I took this wine as an aperitif wine, based on CT notes suggesting a bland, unimposing wine ... wrong! Served blind, the guys had this as a Nebbiolo, a young Barolo or Barbaresco. Deep, primary purple/red colour. A tarry bouquet of blackberries, dark cherries and black plums and brown baking spices. Almost a suggestion of high toned blueberry. Also, in the mouth, tarry and quite tannic. This is a young, broad shouldered wine, with big fruit volume and weight. Good acidity and in balance. The flavours are again tar, blackberries and other dark fruit, espresso and liquorice. A modern style, with a satiny mouthfeel. This is a serious wine but there is a lot of oak to integrate so give this Barbera 5 + years cellar time.
Served blind by Andrew H. A deep red colour, almost as dark as the Spinetta. I did not have this as a Barbera at all, but I should have because it had much more Barbera typicity than the Spinetta. A perfumed nose of bright red berries with some earth and spice. A pretty wine on palate, medium weight and a little straightforward. The flavours were red fruits, with a suggestion of chalky minerality. A pleasant aperitif wine.
Colour deep red, browning a little at the rim. Served blind, a Nebbiolo nose of creosote and deep, dark berry fruits: black cherries, blackberries and black currants. There is also a lot spicy oak on the bouquet. A tarry, dense, fruit heavy palate. The wine is still quite primary. There is a lot of oak on the palate (70% new oak, Thierry said), and huge tannins, but there is the fruit volume here to absorb them. It has a complex flavour profile of dark and red berries, spices and minerals. The Barolo is yet to fully come together, but in another 5-10 years, I'm sure, will be absolute classic.
Italy, Trentino Alto-Adige / Veneto, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT
This wine had been open for 12 hours before being served blind. I couldn't place the wine geographically or as to cepage, other than seeing it as being in a modernist, international style (Teroldego from the Dolomites area, said Andrew S). An interesting, complex bouquet of dark berries, plums, warm earth and vanilla oak, with a funky, feral element. In the mouth, there is dense fruit weight, serious structure and savoury, plummy flavours. It is a sleek, well proportioned wine, but I found the tannins a bit spiky and grippy on the back palate. A complex and interesting wine. Drink or hold.
Andrew H's wine had a deep, fairly primary colour and a lovely spicy bouquet of red and black berries, showing some evolution. On palate, this is a lovely, fully mature wine, with some development, but still showing bright fruit. The flavours were red and black cherries, earth and dark spices with some underlying minerality. There were no tertiary flavours present, and still sufficient acidity and primary fruit, so there seemed no hurry to drink this wine if you have it in your cellar. My WoTN, it paired beautifully with the duck and shiitake mushroom dish. As Andrew said 'It's amazing how a $40 ex-auction bottle can give so much pleasure'.
I bought a few bottles of this but was worried when I tasted it at a store Barbaresco tasting, it was a mess. My friend said 'Don't worry, it's a storage issue'. He was right. This is an excellent wine and will be lovely in 5-10 years. Deep, dark colour. Double decanted 6 hours but this was not enough. My best glass of this wine was one I poured and left in my kitchen for 54 hours (no typo). When I refilled the wine from the bottle that had a cork in it for that time it immediately tightened up again. A lovely bouquet, intense and floral notes of dark roses, also garrigue, spicy cherries and a strong woody note (think old church pew). In the mouth, a big volume of fruit - more black than red, sour dark cherries, blackberries, dark spices and anise - matched by quite a lot of unresolved but fine-grained tannin. The Gaiun is however elegant and persistent with good acidity. I think this will be something really special in 5-10 years. Martinenga is a monopole of Marchesi di Grésy between Asili and Rabaja.
2008 La Spinetta (Rivetti) Barbera d'Alba Gallina 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
I took this wine as an aperitif wine, based on CT notes suggesting a bland, unimposing wine ... wrong! Served blind, the guys had this as a Nebbiolo, a young Barolo or Barbaresco. Deep, primary purple/red colour. A tarry bouquet of blackberries, dark cherries and black plums and brown baking spices. Almost a suggestion of high toned blueberry. Also, in the mouth, tarry and quite tannic. This is a young, broad shouldered wine, with big fruit volume and weight. Good acidity and in balance. The flavours are again tar, blackberries and other dark fruit, espresso and liquorice. A modern style, with a satiny mouthfeel. This is a serious wine but there is a lot of oak to integrate so give this Barbera 5 + years cellar time.
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2013 Elio Altare Barbera d'Alba 89 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Served blind by Andrew H. A deep red colour, almost as dark as the Spinetta. I did not have this as a Barbera at all, but I should have because it had much more Barbera typicity than the Spinetta. A perfumed nose of bright red berries with some earth and spice. A pretty wine on palate, medium weight and a little straightforward. The flavours were red fruits, with a suggestion of chalky minerality. A pleasant aperitif wine.
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2004 Domenico Clerico Barolo Pajana 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Colour deep red, browning a little at the rim. Served blind, a Nebbiolo nose of creosote and deep, dark berry fruits: black cherries, blackberries and black currants. There is also a lot spicy oak on the bouquet. A tarry, dense, fruit heavy palate. The wine is still quite primary. There is a lot of oak on the palate (70% new oak, Thierry said), and huge tannins, but there is the fruit volume here to absorb them. It has a complex flavour profile of dark and red berries, spices and minerals. The Barolo is yet to fully come together, but in another 5-10 years, I'm sure, will be absolute classic.
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2006 Foradori Granato 91 Points
Italy, Trentino Alto-Adige / Veneto, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT
This wine had been open for 12 hours before being served blind. I couldn't place the wine geographically or as to cepage, other than seeing it as being in a modernist, international style (Teroldego from the Dolomites area, said Andrew S). An interesting, complex bouquet of dark berries, plums, warm earth and vanilla oak, with a funky, feral element. In the mouth, there is dense fruit weight, serious structure and savoury, plummy flavours. It is a sleek, well proportioned wine, but I found the tannins a bit spiky and grippy on the back palate. A complex and interesting wine. Drink or hold.
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1995 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Andrew H's wine had a deep, fairly primary colour and a lovely spicy bouquet of red and black berries, showing some evolution. On palate, this is a lovely, fully mature wine, with some development, but still showing bright fruit. The flavours were red and black cherries, earth and dark spices with some underlying minerality. There were no tertiary flavours present, and still sufficient acidity and primary fruit, so there seemed no hurry to drink this wine if you have it in your cellar. My WoTN, it paired beautifully with the duck and shiitake mushroom dish. As Andrew said 'It's amazing how a $40 ex-auction bottle can give so much pleasure'.
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2006 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Barbaresco Martinenga Gaiun 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
I bought a few bottles of this but was worried when I tasted it at a store Barbaresco tasting, it was a mess. My friend said 'Don't worry, it's a storage issue'. He was right. This is an excellent wine and will be lovely in 5-10 years. Deep, dark colour. Double decanted 6 hours but this was not enough. My best glass of this wine was one I poured and left in my kitchen for 54 hours (no typo). When I refilled the wine from the bottle that had a cork in it for that time it immediately tightened up again. A lovely bouquet, intense and floral notes of dark roses, also garrigue, spicy cherries and a strong woody note (think old church pew). In the mouth, a big volume of fruit - more black than red, sour dark cherries, blackberries, dark spices and anise - matched by quite a lot of unresolved but fine-grained tannin. The Gaiun is however elegant and persistent with good acidity. I think this will be something really special in 5-10 years. Martinenga is a monopole of Marchesi di Grésy between Asili and Rabaja.
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