1990 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Riserva Speciale delle Brunate

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 98 points

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  8/27/2021 - cct wrote: flawed

  Stood upright for months waiting for the right time. Double decanted in the AM for sediment.
  
  At first, there was a little VA that blew off quickly. On the nose, balsam, tar, ripe fruit, and roses; but it all comes across a bit muddled for what it could be. I gave it a couple hours to see if things would improve drinking slowly. More bouillon, rose petals, and browning ripe fruit on the nose. It's mid plus weighted and broad on the palate, with the richness of '90 coming with some lack of focus. More balsam, bouillon, rose, and tar, with some umami notes adding to the ripe but browning fruit. On the upside, it had lovely balsamic and umami notes on its long finish. Denial is a strong tool, but in the end, it became clear the bottle, while a good bottle of Barolo, was not correct. Many 90's have this muddled browning fruit and lack of focus but this bottle was not what it could be. The cork was fine, the ullage excellent, and part of me wanted to wish this away as it was a birthday (not remotely a birth year) bottle I'd had sitting upright waiting for this day. Over time it became more evident that this bottle had seen some heat. Not enough to cook it outright, but enough to kill its freshness. It was still an outstanding bottle of wine and if I were to score it, it would have been in the 90-1 range. Darmagi.

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  2/9/2019 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 98 Points

  The 1990 was a contender for Wine of the Night, showing an unexpectedly refined and layered expression, with dark savory herbs giving way to dusty black fruits, sweet tea leaves, menthol, lifting minerals and crushed stone. On the palate, I found soft, pliant textures, offset by sweet-and-sour wild berries complementing juicy acids, with sweet spice and pretty inner floral tones. This perfectly resolved beauty finished long on a mix of sweet-and-sour berries, herbal tea leaves and savory brown spice.

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