Prelude 25-an E&R Nebbiolo joint
E&R Wines, Portland OR
Tasted Wednesday, November 1, 2023 by KeithAkers with 81 views
Introduction
I was in Europe when the email for this came through and I couldn't give E&R my money fast enough. This was a slightly mixed bag tasting, but entirely worth it for the Monfortino alone.
2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
The nose is perfumed and youthful with fresh tones of rose petals, violets, red cherries, strawberries, roasted herbs, tobacco notes, raspberries, licorice, spice notes, and some earth. There is excellent depth and style to the nose that naturally shows off more primary tones, but they are in youthful harmony right here. The Full bodied feel is silky and refined with tart, high acidity and seamless, high tannins that are on the sneaky side. This is a great start to the tasting and I am a big fan of what Produttori did in 2015. This will age gracefully for years, but the open-knit nature of the vintage means there will be a real long drinking window.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1998 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Vigneto Loreto 88 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
The nose is well developed and has some qualities that are fading a bit. There is a distinct note of soy sauce right away that sticks out while the tones of dark red cherries, raspberries, toast, violets, sour berries, tobacco, licorice, dried herbs, and a touch of liqueur are all a bit drying out at this time. This was done with the old way of Albino Rocca and it isn't really holding up like I would want or expect at this time.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1998 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
oh boooooooo. This is a heat damaged bottle
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Acclivi 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The nose is clearly wound up and tight at first. I made sure to leave this alone and come back to it later when it fully opened up into flowing and heady tones of mint, red cherries, strawberries, rose petals, earth notes, spices, roasted herbs, and some sweet tobacco. This is clearly extremely young on the nose, but with a lot of definition at this point. The Full bodied feel is refined, elegant, and youthful with tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins. The tannins really play tricks on you as they absolutely have some grip and taughtness to them, but they aren't as dominant as I would've expected. Regardless, this is without a question a wine that will get much better with age. This is one that when it hits the 12-15 year mark will really start to show its stuff and I hope I come across it then.
Post a Comment / 6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2018 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
This just isn't close to ready for primetime. Tight as a drum and has the brutally young Monprivato palate that is a bit thin and watery right now. I would've thought an 18 would be at least somewhat open, but nope. Come back to this in 2033 and given their track record in warm vintages, this will likely be a knee buckler.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino 97 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Yes Yes Yes. Oh glory be. This is a Monfortino in full flight showing off why it has the pedigree it does. The nose is so layered and complex that it is the nasal version of Alice in Wonderland as it fills the painfully small glass with beautiful tones of cinnamon, sour red cherries, raspberries, some balsamico notes, violets, spices, roasted herbs, licorice, crushed rocks, earth notes, sweet tobacco, tar, and a touch of juniper berries. The Full bodied feel is seamless and layered with tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins that have begun to really integrate. I only wish I had a full bottle in front of me and my own little private space to just let this be. Can it age longer? Of course it can. Does it need to? Honestly, not really. It will need some air, but this is what I came for and it's firing on every cylinder I can ask for.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Carobric 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
It's been a long time since I've had this wine. Mid-90s Scavino isn't really what I seek out, but I am more than happy to taste this. Unfortunately for it, it followed a 99 Monfortino but 'dems de breaks. It does show off the strongly modern style of the time with noteable oak still present along with cinnamon sticks, red cherries, sour red fruits, spice notes, crushed rocks, licorice, a touch of peppery tones, raspberries, and some violets. The Full bodied feel is balanced and mature with crisp and integrated, high acidity as well as slightly drying, high tannins. The tannins have pulled back a fair bit, but they just aren't balanced in the way I would like them from a 96. Still, it's great to revisit this after a while and I'm glad it was poured.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1996 Enzo Boglietti Barolo Fossati 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The Mid-90s Modern train continues with Boglietti's old style showing through pretty well here. There is some upfront oak, but the style shows more in how forceful the tones of raspberries, dried red cherries, toast, figs, tobacco leaf, violets, roasted herbs, and sour red fruits work together. The tones are working together in a way, but there is a brutishness that I can't put my finger on right here. The Full bodied feel is balanced and mature with crisp, high acidity and integrated, high tannins. The structure is more for framing at this point and it does play off well. I feel like this is showing well, but I do have some slightly mixed feelings on it. c'est la vie.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1996 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
why why why. No! /sigh. The hit parade of top wines being flawed continues and this was another. :sadface:
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1991 Elio Altare Barolo Vigneto Arborina 86 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Trepidation creeps in as I put the glass to my nose. 91 wasn't exactly anything close to a stellar vintage and there have been a handful of flawed or gone wines so far. At least there is something going on here that is a bit faded, but balanced with sour red fruits, dried cherries, raspberries, tobacco leaf, and dried herbs. The nose is clearly fading, but for the vintage this is a big win and a decent data point if nothing else.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1989 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Riserva Brunate Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
I'm going to cry. A unicorn bottle and one I've been dying to try. Sadly, this bottle is maderized and someone was a bad bad person in how it was stored. I are not happy about this. booo
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Cecilia Monte Barbaresco Dedicato a Paolo Serracapelli 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This was a blind bonus wine. There is a good bit of perfume right away that I'm digging that heavily leans into the red-spectrum with red cherries, strawberries, raspberries, rose petals, roasted herbs, spice notes, crushed rocks, and a touch of sweet tobacco notes. The Full bodied feel is refined and poised with crisp, high acidity and silky, high tannins. This had the grip and perfume of Nebbiolo while others thought it could be Sangiovese. Which, if you haven't ever confused the two in a completely blind setting, you likely haven't blind tasted enough. I can see some of those comparisons, but the color was spot on for a young Nebbiolo and the amount of perfume was right in line. This did feel like it may have seen some level of whole cluster ala Burlotto, but I haven't bothered checking and don't care enough to be honest. What I do know is that I really dig this wine and it's the first Cecilia Monte that I can think of and I certainly want to drink more in the near and present future.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue