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Wednesday Night Blind - February 2012
Don Tommaso's, Yorktown Heights, NY
Tasted February 1, 2012 by Vinomarcus with 835 views
Introduction
So our monthly clique got together again, this time it was my responsibility to pick the theme and location. I chose to go with Barolo & Barbaresco as a theme and decided to have it at a local bistro, Don Tommaso's here in Yorktown. There were 8 tasters present. The menu included anti-pasti plates, fennel salad, pasta with duck ragu, ossobucco and home made desserts. The food was very good, but the service was lacking, we waited nearly an hour and a half between anti-pasti and the salad. Anyway, the food was a great match to the wines and most of the wines showed pretty well if not very well. All wines were tasted blind.
Flight 1 (1 note)
White - Off-dry
2008 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Spätlese
92 points
Lance brought this for fun, as they opened it up at the store during the day and really liked it. They got a bunch of "leakers" on closeout and wanted to try, my own experience with German "leakers" has been very good as I've heard many German producers overfill their bottles on a regular basis. I've never had a leaking bottle of German Spatlese or higher that wasn't at least drinkable. This was more than drinkable, it was delightful. Loads of honeyed pear, dried fig and tea leaf notes, the focus wasn't razor sharp, but it wasn't flabby either. I really enjoyed it and will be buying a bunch of these.
Flight 2 (2 notes)
Red
1969 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo
80 points
I bought this wine from Chambers St, I was warned that this was not a great vintage by any stretch, but the wine may be yet alive and well. The label was seriously faded but the fill was great, the cork in good shape and the capsule spun without resistance. I followed the instructions given to my by Chambers to the letter, I double decanted 6hrs prior, got the sediment (lots) out and let the bottle sit in a cool (cellar temp) room. I really liked the nose initially as it had a slight floral aroma mixed with subtle strawberry essence. The palate was harsh and astringent though, very hard to drink. a bit vegetal and odd. Everyone deemed it "dead", Andy took some with the salumi and the wine was very drinkable with the meat, nothing great mind you, but drinkable, hence the rating. I went back to it later and it wasn't completely dead but it was certainly on life support. I learned another lesson with this wine and that is a good thing.
Flight 3 (1 note)
Red
2000 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata Torriglione
93 points
Very tannic at first, slowly unwinds and lets some notes of old leather, charred meat, smoke,tar and plums. This is a big wine and every sip was different from the last as it evolved and eventually shut down again. Needs time in the cellar to sort things out. It was terrific with the salumi/cheese. I'd love to have this wine in another 10yrs.
Flight 4 (1 note)
Red
2006 Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema Carema Riserva
89 points
A ringer thrown in by Posner, this was very fruit forward on the nose. I found it very "Californian", while others thought Washington, but once tasted it was clearly Italian Nebbiolo. It was fairly tannic, but the tannins were more dusty and chewy than harsh, it was pretty approachable and quaffable. I found a decent amount of red berry fruit, new shoe leather, some cocoa hints and a touch of spice. Very enjoyable, especially at a $25 or so price tag. A great wine to introduce people to Nebbiolo.
Flight 5 (1 note)
Red
2003 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Vigneto Brich Ronchi
91 points
I double decanted this wine more than 24hrs prior to the dinner - This was pretty well received by the group and everyone enjoyed this, it was still tight and tannic but had great notes of currants, grilled meat, licorice, pepper and liquid smoke. I loved this wine with the fennel salad, truly a great match as the acidity of the salad cut the tannins up nicely. Nobody could believe this was still a tight wine after being open for 24hrs. It actually shut down by the end of the night. Posner things it may never truly open up, I may agree with him, but I still enjoyed it and A. Rocca is one of my favorite Barbaresco producers.
Flight 6 (1 note)
Red
1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba
91 points
This was not decanted at all, it was tight but not iron clad. Nice cedar and shoe leather notes, some cigar smoke and whole espresso bean, very well balanced wine with a nice finish.
Flight 7 (1 note)
Red
2000 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva
92 points
5hr decant time on this wine. Very upfront and open, terrific balance and depth, tastes young but not a baby, deep black fruit, spice, a bit of minerality, some truffle notes as well. Real nice wine, very approachable.
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Comment
Flight 8 (1 note)
Red
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano
This wine was hard as nails, brutally young and closed fisted. You can see the incredible potential of this wine but it just isn't there yet. This needs at least 10yrs in the cellar. I couldn't rate the wine though.
Flight 9 (1 note)
Red
2006 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis
93 points
We all vinturied this wine into our glasses, richly textured and seriously delicious, this had a great core of red and black fruits including a very distinctive pomegranate streak, there was also a decent amount of powdered cocoa on the long finish. Terrific wine.
Flight 10 (1 note)
Red
1998 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra
93 points
Popped at the table and then vinturied into a decanter. This was very ungiving initially but opened up nicely albeit slowly, this is a large wine and tasted very young, most guesses were that it was an '04 or '05, loaded with deep black berry, new leather, mushrooms and cracked white pepper. Lovely wine.
Flight 11 (2 notes)
Red
2000 Massolino Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda
92 points
This was a nice wine, it was initially a bit tight but it had a great structure to it, tannins swung around hard core on the back side of the wine and it began to shut down a bit, but before it did it revealed some nice dark fruit characteristics, anise, truffle, earth and leather. Needs a bit more time to completely unwind.
Red
2005 Sottimano Barbaresco Riserva
90 points
This was decanted enroute to the dinner (don't ask), it showed a nice array of soft red fruit, it had some mildly aggressive tannins but was accessible, notes of ground mint leaves and cedar chips were also noted. Fell a tad short on the finish, but a very nice wine overall.
Closing
So the overwhelming consensus was; that these wines are tight, tannic beasts that need to be stored properly and given plenty of cellar time. I really love these wines at their peak, but obviously it's very hard to determine when that will be.