1970 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco

Community Tasting Notes (15) Avg Score: 90.4 points

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  6/17/2022 - Torchy wrote: 87 Points

  Mature wines (Sindre): Nose of tar, quay, salt meat, some mint, soy, smoked meat, tobacco, and leather. Not much fruit is left on the nose. High acid. Sweet and sour fruit, and after a little air the fruit becomes clearer red. This was more interesting than good.

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  2/12/2015 - forceberry wrote: 88 Points

  By the appearance this 1970 is very similar to the 1971 next to it, only with very slightly paler hue; with its maroon highlights this looks like caramel-colored water with a reddish hue. The nose betrays some signs of oxidation, meaning that this specific wine isn't in optimal condition – if Marcenasco 1971 was so stunning, Marcenasco 1970 shouldn't be like a polar opposite to it. The nose is quite subdued and there are rather sharp and savory aromas of raisin, dried figs, sweet Tawny port, some dark-roasted coffee and hints of withered flowers. On the palate the wine feels full-bodied with grainy, resolved tannins and moderate acidity. The very developed, complex flavors reveal oxidative notes of dark syrup, sour cherry, dried dates, exotic spices, some raisin and a hint of nuttiness. The taste oxidizes quite quickly, becoming more dull and stylistically closer to tawny port with air. The finish is quite restrained and rather short with dépassé flavors of withered cherry, black tea, stony minerality, some roasted nuts and a hint of Oloroso Sherry tang.
  
  Unfortunately this wine couldn't match the expectations; Marcenasco 1970 should be still going strong, but unfortunately after more than 40 years, bottle variations are an unfortunate fact. Obviously either the wine had been cellared in poor conditions at some point or the cork had started to let oxygen through, because although the wine wasn't completely dead and spoiled, it was obviously past its peak, lacking the fruit it still should show. Although this wine has seen better days, it was still somewhat alive and pretty drinkable. If drunk without any other Baroli to compare to, it would have been easily a very enjoyable wine, but now, with stunning Marcenasco 1971 in a glass next to it, this wine failed to move me in any meaningful way. I'd still love to revisit the wine in the hopes of having a better bottle, because I've heard several times that Marcenasco 1970 is still drinking wonderfully – some people even say that they prefer this vintage over the 1971!

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  12/27/2014 - DaleW wrote:

  backup, quickly double-decanted. Not best way, it needed more air, but did ok- pretty typical 1970 for my experience. Mature, cherry and tea, some tar, gets better with air but don’t think this needs any more time. B+

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  5/31/2014 - Lilja Likes this wine:

  Mature Barolo from the 60's & 70's (Göteborg): On several occasions during the night I had suspicions about this being corked.
  
  Funky nose of mold, wet basement. But also tar, smoke, Chinese soy sauce and Italian fennel salami.
  The palate is absolutely alive and kicking, with good fruit and a medium acidity. Initial it felt a bit short, but with time this opened up, and a lot of the others enjoyed this.
  
  Did not score because of the possible taint.
  
  (2/7, 37/98)

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  11/24/2013 - coyler Likes this wine:

  Visual: pretty serious bricking, but transparent and still ruby red at the core.
  
  Nose: Cigar wrapper, truffle, earth, slightly musty
  
  Palate: Sweet rose petals and tar, strong acidity with fading tannins. Good balance.
  
  Quite nice overall. Cork crumbled and disintegrated upon using the Durand. This was the first time that the Durand failed me. Double decanted quickly and then slow Oded for 6 hours. At or near peak, maybe slightly beyond peak. This was a solid B+.

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