Barolo Seminar with Tom Hyland
Perman Wines, Chicago IL
Tasted January 23, 2009 by KeithAkers with 672 views
Introduction
A Co-worker showed me the flyer for this tasting and immeaditely I was interested. I became a lot more interested when I checked out Tom Hyland's blog and read what he wrote. This presented a great opportunity to taste through some great barolos and learn from someone who knows a great amount about italian wine
Flight 1 - welcome white (1 note)
taste: good light feel with minerals, citrus tones, and stones fruits with medium/light acidity
overall: a solid arneis. Nice and dry with lighter acidity, this is good for summer sipping and with various fish dishes
Flight 2 - 04s (3 notes)
These were shockingly open. It had been noted that they were decanted for a while, but I couldn't get over how amazingly open they were for drinking. Young, yes, but not overbearing on the acidity or tannins I had tasted from a lot of 05s the day before
taste: very lovely and elegant feel with medium/high acidity and tannins that flows into soft tones of perfumes, various floral tones, loads of violets, herbs, and deep rich tones of red cherries
overall: a stunner in the making. Very young, but very perfumed that elicits ponderous thought. Relatively accessible at this young age, but it may be due to the decanting. This is definitely one to own and one to lay down as it should have a long and beautiful life ahead of it
taste: young and elegant with medium+ acidity. Plush feel with soft tones of lilacs, herbs, red currants, spice tones, wild strawberries, and red cherries. Fairly accessible at this young stage with a delicate quality to it
overall: a really nice and young barolo. This seems to have the ability to be accessible at a earlier stage, though time should also benefit it by adding a bit of depth and letting the nuances truly emerge. Lovely delicate floral aspects really abound on this one and is a real delight on the nose
taste: very bold and rich, but with good balance and extrodinary depth with tones of vanilla, red cherries, dark florals, and a good amount of wood spices. Good medium++ acidity and medium/high tannins, but well in balance with each other
overall: this is an excellent barolo that isn't what I normally gravitate towards for a barolo. New worldish in a sense, but still very much a barolo, this is powerful and rich, but still posseses an elegance to it. Needs time to hopefully integrate the oak as it works at this young stage, but could be a nuisance when it hits age 10-15
Flight 3 - An 01 (1 note)
This was another one that did get some decanting too. It needed it, but was a great young Riserva that should have a very long life ahead of it
taste: very high acidity with a good demure and elegant feel providing tones of herbs, tar, roses, spices, and some very pretty tones of fresh picked red cherries
overall: A very lovely barolo that has mounds of upside. Its still very much in diapers right now as the aromas are still fairly tight and the acidity is huge. There is a lot of nuance on this wine that will require years to work itself out, but when it does, it will be a pure thing of beauty
Flight 4 - Elvio Cognos (2 notes)
this provided a nice contrast between the "famed" 100 pt vintage and a bit more of a traditional great vintage. The 00 was very open and more traditional then other 00s that I've had, and is fully ready to go. The 01 needs a bit more time, but there wasn't much between them as far as what was better per se
taste: high acidity and high tannins show off the youth of the wine with nice texture providing tones of roses, tar, red cherries, wood spices, and bits of herbs
overall: a touch on the modern side, but not obtrusive like the voerzio. Really good texture with lots of promise as this needs time to let everything integrate and come together
taste: understated and nuanced with lush and round tones of red cherries, wild flowers, garden herbs, and bits of truffles. The acidity is in a perfect place right now and the tannins are well in check too
overall: this wine was singing for me. Very lovely and understated, much more in a feminine style from a hot vintage. Great feel and aromatics, this is one to start drinking up as it won't be long lived and is certainly providing joy
Flight 5 - A couple barolos with age on them (3 notes)
well, in my books a 99 isn't one with age on it, but in the context of the tasting, it was. I differed with Mr Hyland on the 99 as he said that the oak and modern making had really integrated to where you couldn't really tell, well for me that wasn't the case as it still was apparent, but not overbearing
The 98 was just lovely and from the 98s that I've had, this vintage is drinking perfectly right now, but should also age flawlessly
I enjoyed the 95, but obviously this isn't one of Vietti's higher end bottlings and its one that should be drunk in the near term
taste: great feel with medium+ acidity and medium/high tannins that give into tones of berries, red currants, herbs, tar, and roses. Very elegant and polished for a young barolo
overall: this is starting to come into its own. Still showing a slight bit of extraction. Very perfumed nose that is working well already with a very classy and elegant feel on the palate
taste: Extremely elegant feel with medium+ acidity and good medium+ tannins with smooth tones of anise, dark florals, dark cherries, herbs, and juniper spices.
overall: I do love the 98s. So full of elegance and perfumed they are just in a perfect place and provide so much joy in drinking. Extremely elegant and beautiful, this is perfect right now
taste: fully mature and elegant with tea leaves, licorice, herbs, perfumes, and a good helping of red currants. Very lovely with medium acidity, and fully resolved tannins
overall: lovely and fully evolved. This is as good as it will get and is in a perfect place
Flight 6 - an ending moscato (1 note)
I was completely impressed with this. Every moscato that I've had in the past has been rather tepid and very forgettable, this was really good on the other hand
taste: great easy feel with some good frizzante working on the palate providing tones of lychees, lemons, citrus tones, bits of minerals, and some vanilla extract
overall: a really fun wine. Good depth with great aromatics and feel on the palate. This is easily the best moscato I've ever tasted. Most are very blase and overtly sweet, this is different and has depth and aromatics while not being over sweet
Closing
A really great evening. We arrived slightly late, but thankfully nothing had really started yet.
It was great to really listen to how Tom was describing the wines and the background he gave on a lot of them. What was even better was that he provided most of the wines from his own collection so that there could be some wines with age on them in the tasting. I wouldn't hesitate to go to another seminar of his if he does one