2004 Moccagatta Barbaresco Bric Balin

Community Tasting Notes (49) Avg Score: 91.3 points

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  2/16/2024 - Phylloxera63 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  JKoenen nailed it in his 18/9/2023 note. Cork came out as if it had been bottled a year ago. Just wonderful with lots of stuffing and cherryfruit. Will go on for a few more years. Great without being too heavy.

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  9/18/2023 - jkoenen wrote: 93 Points

  This is a wonderful Barbaresco, in its prime!
  There's good stuffing, lovely acidity, restrained power and ripe tannines. All about balance.
  CHerryfruit, dusty spices and herbs, flowers and sandalwood, hints of ink/tar.

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  8/19/2023 - forceberry wrote: 89 Points

  100% Nebbiolo from the Bric Balin cru, located immediately south from the village of Barbaresco, planted in 1971 and 1985. Aged for at least 18 months in French oak barriques (70% new). 14,5% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Somewhat translucent and moderately evolved pomegranate color with a slightly syrupy-brown hue. The nose feels sweet, dark-toned and slightly oaky with aromas of licorice and ripe black cherries, some evolved gamey tones, a little bit of toasty mocha oak, light plummy notes of dark fruits, a woody hint of savory oak spice, a touch of tar and a boozy whiff of alcohol. The wine feels evolved and velvety yet pretty firm and structured on the palate with a rather full body and lush, moderately oak flavors of licorice and toasty mocha oak, some ripe black cherry tones, a little bit of juicy dark plum, light evolved nuances of gamey meat, a hint of tar and a touch of woody oak spice. The high acidity and ample, grippy tannins lend a rather stern and muscular overall feel to the wine. The finish is long, grippy and quite dark-toned with a brooding, somewhat sweet-toned aftertaste of toasty mocha oak and milk chocolate, some woody notes of savory oak spice, a little bit of tar, light sweetly-fruited nuances of juicy black cherries and dark plums, a hint of licorice root and an evolved touch of meaty umami.
  
  An impressively structured and tightly-knit but still noticeably toasty and modern Barbaresco where the oak is still very much to the fore, even after almost 20 years. The wine is evolving in the right direction, but I feel it's quite hard to identify any varietal characteristics from this wine, as most of them are quite overwhelmed by the woody notes. I could identify the wine as a Nebbiolo, but it was mainly due to its rather translucent appearance, high acidity and ample tannins; not because of the aromatics. This is a pretty serious and structure-driven effort for a modernist Barbaresco, but stylistically not really my cuppa.

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  2/28/2022 - Ed in Inverness wrote: flawed

  Stewed, again. Bought at auction 4 years ago. Must have been stored badly or transported at some point poorly.

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  3/22/2021 - David J Cooper wrote: 91 Points

  Clear light red with definite browning. Medium intense tar, violet, shiitake and black cherry nose. Dry herbal plum flavours and a dry still a bit tannic finish.
  
  Not showing as a modern Barbaresco at this point. Even though the acid hasn’t taken over the finish yet, it is probably time to drink these up.

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