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Red

2004 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Romirasco Nebbiolo

12/27/2020 - Chris Forno wrote:

93 points

Magnum that upon opening was already giving a lot; decanted in a magnum decanter for a couple hours before dinner.

Nose: High- toned red and black fruits that have a driving mineral verve. Tar and lilacs are omnipresent and it smells like it was etched out of a mountain of berry chalk.

Taste: Crunchy red fruit with predominant cranberry and black cherry. This is high toned and has a great core of balsamic red cherry with linear fine tannins which run through the fruit like colors through white granite. The oak, which I typically don’t like with my Nebbiolo is there but it does not detract from the typical Nebbiolo markers, rather it adds roundness to the texture. There is real concentration here which lets you know that this is a special vineyard.

Overall: I love this wine. It is reaching its apogee and should drink well for the next 10+ years.

Chris Forno commented:

12/28/20, 8:42 AM - Thanks Tim.

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Red

2011 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain

1/18/2020 - Slaz Likes this wine:

94 points

There is some mild bottle variation with this vintage, at least based on my multiples tastings over the last 3+ years. This bottle tasted exceptionally well though. I'm generally more disappointed than impressed with Napa Cabs these days, but Dunn's Howell Mountain Cab remains reliable and impressive. Terrific depth and lively mountain minerality, with much red berry notes that are balanced and fairly elegant. Kept evolving over several hours of decanting, got to a relative steady state after 2 hours. 94-96 pts.

Chris Forno commented:

4/23/20, 7:08 PM - “Mild bottle variation” over 3+ years without additional explanation doesn’t do anything to help me better understand the wine as any wine, especially in a warmer vintage, can change a lot in 3* years.
Chris Forno commented:

4/26/20, 6:02 PM - Hi Slaz. My point is that we see the term “bottle variation“ attributed to a wine for a number of different reasons, but those reasons can be grouped into only two categories in my mind- either storage or deficiencies in the wine-making process such as Brett, Volatile Acidity, not blending all of the wine into one final blend before bottling, not using enough sulfates, etc.

If I were Randy Dunn, one of the best and most respected winemakers in the business, and I read your review, I’d be pissed because here is another dude who doesn’t know what he is talking about and makes uninformed conclusions that defame the wine.

I don’t know many wine people who would claim that a nine year old Dunn is old and you volunteered that all of your bottles were stored properly so storage is off the table I guess. So you’re basically implying that there were errors made in the winemaking process. Don’t you get that?

Why do you think there is “bottle variation”? You discredited the wine after tasting it 3 times over 3 years but failed to say why. Then you give it a very good score.

Don’t confuse bottle variation with a wine made in a warm vintage that is aging much quick than in typical years. That is not bottle variation- that’s a wine with a relatively short trajectory so it is changing quickly.

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Red

2013 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà Nebbiolo

3/21/2018 - RyanJames Likes this wine:

93 points

So young and I'm a little ashamed to have committed infanticide. However this does add merit to the argument that top Burgundy should garner more interest when young than Barolo/Barbaresco does. The material is here, but it's not especially tasty without rich food, and quite frankly, probably needs 15 years. Great nose, mouthfeel, really an excellent wine, but it'll be better in 2030 than it is tonight. These are still great values at $50, but it's hard to make the case that these will be worth more in 20 years than other regions for those that care about collecting and re-selling.

Chris Forno commented:

4/10/19, 5:30 AM - Agree with JEP007 on this one. The world is discovering Barbaresco like never before. These bottles will be worth 4X plus the cost if bought on release in 10-15 years. With only 1,000 cases of this wine produced and the price of $58 that I paid, one of the best investments out there.

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