1978 Fontanafredda Barolo

Community Tasting Notes (11) Avg Score: 92.9 points

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  2/2/2021 - grub94 Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Wow! Sadly, last bottle in a case purchased in the 90s. Plenty of amber edging and still some depth of garnet in the middle of the glass. Tertiary upfront with leather, earthiness, mushrooms. After 1 1/2 hours dark cherry emerges on the palate and then nose with rose petals and hints of mint & Chocolate. Fully resolved tannins and acid. Longish finish. Love mature Barolos!

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  1/11/2021 - BillBell73 Likes this wine:

  Despite substantial bricking, this was in excellent shape, relatively clean and youthful, and pretty much as good as you could hope for in a barolo of this age. Whoever made these wines really knew what they were doing...I love that they still have pure sweet fruit to balance all the tertiary flavors.

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  12/13/2019 - Boone's Farm Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Very youthful. Cherry, leather, wet earth, and cedar flavors. Well integrated and long on the palate. Took 2 hours in the decanter to blossom. Very nice wine.

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  10/12/2019 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Cedar and complex; coarse and earthy with cherry and raisen; long sweet finish.

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  8/6/2017 - Pancreatitis wrote:

  2nd of a dozen (1st showed well recently after 12 hours slow ox).
  Was taking this to a friend's for dinner so double decanted at midday. Tasted terrible at 12. Tasted terrible at 4. Tasted terrible at 6. No discernible flaw, not oxidised, simply tasted very old like sweaty socks.
  We drank something else in the end and my friend insisted I bring it home.
  Now pouring a glass at 9pm an amazing transformation. Heady perfume of dark cherries, animale, some medicinal notes, quite complex and ethereal. Full bodied sweet/sapid palate still with lively acidity and plenty of tannin, cola, blood orange, chinotto, gingerbread, really quite vibrant and long.
  Once again, I have to reflect that I think many of these older bottles of Barolo get dismissed as over the hill with insufficient oxygenation, several hours slow ox reveals their hidden secrets.

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View all 11 Community Tasting Notes

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