2001 Barolo and Barbaresco Retrospective
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Tasted October 15, 2021 by cct with 158 views
Introduction
Several nebbiolo lovers met in Baltimore for a long overdue weekend. This was the first time I had seen the group outside of Zoom since pre COVID. TM was the impetus for the weekend. It was a simple question with an easier answer. I would like to pour some '01s. Yes please! JW came down form NYC, I from Tucson. CD drove up from DC, and Matt from Baltimore
HK set up the dining outdoor table and a menu. Six of us sat for what will be the best tasting I have in 2021. A huge thanks to TM who supplied the vast majority of these wines from his cellar. His generosity more than made up for his average company.
Flight 1 - Starters (1 note)
We started with this terrific bottle of Champagne. A terrific combination of extended lees contact, ripe fruit, blocked malo, and no dosage. Lots of moving parts creating this wine, yet they all seemed to land in a great spot. Harmonious and super interesting.
We also had a splash of the 07 Luneau-Papin Excelsior. I did not take formal notes, and wanted to minimize my intake, but it was a solid soil driven, dense, yet precise wine.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
We started with this terrific bottle.
Lovely lifted and fresh nose with autolytic notes that are more present on the nose than palate, with bright fruit and subtle florals. A filigree fine bead, it's beautifully balanced in a detailed mode. This has a really cool mix of the extended lees yet retains terrific fruit freshness and lift. Excellent cut and focus in this seemingly contrasting yet harmonious Champagne. Outstanding. I would love to follow a bottle of this over an evening.
Flight 2 - The lone Barbaresco (1 note)
We inadvertently, but appropriately book ended the tasting with Bruno Giacosa. The lone Barbaresco was a great starting point.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
The lone Barbaresco of the night served in a flight by itself.
Expansive perfume with rose and violet, tar, cherry fruit and savory undertones. On the palate it is detailed and a bit closed at first, but after around three more hours, it expanded and gained the breadth and more of sense of harmony, while losing none of its jewel like precision. Lovely perfume painted with a finer brush stroke. This beautiful conveys intensity and focus with a sense of ease and calm. Outstanding in a youthful mode.
Flight 3 - Beppe Rinaldi (2 notes)
Both of these were outstanding, but I would tend to agree with TM, that in '01, Rinaldi did not achieve the greatness that is possible at this address. This is one of the problems with these comparative tastings. It is an odd world when you think two bottles of Beppe Rinaldi Barolo are the least interesting bottles at the table.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
Roses, terrific Cannubi perfume. Cherry fruit, tart, and expansive nose. Mid plus weighted, with more florals, fruit, tar, and some subtle savory undertones. Comparativley suppler than the Brunate -Le Coste served alongside it. I have a soft spot for this bottling and it showed very well, just not magical. The palate, while outstanding does not deliver on the promise of the nose. It's outstanding nonetheless, and a bottle I would be happy to drink anytime. Lovely, and drinking very well right now.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
Served alongside the Cannubi San Lorenzo- Ravera
Deeper toned and richer than the CSLR. Balsamic notes, tar, darker nebbiolo fruit, with more overt depth and power, and a sense of richness, but lacking some of the nuance and je ne sai quoi of the best bottles tonight. It is more overt, and of itself a pretty wonderful bottle of Barolo. Quite long, expansive and rich yet detailed, and only suffering amongst the company tonight. It is a fine night of wines when Beppe Rinaldi's wines do not steal the show. An outstanding wine I would always be happy to drink.
Flight 4 - Monprivato and Cascina Francia (2 notes)
We start moving toward Serralunga from the previous Crus, and seeing the contrasting styles of producer and terroir was a great lesson.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
Served alongside Cascina Francia
A fantastic, lifted, floral, and red fruited nose. On the palate it has filigree fine detail, yet with great depth. Still red fruited on the palate with terrific perfume. A paradox of power without weight. This has terrific poise and balance, sap and density, yet is simultaneously seems almost delicate and fleeting. This has mystery and nuance, but mostly a sense of effortless harmony. It's beguiling really. A great foil to the Francia, both great but in entirely different modes. This is the wine that spoke to me. Super. (0 views)
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
A deep brooding nose, with dark nebbiolo fruit, nettles, tar, iron, and roses. This has an intoxicating, extroverted nose that continues onto the palate intensity, depth and scale. This comes directly at you announcing itself rather than drawing you in like the Monprivato. Sappy and dense, nearly bottomless, monumental in scale, yet incredibly poised with terrific inner mouth perfume and depth. More dark fruit, balsam, savory notes, and some porcini along with the nettles and ferrous notes. This is one of the wines that had an extra gear this night, but this one was more in volumetric sense rather than a sense of nuance. I do not mean that volume as criticism, as it is nearly impossibly well balanced. A wonder that grabs your attention. Terrific and showing very well in a youthful mode.
Flight 5 - Cappellano (2 notes)
Not much to say here. The Pie Franco is stunning bottle of wine, and the Rupestris is nearly as good, just not quite as finessed. A fantastic flight.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
Served alongside the Pie Franco
A stunning archetypal nose. Balsam, roses, tar. Massively forward, yet beautifully focused without any loose edges. On the palate, it has tremendous sap and inner perfume, with a richness coupled with a sense of grace. It is not delicate, but rather effortlessly forceful. There is a clarity to this wine that one really sees outside of a couple producers. Great florals, spice, and terrific underlying acidity, with an expansive mouthfeel. A wine to make you swoon. This has much of the character of the Pie Franco, just painted with a slightly rougher stroke. Stellar. Incredible wine drinking youthfully well.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
An impossibly deep nose. Haunting really. Roses, cherries, tar, and balsam notes. It's like someone took the Rupestris which was fantastic and finely focused it into jewel like clarity. Expansive, palate encompassing breadth and depth with a weightlessness like few Nebbiolo I have had. It has more of everything that the Rupestris has, yet delivered with more grace. This is the iron fist in a velvet glove. An effortlessly incredible, seamless beauty. I'm probably being stingy with my score. Stunning.
Flight 6 - More Serralunga (2 notes)
We finished with these two It was hard to follow the near perfect Pie Franco, but these were outstanding. the Giacosa conveyed what few other people than the master could. Sap and weight, with an effortless calm. The Massolino while outstanding was a little polished for me. It is still an outstanding wine that speaks of Rionda.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
Roses, tar, balsamic and ferrous notes on the nose. This has a terrific sense of sap and density, yet a little more poise than the other (non Pie Franco) Serralunga bottles tonight. Expansive and deep on the palate, with more spice, medicinal, and savory notes. This has wonderful palate presence: expansive yet fresh with terrific lift, poise, and a sense of calm and harmony. Youthfully delicious.
La Cuchara, Baltimore
Opened at 8AM, decanted form noon to 5pm, then drunk over several hours at dinner
Served alongside the 01 Giacosa Falletto white label
A richer nose than most of the bottlings tonight. Tar, roses, cherry fruit, balsam and a hint of truffle. Expansive on the palate, very well balanced, but coming across comparatively polished in comparison to the rest of the wines. There's lovely inner mouth perfume, it finishes quite long, with lovely spice and balsam notes. It's drinking youthfully very well. A wine that has all of the components but seems to lack the X factor to put them all together into something magical. Still delicious by any manner.
Closing
This was a great night. The wines showed youthfully well. The restaurant did an excellent job with service and the food was solid. The Pie Franco is the best wine I have had in a long time, and the Rupestris, Falletto, and Francia were great bottles, but among the non Pie Franco wines, the Monprivato stole my heart.
This was admittedly a pretty special subset of the best traditional producers, and so that can skew one's impression, but I think that the 01s are shaping up to be something special and that the vintage belongs in the discussion of great vintages of the last 30 years. I look forward to drinking these wines for a long time.
Most of all, this evening, and the weekend itself was a tremendous breath of fresh air to see good friends, spend time, break bread, and get a glimpse of better times to come. It was great to see old friends, and meet new ones. I am thankful for this. A pretty special night.
Thanks for reading.