Decent, well-made vintage champagne, that goes a little bit too broad in style for my palate. Perhaps that's a function of the vintage as well. The nose is expansive, with a bit of toastiness, as well as some crusty bread. The palate is similar, but there's just a hint too much sweetness here. I didn't catch the dosage here (nor am I sure it was even listed on the back), but I'd guess this is on the higher side. In general, I'm a fan of that, but here, it causes the palate to come off too creamy and rounded.
Wine of the night for me. I think this was the wine that showed the clearest balance of structure and fruit, and was closest to what I personally like in my nebbiolo. Fairly structural, but with good red fruit to still balance out the acid and tannins. Reasonably expressive despite being relatively young. The florals here are really pronounced, and there's a perfume that's really pretty.
This suffers slightly from the vintage, in that there's a ripeness here that doesn't seem to be aging well -- there's a slight brownness that seems to be emerging on the palate. The fruit's a bit softer and this wine clearly doesn't have as much sturdiness as the 2001. There's some earthy tones on the palate as well, and while it's not funky, it also doesn't come across as a perfectly clean wine.
Compared to the 2000, this was back to being more structural, with the tannins and acidity showing more prominently. There's an interesting touch of menthol on the palate as well. Perhaps this is the same "size" as the 2001, but I found that I preferred the 2001 significantly, since the fruit profile there was much prettier. Here, there's less perfume and the fruit is more brooding in character.
I've loved the 1996 vintage in Piedmont, so this was a bit of a disappointment. Mostly lean on the nose and palate; there's no fruit here (the best examples I've had definitely still show fruit to couple with that massive structure) but the skeleton of this wine is still here. Massively scaled, but only hints of dark fruit. If only this had a little flesh on its bones, I'm pretty sure I would have loved this wine.
This is one of the better-showing older bottles tonight. There's a good amount of fruit here, showing a mix of red and black, and a moderate hint of perfume as well. Structured, but with just enough fruit to balance it (certainly, I wouldn't have minded a splash more fruit). This bottle, unlike many others, still showed very fresh and there weren't any dirty earthy notes here.
Clearly displays the Marcarini mud. There's also a slight hint of soy, but I'm wondering if that's just a not entirely sound bottle. On the other hand, this isn't a stupendous vintage either. Thin and just a little weedy both on the nose and palate. Lots and lots of acid, but the tannic structure isn't there. The palate is a bit cleaner than the nose as well, but there's really not much of interest here anyway.
Like many other European 1990 reds, this wine is starting to wear down. The ripe fruit has started to decay and there are some unpleasant browned plum flavours on the nose and palate. Quite earthy and mulchy, without the purity of fruit and elegance that I look for in nebbiolo. I'm not sure that this bottle was entirely sound, but there's a slight bit of stewiness on the palate as well and the wine seems a little tired to me.
The best of the older wines tonight. This is still going strong, and feels very similar to the 1995 in terms of structure. There's still a surprising amount of fruit here, and it's bolstered by the acids that keep everything fresh. There's no signs of degradation here at all, and the wine is clean, without any earthiness muddling the pretty fruit. Still, this leans slightly darker than I prefer my fruit profile, but a very good showing of this nonetheless.
Initially interesting on the nose and palate, but a bit of a coffee note and that tinny metallic finish is enough to tell you that this is past its prime. Mind you, the fruit profile (or rather, what's left of it) is quite nice here, as it does lean towards the red side of things, but this is mostly an old and tired bottle.
From half-bottle. Mostly an intellectual curiosity. The nose is wildly floral, with a very clear chamomile note, but there are some other raisiny things as well. The palate is where this wine fails though; you know those hand soap flavours in all those skin-contact hipster wines? This has got that, but then an intense amount of sweetness that is backed up more by the cloying floral tones than by acidity. Some maple, raisin, and toffee flavours, but mostly it's that floral thing that I can't deal with.
2002 Vincent Couche Champagne Brut Millésimé 88 Points
France, Champagne
Decent, well-made vintage champagne, that goes a little bit too broad in style for my palate. Perhaps that's a function of the vintage as well. The nose is expansive, with a bit of toastiness, as well as some crusty bread. The palate is similar, but there's just a hint too much sweetness here. I didn't catch the dosage here (nor am I sure it was even listed on the back), but I'd guess this is on the higher side. In general, I'm a fan of that, but here, it causes the palate to come off too creamy and rounded.
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2001 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Wine of the night for me. I think this was the wine that showed the clearest balance of structure and fruit, and was closest to what I personally like in my nebbiolo. Fairly structural, but with good red fruit to still balance out the acid and tannins. Reasonably expressive despite being relatively young. The florals here are really pronounced, and there's a perfume that's really pretty.
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2000 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This suffers slightly from the vintage, in that there's a ripeness here that doesn't seem to be aging well -- there's a slight brownness that seems to be emerging on the palate. The fruit's a bit softer and this wine clearly doesn't have as much sturdiness as the 2001. There's some earthy tones on the palate as well, and while it's not funky, it also doesn't come across as a perfectly clean wine.
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1999 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Compared to the 2000, this was back to being more structural, with the tannins and acidity showing more prominently. There's an interesting touch of menthol on the palate as well. Perhaps this is the same "size" as the 2001, but I found that I preferred the 2001 significantly, since the fruit profile there was much prettier. Here, there's less perfume and the fruit is more brooding in character.
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1996 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 85 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
I've loved the 1996 vintage in Piedmont, so this was a bit of a disappointment. Mostly lean on the nose and palate; there's no fruit here (the best examples I've had definitely still show fruit to couple with that massive structure) but the skeleton of this wine is still here. Massively scaled, but only hints of dark fruit. If only this had a little flesh on its bones, I'm pretty sure I would have loved this wine.
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1995 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This is one of the better-showing older bottles tonight. There's a good amount of fruit here, showing a mix of red and black, and a moderate hint of perfume as well. Structured, but with just enough fruit to balance it (certainly, I wouldn't have minded a splash more fruit). This bottle, unlike many others, still showed very fresh and there weren't any dirty earthy notes here.
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1993 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 83 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Clearly displays the Marcarini mud. There's also a slight hint of soy, but I'm wondering if that's just a not entirely sound bottle. On the other hand, this isn't a stupendous vintage either. Thin and just a little weedy both on the nose and palate. Lots and lots of acid, but the tannic structure isn't there. The palate is a bit cleaner than the nose as well, but there's really not much of interest here anyway.
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1990 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 85 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Like many other European 1990 reds, this wine is starting to wear down. The ripe fruit has started to decay and there are some unpleasant browned plum flavours on the nose and palate. Quite earthy and mulchy, without the purity of fruit and elegance that I look for in nebbiolo. I'm not sure that this bottle was entirely sound, but there's a slight bit of stewiness on the palate as well and the wine seems a little tired to me.
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1989 Marcarini Barolo Brunate Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Stewed and oxidized.
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1988 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The best of the older wines tonight. This is still going strong, and feels very similar to the 1995 in terms of structure. There's still a surprising amount of fruit here, and it's bolstered by the acids that keep everything fresh. There's no signs of degradation here at all, and the wine is clean, without any earthiness muddling the pretty fruit. Still, this leans slightly darker than I prefer my fruit profile, but a very good showing of this nonetheless.
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1985 Marcarini Barolo Brunate Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Over the hill. Probably a victim of bad storage.
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1971 Marcarini Barolo Brunate 80 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Initially interesting on the nose and palate, but a bit of a coffee note and that tinny metallic finish is enough to tell you that this is past its prime. Mind you, the fruit profile (or rather, what's left of it) is quite nice here, as it does lean towards the red side of things, but this is mostly an old and tired bottle.
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2002 Ferrandes Passito di Pantelleria 83 Points
Italy, Sicily, Passito di Pantelleria
From half-bottle. Mostly an intellectual curiosity. The nose is wildly floral, with a very clear chamomile note, but there are some other raisiny things as well. The palate is where this wine fails though; you know those hand soap flavours in all those skin-contact hipster wines? This has got that, but then an intense amount of sweetness that is backed up more by the cloying floral tones than by acidity. Some maple, raisin, and toffee flavours, but mostly it's that floral thing that I can't deal with.
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