hour and then poured. Light cherry red. Great nose of cherry, rose, leather and truffle. Nice palate of Barolo flavors, but with sour cherry slightly advanced. Still some tannin to resolve. Will not try this wine again from my cellar without a good 5 hour decant. Although very good, I think it loses something without more time to open.
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Deep ruby. Over a 3 hour decant the nose opened up nicely with pure cherry and blackberries. Not the least bit austere or vegetal as can be found with many barolos. The palate was complex and showed depth & structure. This showed no signs of aging at all and I believe this will be a great wine in 10 years or so.
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From memory: Fortunately received some air thanks to libbyg arriving early. I want to say this wine was dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. The wine came across as still very young on both the nose and palate exhibiting more primary fruits like black berries and black cherries. As best as I recall the acidity was young and vibrant with firm tannins and hovering between medium and full body. This is an obvious hold right now but I look forward to the opportunity to try again in the future. I wouldn't rate it right now simply because it's too young and tight to render good judgment. Hold.
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well among other things. I think that this wine might be slightly shut. It is very refined and along with beautiful fruit it has an underlying balanced minerality . Seashells on finish. Very delicate. Choose what you taste along very carefully.
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Decanted for 5+ hours. Wine of the night at Craft. What a brilliant Barolo this is. Textbook nose of tar, mint and roses. In the mouth this hits all the switches. Perfect finish that leaves you wanting more and more. I was dumbfounded by how good this was and think it could be 100 points when it peaks.
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Much better than last bottle. A beauty. Great nose of cherry, truffle, tar, and petrol. Slightly pale cherry in color. Drinking very well now with cherry, leather and truffle on the palate. Integrated on the palate. Still evident tannins, but smooth, not drying. Still a long way to go and with much upside.
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Garnet. Medium intense nose of balsamic, pine, spice, dill, chocolate with some cherry, plum and licorice fruit. Nose On the palate it is framed by refreshing acidity, approachable and plush on the mid-palate with a replay of rich plum and balsamic that continues onto the medium length. What sets this apart from the 1997 is the almost perfect balance. Lovely. Not a blockbuster but lingers.
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Still very closed. Big and extremely promising but not at all giving yet. Drank next to the 98 and 2000 and this is by far the most backward. Give it time and this will be wonderful.
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Slow ox all day, drunk with game ragu + home made pasta. Absolutely fabulous wine- remarkably sweet, feminine expression of Nebbiolo aromatics for this particular bottle: violets, rose petals, just a hint of tar. Open and expressive on the palate with good supporting acidity and the trademark strain of mineral, tannic focus. Treat with respect, however- I've heard quite a few reports of this shutting down.
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Decanted for 2+ hours before serving. Color was a ruddy red. Fabulous nose that only got better as it sat in the decanter - lots going on here: flowers, tar, raspberries, cherries, and 'dusty' earth. In the glass, even better... layers of red fruits, tar, earth. and a bit of black liquorice packed into a 30-35 second finsh. Tannins were significant and many years away from melding into the wine. This wine needs a lot more time in the bottle, and will likely deserve a higher score in 5-10 years. While drinking this, I couldn't help but think the earthiness of this wine gave it a Burgundy flair. A big shout out to PH and Daniel Fulton for arranging the trade that scored me this bottle! Thanks! It was a pleasure and I intend to seek out more.
I served this alongside a bottle of 02 Thackery Aquila Sangiovese, which was a huge mistake. It overpowered the Monprivato. The Thackery was 'in your face', while this was all finesse and subtlety. I had to put the Thackery aside and pick it up later on.
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had this wine on multiple occasions; dont plan to taste again for years. With very rare exceptions, I found little pleasure in drinking any 99s. This bottle however was particularly harsh. intensely tannic. Found it to have a synthetic or petrol quality on the nose
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Decanted for about an hour before drinking. Color was beautiful, pale with a slight orangish tint. In sunlight the bubbles from the initial pour radiated an orangish pink. Slight mustiness in both the nose and flavors. Drinking it the flavor profile leaned more towards tar than fruit. A pleasant drink but a little disappointing. Slightly corked?
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Magical nose of rose petals, cherries,and slight earthy dustiness. I could drink this wine every night. I am amazed by the extremely translucent color of this wine that posseses such power. This is like drinking grand cru burgundy.
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Powerful aromas tending more toward sweet currants than the classic tar and roses speaks to how young this is even at age 7 1/2 . Hugely, deeply flavorful and extremely primary, the floral and earthier characteristics only start to surface a bit after a while in the glass. Tannins are buried but there, but this drinks great if you like your barolos young with little or no austerity. Terrific stuff. I'm sure this will be great in 20 years, too.
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Way way too young, but after 14 hours of air served with risotto and white truffles. Light colored but packed with fruit, no secondaries now but sure to develop classic tar and roses. Very balanced, sure to be a great wine. Don't open until 2015 if you want the wine to be mature and at its peak.
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Tasted at the winery with Guiseppe. Typical monprivato light colour; powerful yet elegant aromas of roses and perfume,hints of tar with beautiful, feminine flavours and rounder than the 2001 that was tasted simultaneously. Remains a favourite with me. Top notch barolo.
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medium orange in colour. delicious nose of tar and rose petals. smells like a traditional barolo. and while quite good, there was something about it that i found missing. perhaps its because this wine is still in its youth.... it definately was a bit tannic... just not sure. had a 1998 monprivato a couple of months prior that i enjoyed more...
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3/4/2024 - Yassine23 Likes this wine:
Very good but fully mature, don't think it'll get better (based on this particular bottle)
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1/4/2024 - Diane (LI) wrote:
Drinking beautifully. Classic Barolo.
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1/3/2024 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 92 Points
This seemed perfectly mature. Nevertheless, there were some of these slightly „unclean“ Monprivato notes I sometimes struggle with, first I thought it might have some TCA or Brett. Besides that, the wine was showing very nicely though. Notes of darker red fruit, some cellar notes too, there is also some animalic notes, tobacco, tar. It‘s medium+ bodied, with good persistence, some medium-high acidity and medium tannin that is very silky. Good length. Maybe I just don‘t get these wines completely.
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12/28/2023 - Blue Oval wrote: flawed
I bought 3 bottles from Garagiste back in the day. My 3rd corked bottle (100 percent corked🤪. Congrats Garagiste!). I get some cherries so you get some points from being 70. Disappointed for sure. I need a Two Buck Chuck to cleanse my palate! At least if the cork was stuck in my *ars the barnyard would make me think some type of Rhone wine with some additional points. Nope. Good God...next.....
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12/13/2023 - DaleW wrote:
Both bottles (from different cellars) showed similarly (and well). Black cherry, tar, and roses, some tannic structure but quite approachable. Lovely. A-
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11/18/2023 - AudunG wrote: 94 Points
Floral Nebbiolo aromas with forest floor, tar, liquorice and caramel/vanilla. Light, intense and delicate for a Barolo. Still with great concentration and nice structure. Delicious!
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8/6/2023 - aquacongas wrote: flawed
unfortunately oxidized
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5/6/2023 - Al Ehrhardt wrote:
Another good, not great bottle of traditional barolo. Tar, black cherries, truffle, earthy, pine/forest. Difficult for me to even write a review since this vintage has just been disappointing for a wine of this caliber. Had four of these. One was horribly corked, one wasn't very good, and two were good, but didn't live up to this wines potential. We did visit the winery 10 years ago and after seeing the winery, not surprised by the wines seeming a bit off. Have three 21's left...
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5/1/2023 - Montesquieu wrote: flawed
Our bottle seemed slightly off and imbalanced. What wasn't flawed was big, muscular, mushroomy. Didn't love the weight and wouldn't have praised the wine since I prefer elegance in Barolo.
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2/12/2023 - JWG wrote: 93 Points
Very much like the 2020 bottle we had -- delightful and similar notes to 2 yrs ago.
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2/4/2023 - kenv Likes this wine: 96 Points
NK Monprivato Vertical (Chez Goldberg, Greenwich Village, NYC): [Double-decanted about noon.] Gorgeous nose of tar, roses, and loads of fruit. Long, complex. Another wow wine from 1999.
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2/4/2023 - cct wrote: 95 Points
Double decanted in the AM and drunk over several hours.
A deep perfumed nose with tar, roses and balsam. Still quite brooding and young. Darker nebbiolo fruit, intense and still holding back some. There's huge depth and graceful inner perfume beautifully balanced in this adolescent wine. This grew with air over several hours fanning out and growing in multiple planes. This is going to turn into a stunner. Delicious now in a youthful mode, but much more to come. 95+
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1/1/2023 - bon vivant wrote: 97 Points
This came as a late decision to accompany home made pasta with mushrooms and smoked duck. So instead of my favorite treatment of slow ox it went into a large (magnum) decanter to blow off some initial bottle funk mustiness. within 20 minutes we started to sip and 10 minutes later the fireworks started. At first this was a little shy with dark fruit (cherry) dominating but the long finish gave us a great intro to what's to come. A classic Barolo evolution in the glass with a kaleidoscope of scents and flavors continuing to emerge, tapanade and herbs come into the fold and some forest floor, then more red fruit and an hr into it the proverbial roses and tar. A softer velvety mouth feel as it opens and warms up. Eventually leading to strawberry and brown sugar sweetness and Umami porchini whifs on the finish. This walks a really nice balance between power and elegance and is drinking beautifully right now at what i expect is just getting into an optimal zone. I looked at Galoni's drinking window which gave it up to 2024 and IMO it is way underestimating the potential longevity if this bottle is a good indication. This was sipped over 2.5 hrs and was truly meditative, so good nothing was left for the next day. to truly appreciate this wine I highly recommend quite enjoyment and make sure you don't over decant as in such a case you may miss a good part of the show.
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12/31/2022 - Al Ehrhardt wrote:
Really sucked that this was badly corked.
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12/30/2022 - Beachfan Likes this wine: 93 Points
From Coravin at first, not the best as it needed to be open for a while. Opened bottle for last couple of glasses and then it was singing.
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12/27/2022 - dbkitc wrote: 94 Points
What a great bottle of wine. Ruby with an orange rim. The nose is so funky and intense. Classic with aromas of cherry fruit, worchestershire and dried flower petals. Medium bodied but so impactful. Tactile and dry yet fill with mature fruit and a tobacco leaf finish. I love the weight, style and complexity. Finish goes on and on. (94)
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12/17/2022 - Arsene wrote: 97 Points
Mørk musteinsrød, nesten brunlig. Orange mot vandig rand.
Utviklet. Kaffe, sjokolade og svisker. Streif av friskhet fra modne røde bær. Kirsebær
I munnen er uttrykket nesten motsatt. Syrlig.Tørr. Volantil i staren. Etterhvert deilig balansert men mektig. Moden. Karamell og vanilje. Pepper..Lakris inn i utgangen. Opplever vinen i stadig endring. Nyansert og mystisk. Vekker nysgjerrighet hele veien.
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11/20/2022 - Big Swifty Likes this wine:
Popped & poured. Light tawny-red color. 30-60 minutes in and this really starts to sing. Explosive menthol, bruised rosemary, roses and dark, lurking fruit. Strong aromas with good detail and transparency. Big palate impact of sweet fruit and racy acidity with a strong current of herbs, black olive tapenade and balsamico. Tannins are classic Nebbiolo but well integrated to the deep, dark fruit flavor. This bottle is gorgeous - keeps building for hours and on day two was still delivering the goods. Classic and hugely gratifying! Much better than a tired bottle tasted a year earlier.
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11/20/2022 - JOsgood wrote:
Mild cork taint unfortunately killed the nose on this bottle. The palate was good enough to enjoy but not the magic that I know this vintage is capable of.
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11/12/2022 - Nanda wrote:
Off bottle. Heat damaged?
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11/12/2022 - acyso wrote: flawed
Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume VII (Chicago, IL): No. 19750. Sadly oxidized; a shame -- the bottle from a dinner three nights ago was stellar
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11/9/2022 - Nanda wrote:
16/09/07/06/04/03/01/99/98 vertical. So good, but probably still just a touch too young. Interesting the 01 and 04 showed a bit more ready and firing-on-all-cylinders to me. This was close to those wines but just a touch inward and less expressive. An outstanding wine that is inching towards a a peak window.
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11/9/2022 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Monprivato dinner at Osteria Langhe (Chicago, IL): No. 15494. Another splendid, old school, classic Monprivato. In some ways, this is very close to the brilliant 2001, but it is missing some of the brightness and exuberance that its younger sibling has. In addition, the tannic structure here is more firm, making me think that this needs a good amount more time before it really comes around, unlike the 2001 which is drinking so incredibly well tonight.
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11/4/2022 - Tao wrote: 91 Points
Nose of metallic red fruits, a hint of caramel, charming! The palate is slightly sweet and rustic! Brownish colour reflect the wine did reach some stage.
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9/26/2022 - Nacnud wrote:
I was expecting this to be over the hill and I neglected to stand it up over night. Amazingly, this was still very good (albeit past its prime, like most of us:), and there was no sediment. It was not decanted and consumed over an hour, it did not fall apart.
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9/16/2022 - smctipton Likes this wine: 94 Points
No time to decant. Saturated tawny upon PnP, with muted nose. Palate however was dark fruits, dust, mushroom, with sweet fine tannins and balanced acid levels. Turned to deep ruby after about 1 hour, and nose bloomed to spice and plum. Very nice.
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5/21/2022 - KeithAkers wrote: flawed
il gran finale del Barolo di compleanno (Osteria Langhe, Chicago IL): DOA and not the first time with this wine. /sigh
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4/2/2022 - kenv Likes this wine: 95 Points
1999 Barolo Dinner (Chez Goldberg, Greenwich Village, NYC): [Double-decanted around 2:30pm for 3 hours.] Mature nose of black cherries and forest floor. Long, complex finish of tar and black fruit.
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1/16/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 88 Points
Light nose; tart and sweet cherry.
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12/25/2021 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 92 Points
Scored as 'Excellent' on the CT scale and I note that had the cork been in better condition the elements that I don't like could easily have seen a score more in line with the tremendous reputation of the vintage.
The cork in this bottle broke about half way down; the next go gave me a core sample without removing the remnant cork, before a third dig gave me the rest of the cork. I felt a bit like a drunken dentist removing a troublesome molar. Have I ever mentioned that I hate cork as a closure?
Anyway, on to the wine. The colour is deep, all brick red and brown hues, speaking to the prospect of a closure problem, although the ullage was not significant and Barolo does tend to the earthy hues.
The nose has a distracting 'sherry' element that I cannot love and can barely tolerate. Under it there is some lovely plum and strawberry and Balsamic. The nose may trouble many others less than it does me.
The palate is where this wine comes into its own. It fills the mouth with a an almost unctuous melange of plum, macerated strawberry, Balsamic and a hint of tar. There are supportive but well resolved ripe tannins that stop this from being flabby.
The mouthfeel alone is worth the price of admission. This part I really love, to the point where I am placed in a dilemma - do I score this based on the palate (which I love) or the nose and the palate? I have to score this on an overall impression and it is true that the sherry element is present (albeit less distractingly so) on the palate too.
I guess this is an example of the truism that there are no great old wines, just great old bottles. With a more reliable closure this would certainly be a great old wine. As it is, it is a very charming, but eccentric old thing.
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12/24/2021 - retired_and_roving wrote:
Near the end in a long line-up of wines with birthday dinner and didn't really stand out. Some drying tannins, still quite structured - a bit withholding aromatically. Don't think this is ready for prime time yet, but at the current price point would not be a repurchase for me.
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12/24/2021 - MC2 Wines wrote:
From memory from a few weeks ago so not very detailed notes. This was drinking quite nicely though. Paired with a steak dinner for a friend's birthday and this held up to the meat well and perhaps appreciated some of the extra structure that this wine tends to bring. It was fairly well integrated by this point. I would say in drinking window, but on the early side and likely to improve with some more years.
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12/24/2021 - Al Ehrhardt wrote:
Double decanted. Restrained nose. Classic traditional barolo. Opened up with time. While very good, not great.
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12/9/2021 - dbkitc wrote: 95 Points
(at Vito's - Baltimore) Fantastic - floral and meaty - the nose is uplifting. The wine is so pure and lingers on the palate. Stays with you even after moving to other wines. This is my favorite style of Nebbiolo - pure fruit, a tiny bit of funk and perfectly integrated acidity with no window dressing. Will last for years. (95)
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11/26/2021 - Diane (LI) wrote:
Strong balsamic nose with underlying cherry liqueur…just lovely. Classic Barolo on the palate. Roses, tar, dried cherry and a sweet lingering finish. Tannins hold firm but do not detract.
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10/10/2021 - jamesabdavis wrote:
Classic nose: tar, balsamic, rose petals, an attractive minerality. Beautifully aromatic.
Lovely cherry-fruited presence on the palate, really elegant. Terrific finish, lots of fine tannin enrobed in matière and very long. Super freshness throughout.
This is really too-notch, in a fairly understated way.
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7/22/2021 - Cmainardi wrote: 95 Points
This is drinking beautifully now. No rush but what a treat.
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4/10/2021 - DougLee wrote: 94 Points
Required 4 hours in the decanter and 2 hours in the glass, just as in the previous taster’s note. Darker translucent scarlet ruby hue. Nose of balsam, voluminous rose petals and violets, strawberries, iodine, and camphor. Layers of tarry black plum, cool strawberry, and deep sweet earth unrolling on the palate like a delicious carpet. Beautiful acidity and firm but fine tannin. Long finish of anchored plum fruit, tar, delicate sweetness, and quenching freshness. Tasting this is a gift.
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4/3/2021 - rsbeck wrote: 95 Points
Popped, decanted for four hours before consuming over next two. Needed all of that air and continued to develop, add flesh, and reveal nuance after pouring. This was paired with smoked rib-eye and I think the pairing helped the wine’s performance. The wine still has a fair amount of powdery tannin and I also believe this has the fruit and structure to continue to develop for years and years. This was elegant, well balanced, complex and fascinating.
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3/7/2021 - aajder wrote: 92 Points
Good deep color with bricking. The nose shows aromas of dried raspberries, flowers, tar, leather and a hint of tobacco. This is medium full bodied on the palate with excellent concentration and wonderful class. Good finesse. The fairly long finish shows firm, integrated tannins and good acidity. Excellent balance.
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1/30/2021 - AudunG wrote: 92 Points
Nebbiolo aromas with tar, wet wool and some wood. Structured and quite tannic mouth feeling. Semi modern Barolo of high quality. A lot better and less developed than a bottle tasted a year ago. Tasted better in a Zalto Bordeaux than in a Zalto Burgundy.
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10/11/2020 - JWG wrote: 93 Points
This bottle was a return to my earlier experiences with this vintage, where it is worthy of a serious rating. The previous bottle we had was an outlier, since it was so lackluster, but this one returns with beautitful barolo notes which mirror my detailed notes of 2017.
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9/4/2020 - Nojomoschwa Likes this wine: 96 Points
This bottle was more like it. Firing on all cylinders and really beautifully balanced between the dried fruit, spice, tannis and alcohol. What you hope it will be when you lay down the money for this kind of wine.
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7/29/2020 - Nojomoschwa wrote: 94 Points
Not the best bottle of this I have had (tried 3 over the last 3 years), but the nose was just beautiful. Ever-changing, complex and inviting. The palate was not as focused as I remember, but had mid-plus complexity and kept your attention for a while. Quite elegant to drink now and the tannins have resolved nicely. Had hoped for a bit more fireworks, but very good nonetheless.
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6/21/2020 - NJwineguy wrote: flawed
Corked and oxidized
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3/13/2020 - beatles wrote: 93 Points
We were suspecting a hin of a flaw here at the beninning, but it quickly wore off and and lef a very elegant, almost femining, somehwat light, yetintense barolo with tobaco and roseleaves and a sweet red fruit. Seems ready to drink - but no hurry here.
#Bæst
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1/24/2020 - NostraBacchus wrote: 93 Points
Deeper red fruited, with nice minerality, some flowery notes, but also some notes of tar. It‘s medium bodied, has medium+ acidity and medium-high tannin that is literally sneaking up on you. Some people called this Burgundian, I didn‘t really get this as I thought that the tannin was slightly out of balance in context of the body and fruit. Excellent length. A very good Monprivato but I am still waiting for this wine to touch me.
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1/9/2020 - corktaint Likes this wine: 97 Points
This is a stunning bottle! Wonderfully complex aroma of menthol, roses, and tar. Medium body with subtle and complex flavors on the perfectly balanced palate, and a satisfying long finish. The most surprising thing to me was how well integrated the tannins are now. This is drinking beautifully!
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12/29/2019 - aajder wrote: 89 Points
Medium color with significant fading. The nose shows somewhat oxidized aromas of raspberry, tobacco, tar, flowers, nuts and a hint of spice. This is medium full bodied on the palate with excellent concentration and excellent class. Lovely balance. The fairly long finish features ripe tannins. A shame that it wasn't as fresh as it should have been...
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12/9/2019 - paulst Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cherry and raspberry; youthful; fruit forward; rich; structured; long finish.
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11/10/2019 - the godfather wrote:
A Pristine bottle of this magical elixir, still very much on the youthful side
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11/9/2019 - dream wrote:
Another bottle of oxidized older wine from Crush. I’m done buying older wine from them.
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11/4/2019 - BillBell73 Likes this wine:
In good shape and drinking very well- in fact this particular bottle is pretty close to peak form. Complex, showing some tertiary flavors but has retained enough fruit to round things off, tannins have mostly resolved. A beautiful wine.
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10/18/2019 - AudunG wrote: 88 Points
Brown appearance. Aromas of very old Barolo, with wet wool, sausage water and terpentine. Thought it could be something like 40-50 years. Still rich and generous, though.
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9/28/2019 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
~3 hour decant, and could have used another 5 hours. Very primary, but still quite delicious. Abundant rich fruit that is laced with florals and musk. Rich and still chewy. Better in 5-10 years.
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9/15/2019 - RonniePiemonte wrote: 93 Points
Mouth saturating Barolo with great fruit and tannins. This could go for many more years.
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9/4/2019 - Bob H wrote:
Okay, but not what I expect from this producer and vineyard in this vintage. Not overtly flawed, yet not great either. Palate is better than the reticent nose, with a spiced note on the red fruit. But overall, just acceptable (which might be okay for a Wednesday night).
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5/5/2019 - JOsgood wrote:
Nice but not to the level of previous bottles. Wasn't as good as the 2004 served alongside and I detected a slight amount of cork taint.
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5/5/2019 - the godfather wrote:
A great showing for this great wine, still so young
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3/1/2019 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Tooch Going Away Dinner (TDS): I really, really liked this. Bottle opened and slow-oxed 8-9 hours before dinner. Full nose of musk, spice, licorice and dried and young black cherry fruit. The palate is round and fleshy with emerging complexity. Intense spice and musk in the finish. Still not fully ready at age 20. Upside from here.
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3/1/2019 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
A farewell to Tooch (Chicago, IL): The nose on this shows some really pretty red fruit, as well as some mild floral elements. It's not something that immediately screams out to me as nebbiolo, at least, until you taste it. There, you definitely get the tannic structure, but also much of the same red fruit and florals on the nose. A hint of earthiness here also adds interest.
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2/26/2019 - paulst Likes this wine: 92 Points
Earth and tart; light cherry with cedar; long semi-sweet finish.
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1/22/2019 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 95 Points
At first, the bouquet on the ‘99 Monprivato was restrained, yet it quickly evolved in the glass to reveal a beautiful expression, as bright strawberry, dusty roses, hints of savory herbs, dried flowers, and crushed stone minerality filled the senses. With even more time, notes of savory meat and undergrowth added even more complexity. On the palate, I found a finessed and feminine display, with lifted textures giving way to notes of tart strawberry, with a mix of acid and minerality that saturated the senses, making them water and adding a sweet hard red candy note to the experience. The finish was long and very pretty, resonating on inner florals and minerals in a more savory than sweet expression. Beautiful.
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9/26/2018 - Mascarello59 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very aromatic and typical in a rather advanced stage. Silky smooth for a monprivato. Good fruit but lacking some freshness. Very nice finish. I would prefer to drink sooner rather than later.
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7/29/2018 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
The structure has finally smoothed out enough to make this drinkable, no longer the blitzkrieg of tannin it was for so long. But not much more to say about it beyond that - it'll probably need another decade to show much personality.
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3/21/2018 - JWG wrote:
This bottle was a disappointment. Had a funk to start, though it blew off after about 15 min. But the wine never really recovered to have any of the great nose and palate features described in my earlier bottles. So, I conclude this bottle was tainted in some way, even though it was still pleasant and drinkable. Just not the barolo it normally is.
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11/29/2017 - paulst Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still tight; austere raisen; some cedar and raspberry; light and acidic; needs time,
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11/17/2017 - slbelln Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still early in the drinking life of this powerhouse barolo.
3 bottles, all opened 6 hours before, then decanted an hour prior to serving.
Beautifully balanced wine, absolutely no tannins and a very smooth finish.
Hint of oak and cherries.
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10/25/2017 - cweiss wrote:
Erbaluce. Not a good bottle, though no obvious flaw. Quite mute on opening and after 5 hours of slow O and a couple of hours in the decanter, still not very expressive. I think not just an issue of being too young.
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10/25/2017 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 93 Points
No Morissio in 99 so those grapes are in this wine. Color is much darker than the 05 Monprivato in the next glass. Great balance of fruit, tannin and alcohol. Tannins are grippy. Goes really well with food at this stage. Much more complexity than the 05. More depth and nuance. Really good.
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10/24/2017 - mattiasjansson wrote: 90 Points
Italian Wines in Boston: Medium brick red. Some nail polish. Tannins still resolving. A bit thin on the finish - ends on a simple note of fruit and tannins.
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9/10/2017 - Sixchips600 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow - this was just fantastic. Slow ox for a couple hours, but started signing before then and was hard to keep away from it. Then followed in decanter for the rest of the evening. Nose had strong balsamic and loads of truffles and earth. Palate was power and elegance with perfectly integrated tannins. It peaked about 4-5 hours with rich dark elegant texture that was outstanding. I wish I had more of these to drink now or hold for another decade.
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8/5/2017 - rlove wrote: flawed
Cooked.
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7/23/2017 - RickAlb Likes this wine: 95 Points
This was very good, drinking perfectly. Worried because a 2003 we opened just before was skunked but this was not thank goodness.
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4/15/2017 - JWG wrote: 94 Points
Deep nose -- lots going on under the surface. Dusty tar and floral note and some tobacco in there. Bloody meat and a bit of balsamic. Palate has dark cherries, and a chewiness along with tobacco and earthy tones. Small tannins round out the end.
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3/6/2017 - Miamidivorcelawyer Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened the bottle about 4 hours prior to tasting and it was perfect. Fantastic earthy rich fruit, lush waves of strawberries, prunes and structure to carry the low acidity. The mid palate had a finish that just evolved as the wine settled. a solid old school Barolo that had another 5-10 years easily.
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3/4/2017 - 5laton wrote:
Upon opening, gorgeously aromatic but tons of fine sediment. Poured off the sediment and back into a sealed bottle.
6 hours later, served and it's like an over the hill wine, all sous-bois, still some richness but no fruit or or other complexity.
Very odd experience. Cork was clean, this was a replacement for a corked bottle provided by the importer.
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12/21/2016 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points
Barolos and Barbarescos with some age (Osteria Langhe, Chicago IL): Nose: The nose is amazingly perfumed, regal, and deep with wild flowers, roses, black truffles, leather, strawberries, roasted herbs, spice tones, and red cherries.
Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity and high tannins. The structure is still imposing, but the feel is gorgeous underneath with wild flowers, red cherries, strawberries, violets, black truffles, leather, and roasted herbs.
Overall: This is still a baby. It has a lot more to give, but it is absolutely gorgeous right now. It needs a good bit of air to fully get going, but it's a real treat once it does.
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12/21/2016 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Older Barolos at Osteria Langhe (Chicago, IL): #15423. Slow-oxed for six hours. A brilliant Barolo. The nose on this is explosive, with brilliant red fruits and florals all emanating out in a luscious perfume. The palate is light and elegant, but despite that, it's never watery or dilute. Not heavily extracted, this still manages to punch very, very hard. The red fruit comes off with a similar perfumed quality on the palate, and the acidity balances out the ripeness perfectly. There's still quite a bit of tannin to resolve, but this is already incredibly delicious.
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12/5/2016 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 96 Points
Unfortunately Flawed. (I included a tasting note of a ‘99 opened a year ago; However, it’s important to note that the bottle I had previous to that one was flawed as well. Following is the original note from the previous bottle). Back to form after my last bottle, the 1999 Monprivato was classic and refined, with a nose full of dried cherry, dusty spice, undergrowth, minerals, and rosy floral notes. On the palate, it was angular and austere, yet the potential in this wine lurks right below the surface, with notes of dried cherry, dark chocolate, balsamic tones and minerals hinting at a bright future. Staying red fruit saturated the senses throughout the finish, along with inner floral notes, dried leaves and soil. Wow!
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12/4/2016 - Cmainardi wrote: 96 Points
Decanted for 4 hours. Explosive nose of red fruits and flowers. Bright red with fresh acidity and palate, opened at a small dinner party with wine braised pot roast and served next to a 99 Clerico CMG. The Mascarello was the group favorite unanimously.This may get better but it is drinking quite beautifully now.
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11/22/2016 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beautiful wine showing delicious red fruits and plenty of flesh to go along with the classic Mascarello structure and acidity. Finishes with excellent mineral crunch. The tannins are softening and this is approaching it's peak drinking window with many years of enjoyment and tertiary flavors to come. 93+
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11/17/2016 - Cristian De Zen wrote: 97 Points
truly majestic and flamboyant array of fruit flavors
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9/5/2016 - portman63 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened 3+ hours before serving. Tannins integrated and showing roses, cherry, and tobacco flavors. Really balance with a long finish. Will be great now or for a number of years. What I love about Nebbiolo.
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9/3/2016 - drwine2001 wrote:
I'll write more but will just start by shaking my head and saying that this was an object lesson in the utter greatness of Nebbiolo. Light ruby center with gentle gradation to a mature, light rim. After a 2 hour decant, explosive, powerful, almost dizzying aromas of tobacco and anise with some enlivening volatile acidity. Then the register changed to high toned florality, mint, and mocha. Finally, concentrated dark cherry appeared after a few hours. The palatal progression was similarly fascinating-first fairly concentrated, clenched, and terrific acidity, then finer and more open with subtly ripe red fruit and chocolate, ultimately then sturdier cherry accompanied by a backbone of minerality. During the middle phase of its evolution in the glass, I thought that the wine must be at or at least close to maturity, but in the end, it is hard to imagine that such a dynamic, complex wine would not have several more decades of pleasure to give. While I may be confused about its future, there is no doubt about the present: this is one fabulous Barolo! If you find it, drink and savor it.
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3/31/2016 - pilot360 wrote:
A wine in its infancy.
Mushrooms, medium roast, coffee, seared steak create the base, with an uplifting floral its and dark cherries.
This was a knockout, and will only get better over the decades.
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2/6/2016 - cweiss Likes this wine:
Tet. Paired with the 1996. I preferred the 1999 that night, finding it much more ready to drink. Lovely nose and lots of fruit. Length.
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12/18/2015 - Pknut wrote:
Really primary cherry palate, kirsch, some alcohol is noticeable. This bottle didn't see very much air and the showing was young and primary but not that tight structurally. Needs more time in bottle. In Vegas with R.
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11/14/2015 - Chaz Bham wrote:
An evening of Barolo and screening of The Barolo Boys (Old World Deli, Bellingham, WA): Initially reticent, but later in the evening I caught a stunning floral nose. Sampled throughout the evening, this bottle had wonderful subtlety and complexity. There is a finesse of the elements and their interplay with the resolved tannins that sets a bottle like this above the rest. Gentle tones of orange peel and marmalade that the other bottles did not have. I thought this element was unusual but a welcome chromatic feature of the palate. Balanced red fruit, earth, and dried herbs, all with remarkable finesse. A distinctive wine, drinking beautifully.
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9/18/2015 - elamasters wrote: 94 Points
1999 Barolo Tasting - TWG; 9/17/2015-9/18/2015: I liked this a lot. Lighter color. Silky on the palate. Sweet strawberry fruit. Has a hint of VA, but just enough to give it some nice lift. My favorite wine of the tasting.
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9/12/2015 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points
Nose: It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, the aromas of rose petals, red cherries, violets, roasted herbs, wild flowers, fresh picked berries, tar, incense, and a touch of leather. There is a lot of layering and perfume to this, while having a freshness to the tones as well.
Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity and youthful tannins. While the structure is certainly there, the feel is refined and regal with rose petals, red cherries, violets, roasted herbs, incense, tar, and wild flowers on the back end.
Overall: This is an absolutely gorgeous Monprivato. There is still a lot of freshness to the tones, but with a lot of room to grow. This needed about 4 hours of air to really start showing itself and it kept growing until it was finally done 8 hours later.
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9/2/2015 - JWG wrote: 94 Points
Nose is dark and rich -- there is a beefy, molasses quality to the nose along with a nice background of alcohol. The palate is dark cherry, chewy, with well integrated acidity to counter those tastes. Tannins are quite integrated and not that significant at this point, but there is still a subtle drying at the end.
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7/6/2015 - kenv Likes this wine: 96 Points
Nebbiolo Lunch with Jeremy Parzen (I Trulli, NYC): Backward with dark fruit and licorice in the nose and mouth. Long, sweet, rich, expansive. Just terrific, with a long life ahead.
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6/1/2015 - abh wrote: flawed
Lunch 5/2015: Corked. Very badly. The one sip I could bear to take revealed lovely texture and balance, and even some fruit flavours that were strong enough to survive the TCA. But the nose was totally compromised.
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5/10/2015 - Nojomoschwa Likes this wine: 97 Points
Drank on Mother's Day. I don't have a ton of experience with top-end Barolo, but this is by far the best example I've ever tasted and I can't imagine it getting much better. I understand that Riserva Ca' d'Morissio was not made in this vintage, so even the very best fruit went into this bottling. Anyway, it is drinking very well now, but still seems to be retaining a good bit of its youth (there are still notes of primary fruit), and I think this will age beautifully for another 20 or so years. The tannins have mellowed down now, and there is an interesting interplay between the primary fruit, oak-aging and bottle--aging elements. In a word: spellbinding. If you (are lucky enough to) have some of this, I would open a bottle every few years to enjoy how it evolves.
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5/7/2015 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wow, this is a super vintage for this wine that is still quite young but with a long decant (double-decanted 3 hours before serving) it shows a gorgeous nose of menthol, dark cherry and tree bark. On the palate, it is so fresh, intense and balanced with regal Barolo flavors of crisp dark cherry, sweet truffles, fabulous spicyness and smoky minerals. The finish is deeply concentrated with notes of menthol and cherry tree bark. One of the best Monprivato's I've tasted and still in need of many more years in the cellar. 94++
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4/29/2015 - Pknut wrote:
Had been decanted for about seven hours. Great depth of fruit, and this is approachable already, but so much more to come. Lots of underlying fruit and power here, yet the palate is refined and silky. Thrilling now but lots more to come.
Jewel Bako with Chet and Herwig.
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4/10/2015 - UTPK wrote:
Sweet and fruity nose with berries, iodine, musk and some earth. Light colour and burgundylike both on nose and palate. Some tannins left but very much in the background. Typical for the traditional producers I assume. Very elegant and drinkable. I agree with fellow tasters that this is still a bit closed. I decanted in open caraffe for 3 hours.
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3/12/2015 - Topper wrote: 92 Points
Some fruit compote with dusty cherry, some tar and a hint of roses. Nice wine that will likely get better, though maybe not by a lot. My second in a flight of 1999 Baroli with Bartolo Mascarello (#1), Giacosa white label (#3) and the Aldo Conterno Granbussia bringing up the rear (#4). All good wines and the general consensus that the 99s are starting to drink well but have lots of room to grow.
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1/23/2015 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Lupa
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1/22/2015 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Chicago Italian Lovers: 1999 Barolo (Bascule Wine Bar): Decanted ~7 hours prior to dinner and apparently was never right from the get go. But at dinner this was closed off and totally muted. Perhaps it's just shut down but most at the table agreed this was an off bottle.
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1/22/2015 - Bill Bucklew wrote: flawed
Decanted for about 7 hours, nose is flat and not showing much of anything. Palate is dis-jointed in that it doesn't have that great Monprivato core, this is just off. I am unsure if this bottle is flawed or if the decanting was too extreme, but I think primarily the former.
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12/26/2014 - DFC wrote: 90 Points
This bottle seemed a bit compromised...it was drinkable and reasonably enjoyable, but it was not what should be expected from this wine.
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12/7/2014 - Calum Dewar wrote: 95 Points
2009 to 2024
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12/2/2014 - MattJ wrote: 89 Points
Musty and a little thin without much complexity. Dissapointing and Azelia San Rocco 1996 Barolo faired much better. This got better with some air time but not never really got going.
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11/28/2014 - pbaek wrote:
This is a special wine. First bottle from a case I bought when I lived in New York. The color is light red with an orange tinge. The nose is so fragrant and powerful, there is a garden of flowers oozing from the glass along with dusty fruit and spices. The wine is so powerful on the palate, yet soft as a pillow. Dusty cherry fruit and spices in the refined, elegant way. This is so genuine and transparent, a wow wine. Wow.
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11/9/2014 - Rob Hansult Likes this wine: 95 Points
Nose > Aromatic, sappy, red-cherry/wild-cherry, strawberry, mushroom, roasted-tomato & something umami under the intense, fresh, wild fruit. Old oak.
Palate > Huge presence. Sappy, expansive. Red-cherry/wild-cherry, roasted-tomato, strawberry.
Hint of umami uber-alles infused high quality balsamic vinegar (sans the EA/VA). Grippy, but rich tannin.
Big, verging on massive palate. Good acidity. Amazing fruit. Nice mix of sappy/fruity freshness & umami.
Great intensity, volume & length.
Wow.
(95+)
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11/9/2014 - amateurwino wrote: 95 Points
This tasting of this wine was a lesson in how context is so important. Earlier in the year, I tasted this in a flight of very high level Barolo and while I liked it plenty, I had it as 3rd favorite out of 4. Tonight, allowed to shine on its own merits, this tastes like a world-beater. Classy red-fruited Barolo in a nuanced style, this shows harmony and beautifully delineated fruit, leather and earth. Wines like this are why I drink wine.
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11/9/2014 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 96 Points
Back to form after my last bottle, the 1999 Monprivato was classic and refined, with a nose full of dried cherry, dusty spice, undergrowth, minerals, and rosy floral notes. On the palate, it was angular and austere, yet the potential in this wine lurks right below the surface, with notes of dried cherry, dark chocolate, balsamic tones and minerals hinting at a bright future. Staying red fruit saturated the senses throughout the finish, along with inner floral notes, dried leaves and soil. Wow!
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11/9/2014 - Mlermontov wrote: 96 Points
Mike on Tour - the Count's Manor: DAMN. soy, cherry, mushroom, ripe but absolutely clean mid. sweaty cherry fruit with a kick of acid. power under the hood waiting to burst open. unending finish. a stunning example - and one that will age. silky, full of cherries and strawberries, earthy.... just damn good.
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10/24/2014 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
A great Italian evening in Belgium: Complex and quite mature bouquet with earth, chocolate, mocha and celery. Same on the palate. A lot of earthy impressions, celery again, but also good and juicy acidity as well as soft and slightly drying tannin. Not really sure what to think. Seems to be quite ready now. Could be the bottle… I scored the wine 91 for tonight.
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10/24/2014 - jkoenen wrote: 91 Points
Italian night @ Stappato (Enoteca Stappato, Leuven (Belgium)): Seemed already quite evolved to me. Creamy style, soft oak, licorice, red fruit. Drying finish slightly worried me.
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9/12/2014 - kenv Likes this wine: 96 Points
Barolo 1999 vs. 2001 Blind (New York Vintners, NYC): Incredibly dark black fruit nose. Brooding and backward. I had trouble guessing whether this was the 01 Monprivato or the 01 Ca, but never thought it was the 99. I guess the Ca fruit went into the 99 Monprivato making it more like the Ca. Anyway, this is probably the most backward of the 99's so far. A terrific wine. 95-97 points.
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9/12/2014 - Eric Guido wrote:
Dueling Blind Barolo Vintages (New York Vintners): The nose was beautiful, with dark, spiced cherry sauce, dusty minerals and a hint of VA. Yet on the palate, this wine took a downturn for me, as it was tight, ungiving and seeming almost diluted. The finish showed hints of red fruit yet remained unyielding. Maybe this was a bad bottle, yet others at the tasting seemed less bothered by its performance.
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5/29/2014 - David Paris (dbp) wrote:
This was drinking in a very odd place on this evening. At times it was beautifully floral, expressive of tar and crushed berries, but then a few minutes later it was overly acidic and seemingly closed down. Nice texture in the mouth throughout. Fresh glasses from the bottle were best, but as this got air it shut down. I knew it was too early to drink a traditional 1999, but decided to check in with a bottle. It's amazing how young this wine is drinking, though it wasn't overtly tannic. I'll hold off on another bottle for at least 5 years, but surely it needs yet more than that to come around.
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5/18/2014 - amateurwino wrote: 91 Points
Pretty, slightly floral nose; open and airy. Red-fruited with good acid on the palate but to me this wine is disjointed at this stage; feels a bit shrill with not a lot of harmony going on yet. Good wine but needs time. 91-92
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5/18/2014 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Leo's Blind Tasting Group - May '14 edition (Ben's (NYC)): A touch reserved on the nose, but the palate here is absolutely incredible with a core of sappy red fruited flavours conveyed with a really delicate, silken touch and remarkable finesse. There's great intensity of flavour but barely any sensation of weight, and it's very long and finessed on the back end. Still very youthful and primary, but a really stunning wine.
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5/18/2014 - the godfather wrote:
Stunning wine. Absolutely Gourgeous nose, pure silk on the palate. Still an all time fave
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5/3/2014 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Ah the virtues of patience. My first bottle in four years and the time has really made a difference. Decanted for 3 hours. Stunning wine. Gorgeous color, seductive earthy bouquet. Mouthwatering palate of vibrant fruit with a long and very elegant finish.
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3/12/2014 - AndrewSGHall wrote: flawed
Really oxidized/furnace nose. Grows into the palate as well. Rather anemic as well. Not undrinkable, but not recognizable for what it is either.
Examined in better light - clearly browned in color and in very short order this was undrinably oxidized.
A.
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3/1/2014 - paolonardi wrote:
Verticale Monprivato Giuseppe Mascarello: Scuro, chinotto, rabarbaro, menta, si discosta un po' dagli altri, sembra avere più peso, il produttore conferma che la vendemmia è stata leggermente tardiva. Bocca sul frutto disidratato e i fiori appassiti. Si beve bene e sarei curioso di riassaggiarlo tra qualche anno, sembra non essere del tutto compiuto. Finale amaro di erbe e di olive nere.
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1/18/2014 - alittle wrote: 91 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. Medium translucent garnet in colour. On the nose, this started out quite reductive, showing heavy notes of burnt rubber, but opened up to reveal notes of cherry, strawberry, baking spice, tar, wet earth, and sweat. On the palate, some reductive tastes present, but also showing some cherry, spice and tar notes. Without the reductive quality, this could have been quite a stunning wine. A shame, really.
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1/18/2014 - Wine Canuck wrote: 91 Points
Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 6 - Dave does Barolo (Dave's House - Kitchener, ON): Initally was extremely reduced with tarry, burning rubber tire notes. It did seem to blow off a fair bit. Nose of sweat, saliene, funk, rubber, undergrowth, and black currant. Palate isn't too dryingly tannic with some sweet fruit leaving a slightly sweet impression. Nicely done with some definite upside.
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1/18/2014 - Dave Canada wrote: 93 Points
Year 2 - Super Tasting 1 of 5 - David does Barolo (Kitchener, Ontario): Pure strawberry, cherry, spice and tar...very pretty nose.
The palate was similarly open with plum, truffle, minerals, nutmeg, cherry, and red florals.
The finish was long, spicy and pure.
I loved this wine...and it will only improve.
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7/23/2013 - BradKNYC wrote: flawed
Bordeaux, Burgs and Piedmont as Barry Lipton visits NYC. (Il Corso.): Corked.
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7/20/2013 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 90 Points
Soft and muted nose with dry tannins and nice smooth finish. Enjoyable at present and likely at its zenith.
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7/17/2013 - Winevestor Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking beautifully. A nose of road and dirt. Amazingly smooth for a Barolo, but has the character to carry it off. This has time to run but is at a great place right now. Drank at a celebration dinner with a lot of great wine. This was the wine of the evening for me.
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7/6/2013 - danibus Likes this wine:
Tasty cherries, tar, roses -- check. But also a slightly watery, oxidized note. Would have expected more spine from this. Probably an off bottle, though still very good in the scheme of things. This bottle probably a 91. Would like to try another.
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3/8/2013 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Zachys La Paulee Auction, Day Two (Smith & Wollensky - New York NY): Fresh rose aromas with some licorice, black cherry. Black and red cherry flavors again showing licorice elements. slightly sweet start, firming up with more structure towards long finish. Good now, certainly better with another decade.
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2/11/2013 - aagrawal wrote: 92 Points
Dinner with Kent (Bella Trattoria, San Francisco): This was a fascinating wine, though I suspect that it was somewhat closed all night. Nose showed red fruits, spice, a little tight; palate was very traditional and focused on structure, nice balanced fruit, great acid that cut through any tomato sauce. This was a superb food wine, but it was primary, young, and needed plenty of time to open up. I would love to try this again in a decade. 91-93
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11/3/2012 - g-man wrote: 91 Points
Spash decanted a couple of hours before conuming at restaurant. Nose was still rather muted but the palate showed balance and intergration of black cherry and tobacco. My last bottle will wait for quite a while before opening.
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10/28/2012 - cos82 wrote: flawed
Corked.
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7/21/2012 - CADomer wrote: 94 Points
Enjoyed this at Coco Pazzo in Chicago, IL. Beautiful wine that evolved throughout the meal and benefited for being decanted. Initially showed balsamic notes of menthol along with blacker tones of licorice while on the savory side. With air this wine became prettier and prettier brightening up gradually to a point where rose petal floated over the top of black cherries with berries and wild fennel. The palate was a model of balance, showing feminine elegance and refined structure. So much to enjoy now but also look forward to with this wine.
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7/11/2012 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 94 Points
1999 Barolo and Barbaresco: Right on Track (Via Emilia, 47 East 21st Street, Manhattan, NY): The nose showed sweet dark cherries and roses with spice and licorice. On the palate it was balanced and feminine with ripe cherry and spices, all driven by juicy acidity that brightened up the palate and nearly masked its underlying structure. The finish was fresh and juicy with inner floral notes lingering throughout.
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12/18/2011 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Really enjoyable, but a bit paradoxical. Started lean, structured and square as one would expect. Opened nicely and smoothly with a nice fruit core and nicely faceted structure. Gained weight and body. Drank really well and delivered pleasure for a while. But body grew first into a really sensual voluptuousness then passed into thick,dull and flabby. A few hours produced the motor oil weight of a caricature Shiraz - and not drinkable.
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11/25/2011 - the godfather wrote:
firing on all cylinders tonight. THis is an extraordinary barolo from a stellar vintage! LOVE!
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11/25/2011 - JOsgood wrote:
Great stuff. Rich nose. Juicy fruits on the palate with lots of tar. Full on the palate. Slightly better than the 2001 Monprivato on this night. Superb.
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10/10/2011 - br wrote:
second bottle from the same source. heat damaged as all the freshness was gone and there was a stewed fruit profile along with brown sugar on the nose. shame on that retailer!
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8/28/2011 - br wrote: flawed
oxidized brownish color with stewed fruits....not exposed to heat on my watch, but clearly an off bottle. big bummer.
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7/30/2011 - cooberp wrote:
Shut down. No nose whatsoever, but a bit more fruit than the 2000, good tangy cherry. Too young by a decade, and I don't have enough experience to give this a score based on potential.
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7/13/2011 - 5laton wrote: flawed
Corked.
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6/6/2011 - daniei wrote:
The Godfather's description below is a very accurate description of this wine.
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4/24/2011 - the godfather wrote:
spec freakin tacular
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4/15/2011 - futronic wrote: 96 Points
Barolo Dinner (Paese Restaurant, Toronto): Decanted 1 hour. Medium-garnet colour. Aromas of cherry, talc, leather, rosemary, potpourri, mushroom, sliced plums, mint. Full-bodied, delicious, with cherry, leather, sliced plums, truffle, earth, and mushroom. Moderate-length finish, ~40s, with red fruit and earth. This is just a baby, but man is ever delicious. Additional cellaring will allow this wine to develop into something truly special. 96+ points. Drink 2015-2025+.
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2/19/2011 - scamhi wrote:
opened for 2 hours in the wide bottomed decanter. This is a lovely wine. Just starting to open with red fruit, baking spice and a sweet finish. Tannins were very soft and in the background
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2/2/2011 - Chuck Miller wrote:
People guessed a non-traditional producer - Wrong!
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12/31/2010 - cardsandwine wrote:
Upon opening the wine had a gorgeous nose and nice earthiness on the palate with fruit still in the background. Decanted for 2 hours and the wine shut down completely. Nada, nothing. After another hour the wine began to emerge, terroir was back and purity of fruit was beginning to show. Better a half hour later but finish was very short. Not up to bottle I had in March of 2009. Perhaps it was just this bottle or the wine needs more cellar time. Will try again very soon.
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11/21/2010 - donStrandini wrote: 89 Points
Slightly disappointing this time - the usual nerve and perfume were abscent; sour cherry and wood - almost like it had passed the top, which seems strange.
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11/19/2010 - paulst wrote: 91 Points
3 hr decant. Earthy herbaceous nose; cherry fruit; some heat; still young and developing; licorice and deep finish.
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7/26/2010 - Pknut wrote:
Not the last dinner at Rothmann's (NYC): Wow. Red fruit, cinnamon. Tannic, but soft tannins, high acidity. Really quite good and regal. Amazing purity and richness, while no heaviness at all. This wine just unfolds over your tongue with red fruit and pretty perfume, feminine, but with that underlying young Barolo firmness hiding behind the satin curtains while the young red fruit steals the show . . . for now. This hasn't really developed much in the two years since my last bottle (I brought to Gary Z.'s in Sag Harbor); the wine is just as pure and captivating, although maybe, just maybe, a touch more user-friendly this time. With time, Cousin Dave says "blueberry ink", while to me, this is showing more red fruited, with mincemeat pie and very herbal. I'm sipping a final glass the next night, with no degradation, just the same red fruit purity. Better tonight, more focused. This is the kind of wine I am proud to cellar. Thanks to Bruce for sacrificing one of his.
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5/12/2010 - ksimback Likes this wine: 95 Points
Okay, I'm just going to say one word about this wine - WOW! Best Barolo I've ever had... I won't try to recite all the nuanced notes coming out on this one, it's just an all around bad-ass wine. Beautiful in every sense of the glass - an aroma that just screams high-quality quintessential Barolo and balanced all the way through the extremely long finish. Drinking beautifully right now. If you have more than one bottle, pop one now and enjoy. No need to decant for hours on end, it was absolutely singing 30 minutes after we uncorked.
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4/11/2010 - g-man wrote: 94 Points
Popped the cork early in the morning and audouzed until 3PM when I decanted it for two hours before leaving for the party. Classic young barolo showing some floral notes along with some smokiness on the nose. I think I'll sit on my remaining bottles for a number of years before trying again.
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3/19/2010 - onewineheaven wrote: 93 Points
Just slightly oxidized I thought compared to some other '99 barolos like the Scavino Bric del Fiasc but what's a little oxidation to a barolo I ask you? On the nose I'll go along with the rose petals and the classic woody elements of camphor, eucalyptus, and subtle oak. But also I get kirsch, an elusive hint of green olive, mashed, ripe satsuma plums, fig, and orange peel. However, I won't accede to the tar and gravel (opps, that's my roof I'm talkin' about--skip the gravel part) and tobacco tropes. Those elements may yet ooze forth from the sticky goo of macerated plum and fig but it will take another five to ten years. In the meanwhile, who cares? I'm not familiar with Mascarello so the slightly oxidized quality may be--a Feature!--no, seriously, it may be a tic common to this winemaker as two bottles showed the same profile which I think would be really bad luck with a barolo if it weren't. I guess I'll just have to drink more and learn. Darn!
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1/31/2010 - J @ y H @ c k wrote: 92 Points
At Pratts for Lugeresque. Just begining to hit its stride. Excelent balance, wonderful mouth feel, red fruit, earthy, mushrooms, some leather, classic Barolo flavors .
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1/24/2010 - Jossik wrote: 75 Points
Piaciuto pochissimo, intense erbe aromatiche, salvia da sauvignon bianco, frutta esotica a mille, boh !
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12/20/2009 - goobz wrote: 93 Points
Loved this wine. Sour dark fruit, truffles, layers of spice. Lots going on after a 5 hour decant. Will last for many years if in the cellar.
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11/29/2009 - the godfather wrote:
Slightly corked or off in some way but still drinkable, so unfortunate
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11/28/2009 - JOsgood wrote: flawed
The bottle was slightly off so it didn't have the aromatics and complexity that it should have. Some tar and roses although the finish was short. My west coast luck isn't so good. Purchased from Woodland Hills Wine Co.
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11/13/2009 - G Kapoor wrote: 89 Points
Glenn K brought this bottle to the Black Sheep for dinner. I have minimal experience with Baralo so take the following note with grain of salt. The nose was hot and lacking the delicate structure I would expect from a barolo. Very fruit forward nose with some leather. On palate it is a little thin with a clipped finish.
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11/12/2009 - keelegl wrote: 92 Points
Let slow-o for 4 hours prior to serving. Nose was a bit muted at first but provided some nice crushed berry aromas as it opened up. Really full and rich on the palate with tons of ripe black cherry leading to a long and sweet finish. It was enjoyable now, but this obviously needs more time so I’m going to hold my remaining bottles for 5+ years.
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9/12/2009 - Rich S wrote: 93 Points
Ruby color with perfect clarity. Nose of baking spices, floral and a bit of tea leaves. Loads of juicy red fruit (cherry and strawberry) on the palate with medium+ acid and tannin. Silky smooth mouthfeel, seamless transition to mid palate and a nice dry finish even though the wine is incredibly juicy on the palate. Excellent barolo.
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7/12/2009 - donStrandini wrote: 93 Points
One of my absolute favourite Barolos. Burgundy like - light, fruity with considerable complexity on the nose and palate. Yet another great evening enjoying Monprivato.
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1/28/2009 - cos82 wrote: 92 Points
Sadly, no chance to decant several hours in advance. Opened for an hour and then poured. Light cherry red. Great nose of cherry, rose, leather and truffle. Nice palate of Barolo flavors, but with sour cherry slightly advanced. Still some tannin to resolve. Will not try this wine again from my cellar without a good 5 hour decant. Although very good, I think it loses something without more time to open.
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11/28/2008 - MattJ wrote: 94 Points
Deep ruby. Over a 3 hour decant the nose opened up nicely with pure cherry and blackberries. Not the least bit austere or vegetal as can be found with many barolos. The palate was complex and showed depth & structure. This showed no signs of aging at all and I believe this will be a great wine in 10 years or so.
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10/30/2008 - tonyvelebil wrote: 94 Points
Halloween Wines:Heidseick, Fretter Leaky Lake, Lafon Clos des Barres, haart/meulenhof rieslings, corino/mascarello barolos (Santa Rosa): This was pretty amazing. As rich and approachable as the Corino...this was powerful and very good but still in need of a lot of cellar time. Brighter cherry fruit, rose petal, tobacco, a little pine resin, lots of acidity and firm tannins...i loved it and if you have it in your cellar you'll be very happy! Thanks!
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9/20/2008 - Paul Lin wrote:
A gorgeous wine that is drinking very well right now.
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7/23/2008 - wineismylife wrote:
WIMLNR
Tasted July 23, 2008 at an offline.
From memory: Fortunately received some air thanks to libbyg arriving early. I want to say this wine was dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. The wine came across as still very young on both the nose and palate exhibiting more primary fruits like black berries and black cherries. As best as I recall the acidity was young and vibrant with firm tannins and hovering between medium and full body. This is an obvious hold right now but I look forward to the opportunity to try again in the future. I wouldn't rate it right now simply because it's too young and tight to render good judgment. Hold.
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4/12/2008 - Faddeev wrote: 96 Points
Not your typical parker wine.
It has such noses
of guns and roses.
well among other things. I think that this wine might be slightly shut.
It is very refined and along with beautiful fruit it has an underlying balanced minerality . Seashells on finish. Very delicate. Choose what you taste along very carefully.
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3/17/2008 - JOsgood wrote: 98 Points
Decanted for 5+ hours. Wine of the night at Craft. What a brilliant Barolo this is. Textbook nose of tar, mint and roses. In the mouth this hits all the switches. Perfect finish that leaves you wanting more and more. I was dumbfounded by how good this was and think it could be 100 points when it peaks.
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3/17/2008 - the godfather wrote: 97 Points
stunning barolo, serious nose of tar and roses, finish lasts forever, 5 hour decant
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2/15/2008 - cos82 wrote: 94 Points
Much better than last bottle. A beauty. Great nose of cherry, truffle, tar, and petrol. Slightly pale cherry in color. Drinking very well now with cherry, leather and truffle on the palate. Integrated on the palate. Still evident tannins, but smooth, not drying. Still a long way to go and with much upside.
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2/8/2008 - Machiavelli wrote:
Garnet. Medium intense nose of balsamic, pine, spice, dill, chocolate with some cherry, plum and licorice fruit. Nose On the palate it is framed by refreshing acidity, approachable and plush on the mid-palate with a replay of rich plum and balsamic that continues onto the medium length. What sets this apart from the 1997 is the almost perfect balance. Lovely. Not a blockbuster but lingers.
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1/27/2008 - abh wrote:
Still very closed. Big and extremely promising but not at all giving yet. Drank next to the 98 and 2000 and this is by far the most backward. Give it time and this will be wonderful.
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1/12/2008 - i musicisti di boston wrote:
Slow ox all day, drunk with game ragu + home made pasta.
Absolutely fabulous wine- remarkably sweet, feminine expression of Nebbiolo aromatics for this particular bottle: violets, rose petals, just a hint of tar. Open and expressive on the palate with good supporting acidity and the trademark strain of mineral, tannic focus. Treat with respect, however- I've heard quite a few reports of this shutting down.
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1/7/2008 - festiva wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for 2+ hours before serving. Color was a ruddy red. Fabulous nose that only got better as it sat in the decanter - lots going on here: flowers, tar, raspberries, cherries, and 'dusty' earth. In the glass, even better... layers of red fruits, tar, earth. and a bit of black liquorice packed into a 30-35 second finsh. Tannins were significant and many years away from melding into the wine. This wine needs a lot more time in the bottle, and will likely deserve a higher score in 5-10 years. While drinking this, I couldn't help but think the earthiness of this wine gave it a Burgundy flair. A big shout out to PH and Daniel Fulton for arranging the trade that scored me this bottle! Thanks! It was a pleasure and I intend to seek out more.
I served this alongside a bottle of 02 Thackery Aquila Sangiovese, which was a huge mistake. It overpowered the Monprivato. The Thackery was 'in your face', while this was all finesse and subtlety. I had to put the Thackery aside and pick it up later on.
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11/1/2007 - 97mjr wrote:
had this wine on multiple occasions; dont plan to taste again for years. With very rare exceptions, I found little pleasure in drinking any 99s. This bottle however was particularly harsh. intensely tannic. Found it to have a synthetic or petrol quality on the nose
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10/28/2007 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
Ugly rumors are going around saying this wine is fun to drink now. Don't believe them. Lot of tannin to chew on here. Have patience.
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6/26/2007 - mdavis wrote:
This wine is really closed down right now, even with an hour of decanting...
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5/18/2007 - the godfather wrote: 96 Points
unbelievable perfumed nose of roses, cherries and pleasant earthiness. Super complex with perfect texture, penetrates all parts of the mouth.
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5/16/2007 - JamesSanders wrote:
Decanted for about an hour before drinking. Color was beautiful, pale with a slight orangish tint. In sunlight the bubbles from the initial pour radiated an orangish pink. Slight mustiness in both the nose and flavors. Drinking it the flavor profile leaned more towards tar than fruit. A pleasant drink but a little disappointing. Slightly corked?
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5/10/2007 - the godfather wrote: 96 Points
Magical nose of rose petals, cherries,and slight earthy dustiness. I could drink this wine every night. I am amazed by the extremely translucent color of this wine that posseses such power. This is like drinking grand cru burgundy.
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4/29/2007 - paulst wrote: 90 Points
Intense but light licorice with long finish.
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2/15/2007 - Cotedorfan wrote:
Powerful aromas tending more toward sweet currants than the classic tar and roses speaks to how young this is even at age 7 1/2 . Hugely, deeply flavorful and extremely primary, the floral and earthier characteristics only start to surface a bit after a while in the glass. Tannins are buried but there, but this drinks great if you like your barolos young with little or no austerity. Terrific stuff. I'm sure this will be great in 20 years, too.
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11/18/2006 - Tree512 wrote: 92 Points
Way way too young, but after 14 hours of air served with risotto and white truffles. Light colored but packed with fruit, no secondaries now but sure to develop classic tar and roses. Very balanced, sure to be a great wine. Don't open until 2015 if you want the wine to be mature and at its peak.
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10/28/2006 - donStrandini wrote:
Tasted at the winery with Guiseppe. Typical monprivato light colour; powerful yet elegant aromas of roses and perfume,hints of tar with beautiful, feminine flavours and rounder than the 2001 that was tasted simultaneously. Remains a favourite with me. Top notch barolo.
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7/31/2006 - carlwhat wrote:
medium orange in colour. delicious nose of tar and rose petals. smells like a traditional barolo. and while quite good, there was something about it that i found missing. perhaps its because this wine is still in its youth.... it definately was a bit tannic... just not sure. had a 1998 monprivato a couple of months prior that i enjoyed more...
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