1985 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva

Community Tasting Notes (23) Avg Score: 88.8 points

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  3/17/2024 - atbarbar wrote: 85 Points

  Wine is over the hill, what a pity. As soon as opened, a brief, very brief whiff of fruit with very pleasant acidity made it interesting. After an hour of air (not decanted) mushrooms and soy sauce. Sweetness in the nose almost of chincona, some caramel as in vermouth. Sweet completely resolved tannins. The wine still barely stands on one leg, thanks to the acidity. Aftertaste of chunky tannins but short. Difficult to drink in any amount. Avoid. Disappointing for a riserva, the bottle may have had a shock, the bottle appears to have been recorked. Jancis says of 1985 vintage: "A few remain impressive, but excessive yields caused some to fade early." This faded earlier than 2024. Other vintage charts show 1985 as a great vintage. I had this bottle in 2013 and it was in very good shape. I had written at the time "This was the freshest of all (borgogno vertical), very youthful, both in the color and on the palate. Very balanced, nice acidity awesome tannins. Drink now or keep longer. Interestingly, also the 1985 jaboulet hermitage was the best of the tasting with very similar characteristics." And again todayt, the Jaboulet hermitage was opened again side-by-side and it was just fantastic as opposed to this Barolo, which wilted in my cellar apparently.

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  4/20/2022 - vintage_whine wrote:

  Acid still alive, but the red fruit is in decline, but the VA sticks out and overpowered the thin fruit. On the finish thinner and meatier, in the way of all reds over the hill. What’s unusual though is the tannins are still quite aggressive. Over the hill

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  1/28/2021 - pkouchu wrote: 90 Points

  damp earth, mushrooms, tart-dusty cherries, dried cherries leather, spice, dried rose petal, and red plum
  
  in all sense a proper barolo, but lacks weight.

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  12/12/2018 - NickBurwood Likes this wine:

  Borgogno Barolo Riserva vertical tasting at Jeroboams, Knightsbridge.
  Yet another vintage (in my opinion) not ready for drinking. Borgogno are traditionalists and their wines are known to require a lot of time, in the main, to show at their best. The tannins in this wine were suppressing a core fruit et al that is very much still there.
  Hold (if you have the nerve) till 2025.

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  8/7/2018 - Sean Tay wrote:

  It smells like toast, medicinal, cedar and sandalwood.

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