Casa Tartufo, Singapore
Tasted Friday, June 15, 2018 by Paul S with 302 views
The late Bruno Giacosa was a reference and a standard-barer for great Piemontese wine, for both Barolo and Barbaresco. Few other makers of Nebbiolo are consistently put on as high pedestal by both fellow-winemakers and consumers, save perhaps for Giacomo Conterno, and maybe Angelo Gaja.
Yet while Conterno's Barolo bottlings (especially the Monfortino) are storied, and Gaja's Barbaresco offerings have won more acclaim than his Barolo, Giacosa has somehow managed to produce legendary wines from terroirs spanning vineyards in both regions. Several of his iconic famous "Red Label" Riserva bottlings of Santo Stefano and Rabaja from Babaresco, and Collina Rionda and Falletto from Barolo, regularly feature in wine-geek lists of the greatest wnes ever produced in Piedmont.
Born in Neive in 1929, Bruno has spent his entire life in wine, first working in the cellar with his father Mario and grandfather Carlo at the age of thirteen, and then becoming fully employed in the family business two years later. He thus learned through old-school apprencticeship, from his father and grandfather, rather than in enology school. And yet his talent for spotting good vines and vineyards became abundantly clear very early on. By 1960, he started his own company and soon became famous for both his palate and his ability to recognize and purchase grapes from the best vineyards in the Langhe.
Traditionally, Giacosa's most famous wines - the Barabesco Santo Stefano from Neive, and the Barolo Collina Rionda - were made from purchased grapes. However, with the rise of estate-bottling, Giacosa decided to purchase his own vineyards, including choice plots in Rabajà in Barbaresco and Fellatto in Serralunga, and started producing absolute stunners from his own grapes. The last Barolo from Collina Rionda was in fact produced in 1993 because the grower he bought the grapes from began to make his own wine - the two Red Label Collina Riondas that we had on the night were therefore a very rare treat.
When I first visited Giacosa years back, I was surprised to see huge stainless steel tanks sitting in the front-yard of his cellar. We were told that he employed a long maceration time, with a two to three-week fermentation in stainless steel at moderate temperatures, followed by three to four years aging in French oak botti. A rather traditionalist approach then, but one not afraird to employ modern techonolgy with those giant temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Somehow though, whatever he did with his minimalist methods resulted in some magical alchemy, producing some absolute masterpieces over the years.
Tonight, we had a fantastic dinner convened by Yew Lin, covering nicely-aged bottles of both White and Red Labels from the best vineyards, covering a span of decades. Although I have known and loved Giacosa's wines for many years, I was still gobsmacked at how consistently great the bottles were - some of them were amongst the very best wines I have drunk in a long time. Truly magnificent Nebbiolo wines, perfectly paired with truffles and bistecca, and topped up with great company - what more could one ask for to mark the passing of a truly iconic wine-maker.
1994 Bruno Giacosa Spumante Extra Brut 92 Points
Italy, Lombardia, Lombardia Spumante
Surprisingly really nice - the nose smelt like an old Champagne, with sweet notes of caramel and nuts and ripe stone fruit, all gently laced with a bit of spice. Really attractive. The palate was not quite as characterful as the nose, but was lovely in its own way too. Soft, mellow and melting, yet still with a good bit of freshness and just the remnant of a fine mousse, it unfolded gently in the mouth with a blush of yellow fruit, and then some mineral and spice towards the finish. There was a lovely transperancy and lightness to this that made it a delight to drink. Really nice.
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1996 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Always lovely, this seems to just seems to grow and grow with time. Today, the nose exploded out of the glass with deep wafts of flinty mineral, smoky spice, and toasted almond nuts - all swirling around a core of creamy white fruit. The palate was still tingling with nervous energy, with bright 1996 acidity and a real spine of flinty, slakey minerality piercing through a rich core of ripe yellow fruit, and then just a touch of creamy butter on the sides, all tailing away into a long, bittersweet, almond-skin finish. A stunning wine, fleshy and delicious, yet packed with power and wonderfully structured, with a real sinewy feel to it. Superb, and still opening up.
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1999 Gravner Breg 93 Points
Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
Idiosyncratic, but really quite good. It had a fascinating nose, not oxidised in spite of its orange colour, instead it was a dry, flinty bouquet, with clay and stone and neutral white fruit. Nice. The palate was lovely. Muscular and almost structured through skin contact, it coated the palate with full, powerful flavours of white fruit, pear and more spicy notes, all dovetailing into long, powerful, mineral finish. A really characterful wine that went beautifully with food.
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