Community Tasting Note
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oldwines Likes this wine: 94 points
February 9, 2024 - Pre-Super Bowl Gentlemen's Dinner (New Jersey, USA): Acquired in 2020 from Zachy’s during the pandemic shutdown, represented as from an Italian collector source. After an experience a few years ago with a 1967 Damilano Barolo that needed nearly 24 hours to blossom and blossom it did, in preparation for our event Friday evening, I decanted this around 8pm on Thursday. After we took a small taste we decided that the wine was clearly not as acidic as the 1967 and quickly put the wine back in the cleaned bottle ( there was an huge amount of chunky sediment) and recorked it. I have my fingers crossed that it will be good at the event. It was a shockingly bright garnet red with just a hint of bricking. The nose was quite effusive with mushroom, truffle, licorice and still vibrant red cherry fruit. Palate reflected the nose overall with a long finish. Will update after the event.
As served this was terrific! Still bright and classic. Lots of layers and still modestly fruity if just a touch "pruney". My number 2 of the flight tasted next to 1967 Giuseppe Mascarello and 1971 G. Borgogno Riserva. Remarkably youthful and vibrant even after the early opening. Glenn thought this was perhaps heat affected at some point in its life and I can see that as a possibility.439 views
2 Comments
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ciaovito commented:
2/21/24, 5:52 AM - Nice notes ! Was wondering how many hours do you think open ? usually double decant and give it 4-8 hours how long did you let it air out? thanks Vito
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oldwines commented:
2/21/24, 6:44 AM - I decanted at 8pm more than 24 hours ahead. Then poured it back into the cleaned bottle after about 30 minutes. It stayed in the bottle until about 8pm the day of the dinner and was uncorked for about an hour. Then poured into large Burgundy-style glasses for about 20 minutes before actually serving the course. The initial exposure to oxygen did its job even while recorked. Simply opening for a slow-ox at the beginning would not have done much in my opinion. The amount of surface area exposed to oxygen is minimal, so as a rule I am not a fan of that approach. In retrospect, I probably should have decanted again about an hour before serving. The benefit would have been only marginal I suspect. This was not as acidic and in need of the decant as the 1967 for sure.