Barolo Seminar with Tom Hyland

A Co-worker showed me the flyer for this tasting and immeaditely I was interested. I became a lot more interested when I checked out Tom Hyland's blog and read what he wrote. This presented a great opportunity to taste through some great barolos and learn from someone who knows a great amount about italian wine

• 2006 Fontanafredda Roero Arneis Pradalupo 86 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Roero

  nose: nice citrusy nose with lemons, minerals, and stone fruits. Nice aromatics that are also a bit light on the depth
  
  taste: good light feel with minerals, citrus tones, and stones fruits with medium/light acidity
  
  overall: a solid arneis. Nice and dry with lighter acidity, this is good for summer sipping and with various fish dishes

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These were shockingly open. It had been noted that they were decanted for a while, but I couldn't get over how amazingly open they were for drinking. Young, yes, but not overbearing on the acidity or tannins I had tasted from a lot of 05s the day before

• 2004 Renato Ratti Barolo Rocche 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: extremely perfumed and deep nose that is wide open(it had been decanted for a while before the tasting) with very pure tones of various florals, rich red cherries, herbs, spices, deep tones of violets, and bits of rocks and various stonish minerals permate in the glass flowing out in harmony
  
  taste: very lovely and elegant feel with medium/high acidity and tannins that flows into soft tones of perfumes, various floral tones, loads of violets, herbs, and deep rich tones of red cherries
  
  overall: a stunner in the making. Very young, but very perfumed that elicits ponderous thought. Relatively accessible at this young age, but it may be due to the decanting. This is definitely one to own and one to lay down as it should have a long and beautiful life ahead of it

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• 2004 Rocche Costamagna Barolo Bricco Francesco Rocche Dell'Annunziata 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: very perfumed and delicate with lovely and rounded tones of lilacs, hrebs, violets, red currants, red cherries, cinammon, and slight hints of perfumes. Great balance and polish to the nose with beautiful nuances that dance around with the great complexity that it brings
  
  taste: young and elegant with medium+ acidity. Plush feel with soft tones of lilacs, herbs, red currants, spice tones, wild strawberries, and red cherries. Fairly accessible at this young stage with a delicate quality to it
  
  overall: a really nice and young barolo. This seems to have the ability to be accessible at a earlier stage, though time should also benefit it by adding a bit of depth and letting the nuances truly emerge. Lovely delicate floral aspects really abound on this one and is a real delight on the nose

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• 2004 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata Torriglione 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: extremely modern influence with a lot of vanilla, mint julip, red cherries, rose hips, dark florals, and a good amount of wood spice. A stark contrast and almost overwhelming nose compared to the last two wines. Very extracted and rich with a pronounced, but not overdone, oak influence
  
  taste: very bold and rich, but with good balance and extrodinary depth with tones of vanilla, red cherries, dark florals, and a good amount of wood spices. Good medium++ acidity and medium/high tannins, but well in balance with each other
  
  overall: this is an excellent barolo that isn't what I normally gravitate towards for a barolo. New worldish in a sense, but still very much a barolo, this is powerful and rich, but still posseses an elegance to it. Needs time to hopefully integrate the oak as it works at this young stage, but could be a nuisance when it hits age 10-15

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This was another one that did get some decanting too. It needed it, but was a great young Riserva that should have a very long life ahead of it

• 2001 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: great balance with lovely and nuanced aromatics of tar, roses, persimmon, herbs, spices, red cherries, and some lovely tones of wild strawberries. Its holding back a bit, but the balance and the purity is just shining
  
  taste: very high acidity with a good demure and elegant feel providing tones of herbs, tar, roses, spices, and some very pretty tones of fresh picked red cherries
  
  overall: A very lovely barolo that has mounds of upside. Its still very much in diapers right now as the aromas are still fairly tight and the acidity is huge. There is a lot of nuance on this wine that will require years to work itself out, but when it does, it will be a pure thing of beauty

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this provided a nice contrast between the "famed" 100 pt vintage and a bit more of a traditional great vintage. The 00 was very open and more traditional then other 00s that I've had, and is fully ready to go. The 01 needs a bit more time, but there wasn't much between them as far as what was better per se

• 2001 Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: lovely perfumed nose filled with roses, tar, subtle floral hints, red cherries, wood spices, and bits of herbs. Delicate at this point while still having a very youthful quality to it
  
  taste: high acidity and high tannins show off the youth of the wine with nice texture providing tones of roses, tar, red cherries, wood spices, and bits of herbs
  
  overall: a touch on the modern side, but not obtrusive like the voerzio. Really good texture with lots of promise as this needs time to let everything integrate and come together

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• 2000 Elvio Cogno Barolo Vigna Elena 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: this was wide open and sweetish with lots of strawberries, red cherries, wild flowers, garden herbs, some bits of truffles and hints of tar. Completely ready to go with secondary characteristics emerging with the primary tones too. A very pretty and complex nose at this point in time
  
  taste: understated and nuanced with lush and round tones of red cherries, wild flowers, garden herbs, and bits of truffles. The acidity is in a perfect place right now and the tannins are well in check too
  
  overall: this wine was singing for me. Very lovely and understated, much more in a feminine style from a hot vintage. Great feel and aromatics, this is one to start drinking up as it won't be long lived and is certainly providing joy

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well, in my books a 99 isn't one with age on it, but in the context of the tasting, it was. I differed with Mr Hyland on the 99 as he said that the oak and modern making had really integrated to where you couldn't really tell, well for me that wasn't the case as it still was apparent, but not overbearing

The 98 was just lovely and from the 98s that I've had, this vintage is drinking perfectly right now, but should also age flawlessly

I enjoyed the 95, but obviously this isn't one of Vietti's higher end bottlings and its one that should be drunk in the near term

• 1999 Elio Grasso Barolo Riserva Rüncot 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: modern influence shows through a bit with sweet tones of vanilla, red currants, herbs, tar, roses, and a slight bit of anise creeps in. Not overtly extracted as its started to integrate well, but it still exists a slight bit
  
  taste: great feel with medium+ acidity and medium/high tannins that give into tones of berries, red currants, herbs, tar, and roses. Very elegant and polished for a young barolo
  
  overall: this is starting to come into its own. Still showing a slight bit of extraction. Very perfumed nose that is working well already with a very classy and elegant feel on the palate

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• 1998 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Vigna Enrico VI 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: very lovely and elegant nose filled with tar, anise, dark florals, rich cherries, herbs, and juiper spices. Great depth, and the elegance of 98 is really showing. Very perfumed and hi-toned on the nose
  
  taste: Extremely elegant feel with medium+ acidity and good medium+ tannins with smooth tones of anise, dark florals, dark cherries, herbs, and juniper spices.
  
  overall: I do love the 98s. So full of elegance and perfumed they are just in a perfect place and provide so much joy in drinking. Extremely elegant and beautiful, this is perfect right now

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• 1995 Vietti Barolo Brunate 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: soft and understated nose of bits of licorice, tea leaves, red currants, herbs, spice, and subtle tones of perfumes. Fully mature nose that is working very well in balance
  
  taste: fully mature and elegant with tea leaves, licorice, herbs, perfumes, and a good helping of red currants. Very lovely with medium acidity, and fully resolved tannins
  
  overall: lovely and fully evolved. This is as good as it will get and is in a perfect place

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I was completely impressed with this. Every moscato that I've had in the past has been rather tepid and very forgettable, this was really good on the other hand

• 2007 Gianni Voerzio Moscato d'Asti Vignasergente 88 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti

  nose: great nose with a lot more depth then I'd expect from a moscato with lots of tangy tones of lemons, lychees, and some mineral undertones. Very impressive nose that has decent depth, but lacking in complexity
  
  taste: great easy feel with some good frizzante working on the palate providing tones of lychees, lemons, citrus tones, bits of minerals, and some vanilla extract
  
  overall: a really fun wine. Good depth with great aromatics and feel on the palate. This is easily the best moscato I've ever tasted. Most are very blase and overtly sweet, this is different and has depth and aromatics while not being over sweet

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A really great evening. We arrived slightly late, but thankfully nothing had really started yet.

It was great to really listen to how Tom was describing the wines and the background he gave on a lot of them. What was even better was that he provided most of the wines from his own collection so that there could be some wines with age on them in the tasting. I wouldn't hesitate to go to another seminar of his if he does one