St. Patty's Day Barbera & Birthday Celebration

Weygandt Wines, Cleveland Park, Washington D.C.
Tasted Thursday, March 17, 2011 by tooch with 769 views

Introduction

About 15 of us in DC decided to celebrate St. Patty's Day, the first day of March Madness and Faryan Amir-Ghassemi's birthday by doing what most of us do on St. Patty's Day....order 5 pizzas and open a crapload of Barbera. Fun night. Big thanks to Tim for setting up most of the wines!

Flight 1 - Barbera d'Asti Flight (4 Notes)

Started off with some Barbera d'Asti wines.

Flight 2 - Barbera d'Alba Flight (9 Notes)

Shifted gears to the Barbera d'Alba wines.

  • 2007 Scaletta Simone Barbera d'Alba sarsera 86 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

    Nose had big jammy red and black fruits. Despite the modern nose, the palate was far more restrained and "classic". Driven by red florals, as opposed to red and black fruit, I thought this was an interesting wine. Drying tannins finish out this wine.

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  • 2007 Domenico Clerico Barbera d'Alba Trevigne 88 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

    Dusty red fruit on the nose, with dark roasted coffee and violets. Palate was firm yet fresh with great floral notes. There was also a nice sour cherry component. Very nice wine.

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  • 2005 Cascina Bongiovanni Barbera d'Alba 85 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

    Milk chocolate nose, with a musty basement smell to it. The palate had some tobacco and lush red fruit. Not overly complex, but enjoyable.

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  • 2006 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barbera d'Alba Superiore Santo Stefano di Perno 78 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba Superiore

    Bizarre nose of radishes, red florals some vinegar and stewed mushrooms. A couple folks loved this wine, but I found it a bit disjointed...just lacked focus and any sort of harmony.

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  • 2007 G.D. Vajra Barbera d'Alba Superiore 78 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba Superiore

    Thought the nose had a lot of heat and bright cherry fruit. The palate wasn't exactly my cup of tea with stewed fruits and charcoal. Not too enjoyable.

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  • 2006 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba Cascina Francia 90 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

    Very classy nose of leather, red florals, subtle pipe tobacco and wonderfully pure cherry fruit. Very classic old world palate driven by aged leather, dried florals, violets, red cherry and cassis. Thought the finish had nice depth and length. Very enjoyable.

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  • 2008 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba Cascina Francia 77 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

    Lots of purple and black fruit on the nose with an annoying alcoholic tinge. Palate was hot, disjointed and unbalanced. Sappy plum and cherry flavors are hard to penetrate. Not enjoyable.

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  • 2000 La Spinetta (Rivetti) Monferrato Pin 91 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Monferrato

    Very dense nose of plums, clove, charcoal with an elegant floral and tobacco lift. Palate had very nice balance with deep, complex flavors. Great black pepper and red florals combined with subtle plum, and dried cranberry tones - just very elegant and classy palate. Amazing what a couple years of patience can do for wine!

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  • 2008 Unti Vineyards Barbera 74 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    Talk about a fractured wine. Alcohol and oak spiked on the nose and both hid any type of fruit or polish on the palate. Not good.

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Flight 3 - Birthday Wines (2 Notes)

Celebrated Faryan's birthday with a birth year wine and a beautiful chateauneuf-du-pape.

  • 1985 Château Léoville Poyferré 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    Slow-ox'd this wine for about 2 hours before digging in. Very classic, elegant nose greeted me at first with graphite, dried florals, old leather, and subtle cassis. Hints of balsamic came through on the palate with more red florals, subtle violets, pipe tobacco, and leather. An elegant, subtle wine.

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  • 2001 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    A great way to finish the night! This 2001 is in a great place and has such a lovely nose of pepper, meats, violets, leather, and espresso. There's so much to like on the palate - with it's silken mouthfeel, to the profound yet balanced garrique, minerals, subtle plum, bacon drippings, olives, and charcoal tones. The finish is powerful and lasting but not creamy, rich or sappy. Just a beautiful wine.

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