2000 and previous Barolo and Barbaresco
My House (Portland, OR)
Tasted Saturday, March 14, 2009 by David Paris with 744 views
Introduction
Decided to explore some older Barolos and Barbarescos for this event. Had a rash of late cancellations, but the size wound up perfect as we had plenty of opportunity to go back and re-taste the wines we enjoyed. I also found some chocolate from Piedmonte (Caffarel) that wound up quite delicious and a perfect pairing for some of the wines. I'll need to get more for general consumption. I was hoping we'd have a fairly even split of Barbarescos and Barolos, but we wound up with just two Barolos. Oh well, I guess that means I can still do a Barolo only party in the near future!
Flight 1 - Barbarescos (6 Notes)
Flight 2 - Barolos (2 Notes)
Flight 3 (1 Note)
Al always likes to be prepared, so he travels around with an assortment of wine in his trunk, because you never know when you're going to need to get drunk on good wine. Or in this case, because you never know when you may want to drink Wine Spectator's 2008 Wine Of The Year. Lucky for us, it was tonight!
Closing
I completely forgot to open the 2008 Elio Perrone Bigaro I got to finish off the evening! I think after Al brought out the Clos Apalta from his traveling cellar, we were all pretty tanked and didn't really need it. That thing was rich enough to be dessert anyway.
This was very enjoyable, and perhaps my favorite event I've hosted yet. While the conversation was very much on wine, it was very interesting to hear everyone's perspective on a variety of subjects. I'll likely try to target future events around this size, as it was perfect. Thanks everyone for a fun night.
1995 Pertinace (Cantina Vignaioli) Barbaresco Vigneto Nervo 88 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Brownish orange in the glass. There's cranberry present on the nose, but also some hints of oxidation. Lots of cranberry on the palate, some rubber shoe sole, and overall medium sourness. The sourness continues into the finish with nicely balanced acidity and tannins. Not too complex, and perhaps on the downward side of its drinking window, but enjoyable.
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1996 Pertinace (Cantina Vignaioli) Barbaresco Vigneto Nervo 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
More vibrant red color. Bright fruit on the nose, and you can almost smell the acidity here. Again, much brighter red fruits (raspberry, cranberry) on the palate, with a slight bit of turkey skin. Finishes with cranberry jelly. Much bigger tannins here and becoming very drying. The lingering flavors are heavy on the cranberry, and this sticks around a while. I think this one has quite a few years left in it, and believe it'll be another 5 years before it's true peak. This was drinking 89 points the night of, but the next day the finish has integrated much more, as well as having the tannins calmed a bit. The length is really showing up on the finish now.
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1997 Pertinace (Cantina Vignaioli) Barbaresco Vigneto Nervo 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
The darkest of the bunch, with some orange around the edges. Much stinkier nose than either of the other two in this vertical. Getting tons of crostini bread covered in pan fried oyster mushrooms. On the palate, however, this is showing very bright fruit, including some candied components... would have never expected this based on the nose. With aeration some more funk shows up, but not much. Wow, this then goes straight dirty on the finish. Back to the mushrooms the second I swallow. This is a really interesting wine, as the nose and finish are nothing like the mid-palate. A nice roller coaster, and while it may not be entirely delicious on the finish, it is certainly the most interesting and enjoyable of the bunch.
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1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Moccagatta 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Heavy bricking on this one. Floral city on the nose here, along with some cranberry and graphite. Nice. Very pretty fruit and candy on the mid-palate (sweet gummy bears, with the plastic wrapper). Goes a little dirty on the finish, with more of the plastic flavors, but the sour fruit is certainly present in spades, and the hairs on my tongue stand up. Quite bitter tannins, but very very interesting and quite tasty. This too could stand another 5 years, but it is very enjoyable today. The next day the nose wasn't quite as expressive, but the palate and finish remained delicious. The tannins hadn't really smoothed out at all.
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2000 Azienda Pier Barbaresco Riserva Vila 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Very bright, translucent red. Very complex, yet beautifully subtle nose, showing cranberry, rocks, minerals, and just the seeds of a raspberry. Quite lovely; I could smell this for days. Sour, pleasing red fruits on the mid-palate, getting juicer as I aerate. The finish looses me a bit as it's slightly disjointed, and moving around the map a bit... but it does have the bright fruit components mentioned before. All around this is drinking kind of like a great Cru Beaujolais, with its bright fruit and subtlety. I think I enjoyed this wine way more than the others, though. I was 90-91 the day of, but this is even better the next day and the finish has integrated some more, so I'll go on the higher end of that scale. I hope with more bottle time this could integrate more, as it could be special. My favorite of the Barbarescos. 91+
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2000 Punset Barbaresco Campo Quadro 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Definitely the darkest of the Barbarescos. Very bright nose, shows dark fruits as opposed to the red fruits we've had all night. Almost smells like grape fun dip. Much darker fruits are present on the palate, with lots of integrated sour acidity. Very juicy. Again, big on the finish, with lots of tannins. A delicious wine, if a bit more modern interpretation of Barbaresco. Drinking well today due to its forwardness, but could handle more time to smooth out the tannins. 91+
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