Barolo Dinner

Mathilde Bistro - SF
Tasted Friday, August 25, 2023 by ohne_musik with 147 views

Flight 1 - Champagnes and a White (5 Notes)

  • 2014 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or 93 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    Lemony, bright, with a touch of brioche and pastry. Excellent balance and length. Friendly and dangerously gulpable, but with a nice spine of tension. My favorite of the champagnes tasted and a great way to start the evening.

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  • NV Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Cuvée Granite 90eme Anniversaire 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Very unique master blend, one where you really taste the depth of the older reserve playing side by side with the younger wines. The juxtaposition lends complexity and depth, but the top and bottom do feel a little out of sync. More intellectual and a bit less fun than the Vilmart.

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  • 2018 Oudiette x Filles Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Uni Terre 87 Points

    France, Champagne

    Agree with Rich on this one - it did not really do much for me. 1g dosage, it's quite linear but without the energy and charm of say the Tarlant Zero. I will say that I didn't taste this until the end of the night after sampling a dozen barolos and a glass of the Climens, so YMMV.

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  • NV Pierre Péters Champagne Brut Rosé for Albane 89 Points

    France, Champagne

    Aromas of strawberry and flowers. Super young, but elegant and delicate on the attack, showing a bit more breadth on the back, with a savory bit of chalk. Better on the nose than on the slightly dilute - or maybe it's just tight. A bit underwhelming for Peters... or maybe it just needs a couple years sideways.

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  • 2019 Castello di Perno Langhe Nascetta Gregorio Gitti 91 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

    The "white barolo" of the tasting. Fascinating nose - dried flowers, dried herbs, something exotic and almost Moschifilero like. Palate is a touch less interesting but still very nice and classic Italian white - lemony, texturally rich, and with a hit of savory minerals. Reminds me of Pieropan. Interesting note about the producer - the Castle was a residence for writers, including Primo Levi, and there's a plaque dedicated to him there. Would like to visit.

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Flight 2 - Mature wines (3 Notes)

  • 1958 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo 93 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    A treat to drink. Classic aged Barolo, showing mixed dried fruits, mushroom, soy and a healthy dose of poopy flowers. Still plenty of richness, and showing the outline of the formerly sinewy structure. Like a former pro athlete that has taken care of himself for 30 years after retirement.

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  • 1996 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Storico Liste 90 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    My bring; decanted 7 hours, and tasted throughout. Alluring and effusive on the nose - a full bouquet of dried flowers, tart cherries, and a hint of asphalt. The palate doesn't quite hold up. Lighter bodied, Mostly tertiary flavors, muted red fruit, and ultimately a bit simple, especially compared with the '58. Let's call it 93 for the nose, 87 in the mouth.

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  • 1999 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Cannubi 95 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Gorgeous wine drinking at a youthful peak. Beautiful and classic barolo nose, tar, roses, hay and a panoply of other flowers. Palate is effortlessly balanced, medium bodied and lithe, with rich fruit in perfect harmony with the savory secondary notes, nice underlying musculature with a supporting cast of very fine tannins. George calls it slightly modern, but I think of it as just super classy. Consensus WOTN for most.

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Flight 3 - Younger wines (6 Notes)

  • 2008 G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole 94 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    My favorite Vajra of the night. Great to see the kinship of the 08/12/13. The 08 is the most open-knit, demonstrative, and even seductive of the lot. Beautiful red fruit that sings in a quiet voice. Textbook tar and roses on all the Vajras, with the Bricco delle Viole more emphatic on the floral side, and the Ravera more emphatic on the tar side. Lovely, classical in profile, with good persistence and friendly tannins. I would love to see this with another 5 years on it - it's just missing a bit of the extra complexity that I love in aged nebbiolo. 94+

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  • 2012 G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole 92 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Great to see the kinship of the 08/12/13. The 12 is something of a "middle child", less demonstrative and comely than the 08 (tannins slightly more rustic and tightly clenched), and less stuffing than the 13. Very nice, but feels like it needs another decade or so to really hit its stride. 92+

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  • 2013 G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Great to see the kinship of the 08/12/13. The 13 is the most backward of the bunch, brimming full of potential but feels slightly punishing to me right now. More weight than the other two, but still in a more elegant red-fruited vein than the Ravera. Others said this was starting to open up a bit towards the end of the night, I unfortunately didn't have a chance to revisit. 90 for enjoyment at the beginning of the night, but 94-96 in another decade, I think.

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  • 2013 G.D. Vajra Barolo Ravera 93 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Wonderful to try this next to the Bricco delle Viole. Darker fruited and with a bit of meaty funk, almost feral. Also very tightly clenched, but more approachable to me than the Bricco, perhaps because the burlier, darker profile harmonized with the bigger tannins better. Very enjoyable now, but 95+ in 10 years.

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  • 2013 Elvio Cogno Barolo Riserva Vigna Elena

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Beautiful, elegant nose. Palate is super tightly clenched, with burly tannins that coat the gums and grab hold with a firm grip. You get a glimpse of beautiful red fruit that is mostly imprisoned in a cage of structure. Monolithic for now, and one feels this will be excellent in another ~15 years. 90 for enjoyment now, 95+ with time.

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  • 2013 Elvio Cogno Barolo Bricco Pernice Ravera

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Similar to the Elena, this is a beauty of a wine trapped in a cage of structure, but on a smaller scale. Less dense and slightly more approachable than the Elena. Still hard to get a great read, especially because palate fatigue had largely set in by this point in the evening. 93+ in 15 years?

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Flight 4 - Dessert (1 Note)

  • 1983 Château Climens 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    A much better bottle than 4 years ago. Complex, bright, savory nose. Hits the tongue with vibrant acidity, showing a complex array of burnt caramel, lemon peel, coffee, toffee, grass, frangipane and vanilla bean. Has dropped a fair bit of its sweetness, and comes across as more savory than fruity. A cerebral wine. A lovely antidote to cleanse the palate of barolo tannins at the end of the night.

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