Drunk as aperitif. Rich fruit, full bodied, complex, very satisfying and interesting. A very nice, quite serious champagne. Promises to evolve well over several more years.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. All bottles opened 24h in advance.
Nose quite earthy and with tar notes. Fruit only in the background. The same was on the palate, which provided this expression of Barolo in a wonderfully elegant package. Lovely.
Mistaken for Accomasso.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. All bottles opened 24h in advance.
This also had a deeply earthy, almost ferrous nose, but the fruit was much more evident than in the Mascarello. On the palate this was firm, powerful earthy and somber but with wonderful freshness on its long finish. Great wine.
Mistaken for G Rinaldi's Brunate.
This still drank very well on day 2 and showed similarly.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. All bottles opened 24h in advance.
The nose is very expressive and shows fresh red fruit mixed with floral notes. An airy and beautiful, surprisingly young expression of Barolo. So much freshness on the palate too. Still very much on the fruit with a very finely grained tannin coming out over the very long, elegant and minerally driven finish. What a Barolo! WoTN for me, though not too far from Monprivato and Rocche.
This was mistaken for Rinaldi's Cannubi S. Lorenzo.
It drank wonderfully on day 2 too.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. All bottles opened 24h in advance.
Not too expressive, but after the first impression of a reserved nose, you slowly get some fine, red fruit emerge. Clean and very precise. On the palate it is also elegant and precise and a bit reserved, but with more depth, more earthiness and minerality. The tannins are still biting and are a touch bitter. Overall very nice.
Mistaken for Bartolo Mascarello.
This drank very well with food and on day 2.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. All opened 24 h in advance.
Unmistakable Burlotto Monvigliero nose, dominated by tapenade, but well integrated with fruit and tar. Nicely balanced on the palate, but I found it lacking in acidity, a bit static. Years ago I found the nose off-putting, but this time I found it special but nice. Other people could not get past the black olives which they found weird.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind, all opened 24h in advance.
Classic expression and very elegant, if perhaps not very expressive, but some more swirling and time in the glass brings out some nice fruit.
On the palate this is splendid. In perfect balance, powerful but elegant, with fruit and a firm mineral spine. The tannins are still present but well buffered. They are felt in the long finish.
It didn't perform well on day two.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. All opened 24 h in advance.
This immediately revealed a wonderful nose of fresh red fruit, mixed with floral notes in a beautifully elegant, sublimated expression of both. Immediately identified as the Monprivato, the palate didn't betray the nose and confirmed a most elegant expression of Barolo. Full bodied, rich in a way, but seamless and beautifully harmonious. Shoulder to shoulder with Brovia's Rocche, but I thought that this had a slight edge.
Like Rocche, this didn't drink well on day 2.

Barolo 2004 tasting. 8 wines blind. Opened 24 h in advance.
This one had the darker and meatier nose. Earth notes and beef stock. It was quite elegant nonetheless. Firm and earthy on the palate too, almost austere, but it also had body and volume which balanced that. I did prefer the more elegant expressions of Barolo, but this one represented well this style and went particularly well with food. It drank very well on day 2 too.

At the end of a Barolo tasting. The somewhat fatigued palate was probably not in the best condition to appreciate this wine, but we all did. Nicely evolved, subdued sweetness and the imprint of botrytis, all in a well knit, lovely package kept together with a light touch. It was a treat to drink this.