Nebbiolo (Barolo) Blow Out 6/22

This was organized by Shane for Keith Akers' visit to Portland. It was titled Nebbiolo blow out, but everyone wound up with just Barolo (except for the fun extra Gattinara Travis threw in), which is fine by me. Coppia provided a fantastic venue and despite our server who seemed to be completely out to lunch on a variety of things throughout the evening, the food was all splendid.

We drank wines in pairs mostly. Some observations in no particular order:

o The André Clouet is drinking far better than the last one I had. I love these wines.
o The Gattinara was totally fun.
o I could not believe how young tasting the Aldo Conterno wines were! Just locked down hard. I really wish they showed better.
o I need to start going long on Bartolo Mascarello... my wallet's about to get lighter.
o 50 years is not old for Barolo.



Doug horrified as he watches Keith pour all the sediment from the 1990 Paolo Scavino into the decanter.

• 1998 Gaja Langhe Rossj Bass 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Wow, surprisingly delicious aromas. Certainly plenty of charred oak here, but there's also some apricots and minerality that keep interest high. The palate is rich and decedent with some earthy funk to it. Very soft and luscious texture, showing mild acid on the palate. Acids dial up impressively on the finish which lingers with more oak. By itself and as a first wine this was really impressive. After I had the Clouet Champagne after this and came back to the Gaja the oak was all I got and I really did not enjoy this. Glad it came first!

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• 2002 André Clouet Champagne Brut Millésimé 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  This wine was killing it tonight, far better than the last few bottles I've had. The depth and grace of aromas here is seductive. Really beautiful and delicious, offering a nutty creaminess and a very strong, distinctive aroma of the vanilla frosting at Voodoo Doughnuts. Yum! Creamy and luscious palate, with zippy minerality, which carries into a lush and deep finish. Still developing here, but it's certainly adding complexity and texture.

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• 1976 Ferrando Gattinara Iurea 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Gattinara

  Beautifully intact! This offers tons of funky soft earthy aromas with really nice spice. I get some graphite mixed with gravel covered raspberries. Great smells here. Palate is soft and dances with funky mushrooms and as its held, this funky raspberry rises to the fore. Nice acid dials up on the finish but then it goes funky and mushroomy again with some slightly off balanced acidity and funk. This was a little awkward on the finish for a bit, but as it settled in after an hour in the glass it smoothed out.

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• 1983 Renato Ratti Barolo Rocche 89 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This smells awesome, with a totally unexpected concoction of aromas from a Barolo. I get fireworks (but not like that just sulfured wine kind of smell... more earthy fireworks than that), spice and dusty graphite, all rounded by some sweet fruit. Delicious smelling. The palate is soft, with nice acid. Tartness and some slight candied notion, but overall the palate is fairly light and reserved. Light vegetal component on the finish, with earth. Light throughout except that expressive nose.

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• 1982 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia Soprana 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This wine was a rock tonight! Drinking like a five year old Barolo, not a thirty year older. Totally strange. Most everyone kept it in the glass for 2+ hours, over which time it did begin to open a bit but remained incredibly closed. The aromas are dusty and soft. It's pretty on the palate, but tight as nails. All the profile on the finish is just that of a closed wine: tight, mild acid, some tannins, grippy. Yeah, it's showing some structure, but it's totally wound up. Shipping shock maybe?

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• 1985 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Not quite as tight as the '82 Bussia Soprana, but man was this tight too. Again we had to have it sit in the glass going on two hours to find it approachable, and it began showing "pretty" aromas going on 4 hours. The palate was a bit riper, with nice elegant, soft fruit. Very well balanced, but soft and grippy in its presence. Tart acids and tight as hell on the finish. There's some sweet oakiness here, but it's a rock. Revealing more than the '82, but not much in the way of complexity; still mostly structure, though still in balanced (i.e it's not that it's already fallen off and there's no fruit left... it's truly just too young).

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• 1990 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 94 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This was tight at first, but opened up over three hours. Definitely the wine of the night. Initially this was showing some mint and eucalyptus aromas coupled with a floral, cherry component. Towards the end of the evening it smelled more evolved, offering dusty aromas of gravel, soil, tar. This is what Barolo is all about. The palate is quite pretty initially, with flowers and red fruits, but after 5 seconds the tannins would begin to take over. Again, later in the evening the palate mellowed, showing impeccable depth. Beautiful, energetic palate but certainly tight. The finish is delicious, but again a huge tannic clout takes over, coupled with tons of tart acid. Tight, but awesome. We drank this 15 years too young, but it's still a beauty. Would love to sit back with a bottle of this and listen Bach at unrealistic volume levels.

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• 1990 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  The aromas here are totally unique for the night, with a rich elegance. Smells like candied red fruits, an oak sweetness, and egg whites. Basically smells like oak flavored meringues. The palate is delicious, soft, and luscious. The tannins are there, but this feels ready. Definitely feels modern and candied after the Barolo Mascarello. Nice and open on the finish, showing solid structure and juicy fruit. Soft and rich, like cherry cough syrup complete with an odd menthol component and a little unruly oak. Compared to the rest of the wines in the line this was tasting very modern.

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• 1995 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Very surprising when I stuck my nose to the glass and smelled so much strawberry jam as I was expecting more earth. This carries into the juicy palate as well, which does offer considerable depth as well. Really grippy tannins present too. Grippy youthful finish and not very ready today. Brought the dregs home and drank the rest for breakfast the next day, at which point it was mostly gone. No more berries on the nose, just earth and some oxidative quality. The palate was more together the following day and offered amazing grip and with high tone fruit underlying everything. Nice balance. Grippy, punishing finish even the next day despite some slight oxidative character lingering.

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The '61 Rinaldi is on the left, the '66 Calissano on the right. Crazy color for each of them, for different reasons.

• 1961 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Cork was stuck to the insides of the bottle and crumbled in extraction attempt. While I was at it, I double decanted to pull off the huge, chunky sediment. The color on this was amazing, just straight orangish brown with no hints of red. By color you'd think it may be gone, but it was beautifully in-tact. The nose offers aromas of overly grilled asparagus and other veggies covered in red wine vinegar. That red wine vinegar shows itself as very high toned, zippy smells. Awesome. The palate is amazingly graceful and soft. Tart tannins are present coupled with soft earth. Mild, but oh so pretty and elegant. I'm so impressed by the acidic grip and balance the palate exhibits. Things get a lot "older" tasting on the finish, with more soil tones and mushrooms, but man is it ever still tannic and acidic! The acid lingering is what's totally crazy. This wine held together beautifully well even 24 hours after I first opened it, as I brought this one home too. I can not believe the palate presence on this STILL. It's hard to not guzzle it. Drinking beautifully, but I bet it will hold here for some time.

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• 1966 Luigi Calissano Barolo Riserva Speciale 82 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Compared to the '61 F. Rinaldi this thing was deep red! Upon closer viewing there was a brownness to it, but it's still quite amazing color for the age. The aromas are totally odd; juicy and funky stewed fruits. Smells like some modern concoction of a wine. The palate is richly fruited and soft, without much tannins. The finish is very funky, and feels far younger than it should, but somehow in a fake way. This doesn't taste like Barolo to me. It tastes like the wine your uncle Freddy made in his garage with the grapes from his step mom's yard, but the wine was made 10 years ago and forgotten in the corner of the basement. I mean... it's not HORRIBLE, but it's not good either.

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Fantastic as always gents. Some of the most fun one can have.