E&R's Prequal to 25: Nebbiolo
Tasted Wednesday, November 1, 2023 by David Paris (dbp) with 81 views
Introduction
Another killer throwdown tasting by Ed & crew at E&R, offering an incredible value tasting to explore some truly spectacular Nebbiolo based wines. There were four wines in this lineup that more than pay for the cost of entry, and wines that I have limited bottles of but really wanted to check-in on to see when I should open mine. The major bummer was all but one of the exciting bottles were totally messed up, mostly maderized/heat damaged. So, overall I'd call that a disappointing showing, but it's true that the taste of the '99 Monfortino was worth the whole tasting fee alone... and the Monprivato and Burlotto were also great wines to get to peak in with in their youth. Certainly worth the experience... can never guarantee great aged bottles, as we know!
2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Smells very pretty and floral; lovely tones throughout. Palate entry is soft in texture, showing mild tannins but they do build quickly as you hold it in the mouth. Spicy, showing more tannins at the end of a pretty rich overall experience. A nice, really balanced effort that I think will drink well in its youth, but really hit its stride with a decade+ age.
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1998 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Vigneto Loreto 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Very pretty, earthy, soily tones on the nose, complete with mushrooms and pretty fruit integration. Definitely on the more earthy, soily side of Barolo without as much fruit as most drinkers like. I find it quite elegant. Really lovely, elegant, soft palate texture, showing similar earthy soil notes but with a freshness of fruit. I find the palate quite elegant with nicely integrated soft tannins. The finish has some bitter tannins that imply some more youthful structure than the flavor profile indicates. I think this is likely at its summit, as the fruit will totally dry out before this tannic structure recedes. For me, today, this is beautifully tertiary.
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1998 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
My last note from 13 years ago asked me to wait 15 years before trying again... well this was someone else's bottle but I was excited to try it at about when I wanted to. Unfortunately, the first thing I wrote on this wine is, "smells fucked." The aromas are very funky, bitter, with just the slightest bit of fruit showing. Sound, round palate with bitter tannins. Some fruit on the finish, but basically just puckering bitter tannins. I suspect heat damage somewhere along the line.
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2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Acclivi 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
All pretty, high tones on the nose, with rose hips and some lean green berry fruit present as well. Pretty, but somewhat strange, perhaps due to some of the whole cluster. Very pretty fruit on palate, tastes a bit stemmy, showing some bitter strong tannins. It is tight as nails on the palate... I was certainly expecting some more fruit expression than I got. Bitter, youthful tannins on the finish, but here we get more of the typical high toned fruit of Burlotto. This is incredibly tight and compact right now. 92+, with a strong + if you wait at least 10-15 years.
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2018 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 94 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The aromas here are very pretty, all incredibly high toned gummy red fruit. I find it elegant and pretty and rather ethereal. To me, this is typically youthful Monprivato and I love it. Gorgeous palate texture, showing more of that beautiful pure fruit juice... like you freshly squeezed a ripe strawberry and it's just the liquid juice without any pulp. I also find the tannin profile on the palate very elegant. As its held in the mouth though, the wine does smack you a bit with tannins to remind you of its youthful exuberance. Tons of bitter tannin and strong acidity on the finish is the dominant note. This was a polarizing wine for tasters, for some reason... for me I found it beautifully typical and exactly why I love Mascarello Monprivato. Sure, don't drink it today, but how it's showing today tells me everything I need to know about desiring this wine in my cellar.
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1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino 95 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The only one of the older bottles I have that I was looking to checkin with that was actually in tact... thank god! The aromas here are super elegant and massive, showing so many layers of beauty... the expression is full, rich and round, and very typically Monfortino. The palate texture was soft, round, and very elegant, showing beautiful composure and richness. On the nose and palate, this wine is pure bliss, and shows the kind of elegance, fruit and earth balance, and weight that top Barolo can achieve. Not to be missed, though, is the tannin profile which remains very strong on the palate. Similar on the finish, we still have a massive wall of tannins and much tighter here than the nose or palate offered. For me, the finish is where the wine still shows you its on its climb up its evolution, not yet at the plateau. Wonderful to check in with, but I'll hold mine for at least another decade. 95+
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1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Carobric 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Rather quiet on the not very distinctive nose... sometimes these modernist wines from the 90s are either all extracted or rotten and pruney, and this is neither... which is a great sign. The palate is certainly round and soft, but has nicely integrated acidity with primarily bright red fruits and tannins coming in on the end. A bit more bitter woody tannins show up on the finish, where it is feeling a bit more dried up and the oak shows itself more at the end. These feel like bitter wood tannins, not fruit tannins. Still, this was FAR better than I expected for a mid-90s modernist wine.
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1996 Enzo Boglietti Barolo Fossati 85 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Uh oh, this has that modernist rotting fruit thing that happens when these wines age. Smells weird and confusing to m. The palate is soft, and mellow in texture and feels very atypical. Mild tannin come in, but for me, I taste hardly any typical Nebbiolo character. Or I should say, I taste none. The finish is again weird, atypical and bizarre. It's soft, mild, and boring. Not sure what I'm drinking, but it's not interesting.
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1996 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A surprise addition brought by an attendee, which wound up being one of the wines I was looking the most forward to...! That is until I smelled it :-( All funky stewed fruits made me quickly aware this was likely another bad bottle. Soft, dead dried leaves and stewed gummy bears on the palate. Bitter, dried up tannins on the finish.
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1991 Elio Altare Barolo Vigneto Arborina 86 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Well, at least this bottle showed better than the one I had 8 years ago... good news, as often times these modernist Barolos just go down hill from the moment they land in bottle. This does indeed demonstrate the rotting, funky fruit that modernist Barolos present to me as they get to this age. The palate is round, with bitter tannins, but at least some fruit this go-round. The finish is surprisingly soft, without the destroyed woodchipper thing this sometimes show. After you swallow, the bitter wood tannins to come in at the end, but still, this was actually quite a bit better than I expected it to be.
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1989 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Riserva Brunate Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The wine I was most excited about tasting in the lineup as I have a magnum and wanted to check in with it, but there's nothing to see here, as this bottle is totally messed up. This wine should *maybe* be drinking OK at this "young" age, but this wine is totally maderized and funky, like drinking an 80 year old Barolo from an unknown producer. Absolutely no fruit whatsoever. This wine should be singing at current, or... I was hoping it at least would start to be singing (but thought it may still be too young). So no useful information was gained by trying this bottle. For shame.
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2016 Cecilia Monte Barbaresco Dedicato a Paolo Serracapelli 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Poured blind and wound up being one of the better wines of the lineup. I have had the wines of Cecilia Monte before, but they've never reached this level of enjoyment for me. The aromas were incredibly fruit forward and high toned, but in that beautiful way that I think only youthful Nebbiolo can do. This smells like REAL whole fruit, not the fake fruit cocktail thing you usually think of when you think of an overly fruitful nose. But boy is it juicy, just in a very pretty way. The palate texture is elegant for sure, with a beautiful roundness, but those youthful bitter tannins certainly do come in. The finish is again tight as nails, with bitter tannins really hitting hard. So for me, this tastes exactly like a very youthful, top tier Nebbiolo from a classic producer. Glad to see that's what it was... I was a bit surprised to see it as Barbaresco and not Barolo, though, as the fierceness of the tannins with glorious fruit had me thinking Verduno. But this is a very serious traditionally beautiful wine that I'd love to have in my cellar.
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