La Cuchara, Baltimore
Tasted Friday, October 15, 2021 by cct with 160 views
Several nebbiolo lovers met in Baltimore for a long overdue weekend. This was the first time I had seen the group outside of Zoom since pre COVID. TM was the impetus for the weekend. It was a simple question with an easier answer. I would like to pour some '01s. Yes please! JW came down form NYC, I from Tucson. CD drove up from DC, and Matt from Baltimore
HK set up the dining outdoor table and a menu. Six of us sat for what will be the best tasting I have in 2021. A huge thanks to TM who supplied the vast majority of these wines from his cellar. His generosity more than made up for his average company.
We started with this terrific bottle of Champagne. A terrific combination of extended lees contact, ripe fruit, blocked malo, and no dosage. Lots of moving parts creating this wine, yet they all seemed to land in a great spot. Harmonious and super interesting.
We also had a splash of the 07 Luneau-Papin Excelsior. I did not take formal notes, and wanted to minimize my intake, but it was a solid soil driven, dense, yet precise wine.
We inadvertently, but appropriately book ended the tasting with Bruno Giacosa. The lone Barbaresco was a great starting point.
Both of these were outstanding, but I would tend to agree with TM, that in '01, Rinaldi did not achieve the greatness that is possible at this address. This is one of the problems with these comparative tastings. It is an odd world when you think two bottles of Beppe Rinaldi Barolo are the least interesting bottles at the table.
We start moving toward Serralunga from the previous Crus, and seeing the contrasting styles of producer and terroir was a great lesson.
Not much to say here. The Pie Franco is stunning bottle of wine, and the Rupestris is nearly as good, just not quite as finessed. A fantastic flight.
We finished with these two It was hard to follow the near perfect Pie Franco, but these were outstanding. the Giacosa conveyed what few other people than the master could. Sap and weight, with an effortless calm. The Massolino while outstanding was a little polished for me. It is still an outstanding wine that speaks of Rionda.
This was a great night. The wines showed youthfully well. The restaurant did an excellent job with service and the food was solid. The Pie Franco is the best wine I have had in a long time, and the Rupestris, Falletto, and Francia were great bottles, but among the non Pie Franco wines, the Monprivato stole my heart.
This was admittedly a pretty special subset of the best traditional producers, and so that can skew one's impression, but I think that the 01s are shaping up to be something special and that the vintage belongs in the discussion of great vintages of the last 30 years. I look forward to drinking these wines for a long time.
Most of all, this evening, and the weekend itself was a tremendous breath of fresh air to see good friends, spend time, break bread, and get a glimpse of better times to come. It was great to see old friends, and meet new ones. I am thankful for this. A pretty special night.
Thanks for reading.
2002 Tarlant Champagne L'Etincelante 94 Points
France, Champagne
2001 Barolo-Barbaresco Horizontal .
La Cuchara, Baltimore
We started with this terrific bottle.
Lovely lifted and fresh nose with autolytic notes that are more present on the nose than palate, with bright fruit and subtle florals. A filigree fine bead, it's beautifully balanced in a detailed mode. This has a really cool mix of the extended lees yet retains terrific fruit freshness and lift. Excellent cut and focus in this seemingly contrasting yet harmonious Champagne. Outstanding. I would love to follow a bottle of this over an evening.
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