Tasting Notes 1,110 found

Two virtually perfect examples opened for a Vallana themed dinner at La Campagnola restaurant in Lasalle, Québec, only five days after arriving from Italy.
Decanted and put back in rinsed bottles six hours earlier.
Full rich and dark colour, more like a 15-20 year old wine.
Amazing nose of mixed berries, gentle sweet spices, flowers and precious woods.
Deep and delicious in the mouth, without any hint of deterioration, or anything lees than an incredible balance.
Truly an honour to the memory of Bernardo Vallana, perhaps the greatest winemaker of his generation.
Also served that evening, two bottles each of Castello di Montalbano 1964 (93) and Cinque Castelli Riserva 1961 (94).
In each pair, both bottles were totally consistent. (21 views)

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I think this is quite a good example of nebbiolo-based wine. Even though it is from a higher altitude, it has plenty of medium red fruit expression, satisfyingly smooth tannins and very balanced acidity. The nose is quite nice with some hints of forest floor. I think this will develop very nicely over the next 10 years, but it drinks very well right now with 15-30 minutes of air. (132 views)

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Nice fruit up front. Cherries and floral notes. Quite enjoyable if not compelling. A great week night type of wine (138 views)

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Its really in a wonderful place, soft, fragant, still some fruit and just a hint of age (209 views)

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Another outstanding example of Gattinara. (91 views)

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Agree with ivanli. Decent wine at its price point. Needs a lot of air time. (180 views)

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Less exciting than the bottle we opened in 2023. Maybe it is flagging a bit in age? Will see on the next bottle. (192 views)

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Initially reduced and rather tight with a hint of oxidation. Opens up sufficiently after an hour, but not like the much more forward Campi Raudii current release. Piney, red-fuited, a touch of mineral aromas, with a big dollop of green at the end, surprising for this generally warm vintage. Works with food similar to a young, old-school Chianti. Good value under $17. Rather different from how a 2018 showed a few months ago, and am wondering how much of this is vintage variation vs. lot variation (this is Skurnik bottling), label is significantly different from previous vintages I've seen. (60 views)

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Unbelievable for $12/bottle. Very complex representation of fruit, spices, earth, and tannins. Soft but expressive in the mouth. Way beyond expectations. (36 views)

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I was slightly worried about this at first as I thought it showed a hint of a somewhat oxidized or tired note, but it was late and I wasn't certain. On day two it was fresh and bright, fruitier and simpler than the really excellent '16, but great stuff. Absurd that I paid less than $13 for this a week ago. (82 views)

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Tasted double blind. Wow, what an amazing experience. Full of life and tension, incredible complexity, ever changing aromas, superb precision and perfect balance. My first guess was Bordeaux First Growth from a strong 50's vintage. The amazing thing was that the wine got younger and younger the longer we had it in the glass, which made me think it could be from the late 70s or 80s. I wrote down "archetype Bordeaux" and was quite surprised to see the Barolo. 97/98pts.

TN: Superb, layered nose, malty notes, mushrooms, green pepper, cola notes, tobacco. Incredibly complex, full of poise, full of power but with so much elegance, ultra-fine tannins, good freshness. Still a red fruit core, then all the tertiary aromas with lots of forest floor, tobacco, truffle kicked in and became more prominent. So much truffle with time, and more and more intense minerality, but balanced by a wonderfully sweet, pure red fruit core that got stronger with time. This is a fantastic wine from A to Z with impeccable balance.

Decanting: Quick double-decant which was perfect. While it got even more impressive with time I wouldn’t wanna miss that first 30 minutes when the wine should all the beautiful malty notes which later dissipated. (254 views)

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Just as the bottle we had in latter 2023, this just knocks it out of the park -- a wine I would expect to be coming out of a traditional barolo house -- that's how good it is. See notes from Aug 2023. (112 views)

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Ripe fruit of red cherry and raspberry on top of a bedrock of earth, foliage, mushrooms, pipe tobacco and cold smoke. This was decanted prior to serving and with hindsight I would even recommend a brief 30-60min decant as aeration helped to reveal more flavors, especially herbs like oregano, black tea, increasingly floral notes of rose water and even chocolate. The tannic structure is still slightly grainy, but soft and builds a gritty character. Otherwise good density and structure, comes across fresh and even nicely juicy. This starts off humble, but continues to expand showing more and more layers. I would make time to follow and enjoy this over hours. Compared to the 1961, this came across as slightly more muscular, but also with even more substance still behind. Stunning. (303 views)

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checking in on these - last time I tried was 2016 and noted a pure cherry note with an equal mineral streak. First sip was muted and sleepy. waited 30 minutes in glass. It has an almost chambolle like dried cherry/floral taste that is immediately appealing. Medium weight, with the same finish. Quite drying tannins but the fruit keep that from a distraction. Some hints of lavender and crush rose petals. I am glad I have a few more and think this can evolve a bit more in time - developing more tertiarary notes - but, no reason to wait - as this is a beauty now. (443 views)

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Haven't posted a note on this in a few years, but I have been drinking them during that time, so thought I should add another to track the progress. Of course, the main theme is that the wine continues to drink wonderfully well, and probably will for many years to come. How many is anyone's guess. Delightfully brightly fruited with a red/black cherry note, good depth and a lick of tannin on the finish. One of the world's great red wine values. Just bought six more of these. (368 views)

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