Seattle Aged Nebbiolo Dinner

Last night we had a most excellent dinner at Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Washington to taste through some aged nebbiolo accompanied by some of the best food in the area. I do not get taste enough examples of aged Barolos and Barbarescos since most of mine are not of age yet and this dinner served to reinforce the fact that patience will be rewarded. The restaurant did an excellent job accomodating us and I thought the menu was well thought out and executed. Thanks to all those who attended and shared so generously, it was a great group and we had a blast.

The menu consted of the following:
Veal Tongue Tonnato
Cipollini Ripieni with Wagyu Beef on Parmigiano Reggiano Fonduta
Piemontese Plin of Rabbit with Sage Butter

Choice of

Tagliata of Wagyu New York Strip with Toma Erbonata
or
Venison with Gratin of Turnip and Winter Savory

Pralus Chocolate Souffle with Blood Orange and Vanilla Bavarian

• 1996 Pol Roger Champagne Blanc de Chardonnay

  France, Champagne

  This wine had great acidity and verve with notes of lemon zest, yeast and fresh brioche, it will surely age well.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1990 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese ***

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Wow, with an explosive nose a eucalyptos, pear, and slight petrol this wine wall well structured and not too sweet. I could nose and drink this all thee time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1988 Domenico Clerico Langhe Arte

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  Served from 1.5L. Now we're talking. Blind I would have guessed this wine to be much younger with its deep dark violet color and probably Cabernet based. It showed no signs of shock from having recently shipped and being chased down from Fedex several hours prior if any I think that may have helped it be so expressive. This wine had a quite a complex nose with notes of pepper, blackberries, currants and brambles. I think this was one of the group favorites. A

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Parusso Barolo Mariondino

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  I not sure if this was riserva or not but wow it was killer. Clearly stylistically different, medium to lighter bodied with an elegant tranluscent pale violet color. This had classic floral aromas of roses and violets with an under element of tar and freshly laid gravel. Pure velvet on the mouth and a sweet finish it was almost Pinot Noir like. I loved it. A

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Giovanni Manzone Barolo Le Gramolere

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Earthy and monolithic this was not my favorite. It was clumsy on the palate and almost seemed slightly ozidative. D

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Holy sh**t. This wine showed its class and pedigree and is going to get nothing but better. It was a beautiful medium bodied wine with stong yet subtle aromas of asphalt, graphite, dried roses, cranberries and cherries. On the mouth it was the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove due to its great mouthfeel and tannic zing. I would say this is 5-10 years from maturity. A++ and my co-WOTN.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1961 Antonio Vallana e Figlio Barbera Cantina di Bacco

  Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC

  What an interesting wine with a nose and color that did not exhibit its age, some thought this was primarily nebbiolo and probably topped off at the winery prior to its relatively recent release. Man whatever it was it had an exotic nose of earth plums and alspic and a soft finish that may have been slightly short but who's counting? B+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1988 Château Climens

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  This was all about honeysuckle and exotic fruits on the nose, a good nightcap.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1988 Gaja Barbaresco

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Yowsa I am running out of accolades for these wines. This was revelation of sorts for me. If this is what the regular Barbaresco is capable of showing with some age sign me up. Full bodied with a deep dark color that did not show its age with wine was all about power and elegance mixed. The aromas were more on the dark fruit side still with undertones brambles, stones and earth. The finish was silkly sweet and lingered for close to a minute. The thing about all of these wines was how well they went with the food. A++ and my co WOTN.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2001 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  I glad this got thrown in the mix. With two hours of decanting it was surprisingly accessible still. An interesting counterpoint to the older wines the nose was all about strawberries for me. The tannins were a bit of a wake up after the more mature wines but it went great with the venioson. Not shut down at all. A

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1964 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Corked, doh!

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Asili

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  From 1.5L. This started strong but faded in the glass. Medium to full bodied it was primarily funk and earth aromatically and had nice soft velvetly mouthfeel but lost its verve rather quickly. C

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Once again this was a geat group of wines and dinner company and I hope to do it again in the near