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Comments on my notes

(25 comments on 23 notes)

1 - 23 of 23 Sort order
Red
2019 Trediberri Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata Nebbiolo
2/3/2024 - cct wrote:
95 points
Festa dal Barolo 2019 Masterclass (The Pool, Manhattan): Festa dal Barolo Masterclass

A floral and red fruited nose. Lovely perfume and spice on the nose. Seemingly only midweighted but carrying more depth beautifully. More red fruits, licorice, spice on the palate with outstanding balance. Nice sense fo clarity and focus. This has come together nicely since last year.
  • cct commented:

    2/16/24, 4:12 PM - Just saw your note Seth. better said than I did. And I am so not cool, I had to look up "IKR". :)

    Hope all is well with you.

Red
2013 G.D. Vajra Barolo Riserva Bricco delle Viole Nebbiolo
4/15/2023 - cct wrote:
97 points
With Isi

This has not been released yet, and I am not sure when it will be.

Balsam and licorice, cool nebbiolo fruit, with a complex herbal background that is mesmerizing. Deep and structured yet conveying the power without weight. Depth with clarity and almost mineral intensity and focus. Like a distillation of BdV. Youthfully fresh, powerful yet impeccably balanced. Effortlessly fantastic. 97+
  • cct commented:

    2/11/24, 3:14 PM - Yes, a Riserva that has not yet been commercially released by the family.

Red
2019 Nervi-Conterno Gattinara Vigna Molsino Nebbiolo
4/12/2023 - cct wrote:
96 points
With Stephanie, Erin, and Roberto

Cooler fruited, with fleeting floral and spice notes. This is more subtle but not necessarily less complex on the nose than the Baroli. A pretty haunting nose. Midweighted fresh and floral on the plate, it is relatively more soil than fruit driven. Elegance relatively lithe. Effortlessly pretty with a weightless intensity and clarity that drinks like mineral water. On the back end, there are fine ripe tannins. Terrific
  • cct commented:

    10/16/23, 6:32 PM - Thank for your thoughtful question. Sorry if I wasn't clear. It's not tertiary, but I don't think of it as acid or structure as much as its palate profile. Like Gevrey can be more about earth than fruit. I think this bottle is less about the fruit and floral nebbiolo aspects and more the savory and terroir expression of Gattinara. Hope that helps.

White - Sparkling
2008 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Fleuron Chardonnay
10/14/2023 - cct wrote:
90 points
nice BdB nose, chalky with citrus as much as orchard fruit and some spring flowers. This more about acid, soil and clean fruit than autolytic notes. Finely textured bead with an admirable sense of clarity and focus. Overall, a very good low dosage BdB bubbles that has come into its own and showing much better than my last bottle in 2017 that left me nonplussed. Finishes clean and fresh. Solid, middle of the fairway BdB.
  • cct commented:

    10/15/23, 9:23 AM - Ha!

    Sorry about that. I meant BdB. Corrected now.

Red
2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero Nebbiolo
4/14/2023 - cct wrote:
98 points
Tasting with Fabio

The lightest of the Baroli in color. A lung filling yet fleeting nose. Strawberry and cherry fruit, tapenade, roses, and cooling green herbal notes on the nose. This is the iron fist in a velvet glove. Intense yet seemingly fleeting. Expansive yet weightless. A sapid, incredibility complicated, effortlessly harmonious wine. Seamless, graceful, and brilliant are three words I wrote while tasting. A complete wine. Wonderful. Bravo! 98+
  • cct commented:

    9/6/23, 2:39 PM - I would just pop and pour. I would be concerned about giving it extended air would shut the wine down. Also, while the wine is youthfully outstanding right now, understand that my rating is based on its potential and not on its pleasure in current time, and it’s going to be a ton better when it’s mature and unless you have several bottles, I think that it’s probably a waste of potential to drink it now. Different people have different opinions but This wine in particular is getting harder to source and unless you have a bunch of them. I think you might be happier down the road leaving it for a better time.

  • cct commented:

    9/6/23, 4:49 PM - Good luck!

    Hope it shows well for you.

Red
2011 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin (Gabutti) Nebbiolo
8/11/2023 - cct wrote:
Double decanted in the AM, then decanted for a couple hours in the afternoon. Drunk that evening. this bottle was decidedly more savory and ferrous than my previous bottles on the nose. Tar, roses and a nice mix of red and dark nebbiolo fruit, but certainly less hauntingly perfumed than previous bottles. Full bodied and structured, still quite youthful and tannic on the palate with more of the same fruit and soil notes as the nose. Excellent balance and by itself would have been a delicious drink, but less amazing than previous bottles. There were a couple ounces left in the bottle overnight (uncorked) and the wine had come together quite a bit. I will likely try another bottle some time soon and drink it over a few hours. I think it is all there, but I missed it with the narrow drinking window amongst several wines. A wine I had hoped would shine tonight, and while it was certainly outstanding, my high expectations were not met.
  • cct commented:

    8/13/23, 9:43 PM - SARED, Good question. I've had the wine three times in the last few years and the first two, the wine was incredibly open and perfumed. Surprisingly so. Another person whose palate I respect posted a TN and felt the fruit might be fading. I wanted to try this bottle again, as IMO this producer made the best '11s in the Langhe, and I am pretty deep on both of their '11 Baroli. I was not sure if this was an evolution past the primary fruit and perfume phase or shutting down, or just a different bottle.

    With it being 12 years post vintage, and considering the vintage character of '11, I think it would be a little odd for it to be shutting down right now based on the wine's trajectory to date. A few years ago yes, less so now. Could it being just losing baby fat and turning more savory- mature, maybe. I am wondering if it was the wine's evolution or just a one off bottle experience. I was not drawing causation from the last bit left open over night, more commenting on it as another observed variable that gave me pause before judging causation and thinking it is maturing away form fruit and perfume. If it were losing fruit and maturing, I would not expect it to gain fruit and florals with the air time. If it were young, yes, but previous bottles give me pause to think this. It may be something as simple as the previous bottles were drunk over several hours and allowed to unfurl. This one, while being decanted, etc was shared with 8 people and drunk over short period of time. I am planning to drink another bottle over a day or two and try to figure it out.

White
2021 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Temperance Hill Eola - Amity Hills
11/13/2022 - cct wrote:
Barrel tasting with Megan and Marcus

"Mexican Radio" Barrel
Stony and flinty with citrus, unripe pear, and beautiful florals. Steely and detailed on the palate with excellent lift and a sense of focus. Beautiful balance 93-4

"Psycho Killer" Barrel
More floral with a toothsome crunchy even of extract, fantastic depth yet a sense of weightlessness and fleeting beauty. Terrific freshness, mouthwatering floral stony. Complete. Wow. 95+
  • cct commented:

    5/6/23, 6:05 PM - Thanks!

Red
2017 Del Dotto Pinot Noir Sonoma Valley
2/7/2023 - cct wrote:
flawed
TCA, and honestly that may have been a blessing.
  • cct commented:

    3/8/23, 7:52 PM - indeed!

Red
2008 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin (Gabutti) Nebbiolo
2/3/2023 - cct wrote:
96 points
Cappellano Vertical Clay, Harlem

Double decanted in the AM. Drunk over several hours.

Terrific perfume. This has the most lift and grace of any of the noses tonight. Red fruited with a Giacosa like hard candy, tons of roses, and beautiful lofted balsamic notes. Fantastic perfume. More roses than tar. On the palate it is a wine of contrasts. Intense yet the most light weighted and graceful of the wines tonight. Power and grace coupled. This was the least overtly powerful wine of the night, but that was balanced by it being one of the most nuanced. There is a sense of fleeting mystery to this wine. Finishes long with more beautiful fruit, florals and medicinal balsamic notes. Kept growing over several hours we drank it. I love 2008 and this is another reason. Youthfully fantastic. 96
  • cct commented:

    2/9/23, 7:57 PM - I would double decant it in the morning, check in early afternoon and if it is opening, I'd leave it in bottle. If still tight, then decant it for real.

    Our bottle was double decanted int he AM, then drunk out of bottle over several hours. It was best three hours into dinner.

    It's a terrific wine. Good luck!

Red
1982 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba Nebbiolo
2/1/2019 - cct wrote:
98 points
1982 piedmont Retrospective (Fausto, Brooklyn): 1982's at Fausto

A fantastic nose. Savory, meaty, tar, and spice. Highly perfumed across fruit, florals, and savory notes. There was a sweetness and sap to fruit that Giacosa seems to be able to conjure from nebbiolo. Cherry, roses, balsamic notes not he palate with a breadth and depth combined with precision and tension. Richness and power coupled with grace, balance, and most of all harmony. An effortlessly fantastic showing. A complete wine that well outperformed expectations. Wow
  • cct commented:

    6/11/21, 7:31 PM - sri.ram:

    It can be confusing, but this is Barolo from Falletto di Serralunga .

    Rocche di Castiglione Falletto is in the town of Castiglione Falletto

    Falletto di Serralunga is in Serralunga.

    Also, there is a subplot of Falletto di Serralunga that Giacosa bottles a Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga that is often but not always a riserva.

    Confusing stuff. I recommend you look at finewinegeek.com. Ken Vastola has a tremendous amount of information on this subject on that site.

    Hope that helps

Red
1997 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Syrah
5/22/2021 - cct wrote:
96 points
Fantastic perfume. Red fruit, olive, heme, rare roasted meat, red licorice. This wine is animated. On the palate, it is expansive, with terrific inner mouth perfume, more red fruits, some blood orange, florals, meaty and savory notes. This is in its heart a younger more energetic version of the '85 (and why I chose the '85 to drink alongside it). It was like looking at a younger sibling of the '85. This is effortlessly beautiful, having most of the charactieristic I seek in wine. If one one were to choose a Syrah to call Burgundian, this and the 85 today would fit that mold. Power coupled with grace. Terrific. I have been enamored with this wine for a very long time. It is not the most profound or awe inspiring Chave, but it is the most consistently joyful one I have drunk and never seems to shut down. This was the best bottle of this I have had. Terrific. Thanks RM. 96
  • cct commented:

    6/9/21, 7:30 PM - Thanks for your kind words Brix. This is a special wine.

Red
2010 Roagna Langhe Rosso Langhe DOC Nebbiolo
3/14/2021 - cct wrote:
93 points
Double decanted then drunk over a few hours.

A beguiling, floral nose with roses, red fruited nebbiolo, tar, and cooling menthol- balsam notes. And did I mention roses? What I love is there is a fleeting, almost delicate nature to this nose, in spite of its intensity. There is an elusive, intoxicating perfume that draws you in.
Midweighted and floral on the palate, with terrific inner mouth perfume. This has a sense of grace and poise that Luca seems to be able to achieve better than most. Supple, sappy, intense, yet simultaneously lifted and fresh. Intensity without weight. It's long on the back end with terrific perfume and balsam notes. Finishes with fine ripe nebbiolo tannins. This a wine comfortable in its skin: beauty without artifice. Harmony.

If one were to try to introduce someone to the perfume and power without weight ability of Nebbiolo, one could do much worse than this excellent example. Luca makes many more impressive wines than this, but the joy and ease of this bottling are pretty special. A terrific, effortlessly delicious Langhe Rosso that I feel I caught at its absolute apogee.

Interestingly, this is will not be anywhere among the most impressive or majestic Nebbiolo wines I hope to be fortunate enough to drink this year, yet this bottle is exactly why I adore nebbiolo. A nuanced, effortlessly beautiful bottle of wine. Bravo!

93
  • cct commented:

    3/15/21, 8:26 PM - Thanks for your kind words. This is a pretty special wine and a terrific value.

Red
2013 Elvio Cogno Barolo Cascina Nuova Nebbiolo
12/23/2020 - cct wrote:
91 points
Double decanted for potential sediment (there was none) and drunk over two days.

Tight upon opening. Eventually opening up with tar, roses, red and dark nebbiolo fruit, hard candy, ferrous and soil notes, and subtle balsam. A pretty archetypal nose. Mid plus weighted and firm on night one. Cherry, tar, licorice, and some medicine cabinet on plate. This is still quite tight and in need of several more years in the cellar to open up. I can see what many TN's on this are saying, but this is just a young wine that needs time. This clearly has the stuffing to develop into a classically proportioned, solid if not incredible bottle of Barolo, and that's all I can reasonably ask of this bottling. This has lift, depth and balance. Finishes with firm and not yet friendly tannins on day one that softened some on day two. Quite good now if you give it air, but unless you have several bottles, give this time. Outstanding is to come. 91 for now with room for a significant upside.
  • cct commented:

    1/8/21, 6:11 PM - srh:

    Sorry for the delay and thanks for your kind words.

    I do not remember what I drank this with. I drank it over a couple nights mostly to study this bottling. It's Valter's entry level bottling. I had nt had it since release, and I was seeing if it was starting to drink yet. The first bottle of a case purchase. Even this bottle needs time, and his '13 Ravera, V. Elena and Bricco Pernice will need much more time (at least for my palate preference).

    For barolo I enjoy savory mushroom dishes, braised meats, of course tartufi when I can. Grilled octopus is a seafood that goes well with Barolo.
    One of my favorites is a simple tagliolini and porcini dish.

    Hope that helps and thanks for reading.

Red
2015 Giacomo Conterno Nebbiolo d'Alba Arione
5/21/2019 - cct wrote:
98 points
With Roberto and Stephanie

Even more perfumed than the Francia, more floral and balsamic on the nose. On the palate, this is impossibly deep, with great sap, tar, spice, beautiful perfumed fruit and spice. Expansive yet with a freshness like drinking mineral water. Tar Sap and breadth, lovely spice, and great florals. Expansive with great inner perfume. Fantastic nebbiolo.
  • cct commented:

    7/11/20, 2:25 PM - Hope you are doing well.

    This is a one off bottling Roberto made. He bought Arione a few years back. I think in '15 but don't remember exactly. Part of Arione lies just south of the road that ends Barolo zone. It has great exposure, etc, just on the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. He made this Nebbiolo just in mags (maybe other large formats too) and only for charity auction purposes. I tried it during our visit last year. It is stunningly good, but is going for stratospheric prices at charity auctions. I liked it more than the Arione Barolo when I tried them together in '19, but this year, the Arione Barolo had really come together (or more likely I didn't understand its potential in 2019). I doubt I will ever see another bottle of this wine, but it's pretty terrific.

Red
2017 Giuseppe Rinaldi Nebbiolo Langhe Langhe DOC
5/17/2020 - cct wrote:
91 points
Terrific perfume for Langhe Nebbiolo with cherry fruit, roses, red licorice, balsam, and tar in background. Midweighted, supple, and sappy on the palate with lovely purity of fruit. This has depth coupled with a sense of lightness and lift. This is not trying to be a baby Barolo, but rather is a perfumed, graceful Langhe nebbiolo with complexity without weight. It's floral and perfumed on the palate with an ease and sense of effortlessness to it. I don't; sense any heat to it, and that is impressive for a '17 nebbiolo. A harmonious, beautiful wine that has come together nicely since last year. 91.
  • cct commented:

    5/18/20, 4:57 PM - Good question Rob.

    I did not taste the '17 Bartolo Nebbiolo when I visited in May, so I cannot speak to that one. The '17 Dolcetto remained fresh, but was alit larger scaled than normal. I could see the heat potentially letting sugars speed ahead of tannin ripeness in '17. The '17 Beppe Rinaldi Nebbiolo was much better than average for the year, and better than it showed in May at the cantina. I taste pretty widely at least the traditional producers in May every year (2020 being the COVID-19 exception). I, in general, am not a fan of what I am seeing from Nebbiolo in '17. This wine was the exception to the trend. It was sappy, harmonious, supple, and perfumed. A lovely wine. Barbera, I think will show much better in '17 than Nebbiolo. Freisa and Dolcetto may as well to lesser degree. I do have a few Bartolo Nebbiolo, but that is a wine I usually wait several years to drink. That said the Rinaldi is one as well, so maybe it will be worth a spin. If so I will post a TN.

  • cct commented:

    5/18/20, 6:13 PM - Thanks for the heads up on the ' 17 M8. I have only tried up to the '16. I would have tasted the '17 a couple weeks ago had the world not turned upside down. What Alan is doing with good but not great fruit sources is quite impressive. I would love to see him get the chance to work with some great terroir. I think he really gets it and is growing in talent and confidence year by year. I am very happy for him. I hope to get back next May and try it in bottle.

White
2015 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
3/29/2020 - cct wrote:
93 points
Mid golden color. Bitters, fruit pith, persimmon, lemon oil (stealing this perfect descriptor from MAOC), herbal tones, and chalk on the nose. Mid plus weighted, toothsome and a little chewy with plenty of dry extract that is balanced with acidity and density of fruit. Persimmon, peach pit, lemon Pledge, chalky, seashell, and grassy notes add to this idiosyncratic palate. I often have a hard time describing Pepe's trebbiano, but rarely trouble identifying it. A pretty singular, super interesting and eclectic wine. The richness of the year is evident, and a couple years ago I thought it was too rich and fat. This has settled in very nicely into a toothsome, chalky, mineral and savory more than fruit driven complicated and intriguing wine. Drinking very well in a youthful way. I am more optimistic about this wine than I was on release. Outstanding. 93
  • cct commented:

    4/23/20, 5:53 PM - Sunnylea57:

    It's the Italian earlier release.

Red
1982 Roagna Barbaresco Crichët Pajé Nebbiolo
2/1/2020 - cct wrote:
flawed
Corked.

I've had this wine twice now and both times corked.
  • cct commented:

    2/20/20, 6:10 PM - Adrian, good question. I am not sure. The person who bought it had had it for a while, but I do not know if it was reconditioned. Roagna has great terroir and made very solid if irregular/ too many flawed wines historically. I think that their wines have really stepped it up since Luca took over circa '03 vintage.

Red
2015 Margherita Otto Barolo Nebbiolo
5/18/2019 - cct wrote:
With Alan

More breadth and depth here than the previous vintages. Roses, cherry fruit with great perfume minerality. There eis depth, but clarity and focus. Drinks with an ease like mineral water. the structure is very well balanced and graceful. Finishes with firm ripe tannins. Well done!
  • cct commented:

    7/14/19, 8:22 PM - Alan made wine in '13 and '14 but it was not commercially available.

Red
2015 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Tre Tine Nebbiolo
5/26/2019 - cct wrote:
95 points
At Fontanazza

Much more open and perfumed than the bottle at the cantina a few days earlier. Cherry, roses, great perfume. It is mid weighted and graceful with hidden power and depth with the Cannubi perfume really center stage. There is breadth and an expansive sappy palate, with a simultaneous expression of suppleness and power. Effortless and harmonious. Terrific. 95
  • cct commented:

    6/19/19, 9:24 AM - Good thoughts, but in this case I think no. We are a group that is pretty familiar with Rinaldi wines, we tasted through several but not a ton of wines with Carlotta that am and it was the one wine of all of them that seemed closed. A tasting at Rinaldi is rarely a marathon tasting to dull the palate, and the other wines that am all showed as expected. My guess is that the bottle at the cantina may have been open a while and had shut down some.

Red
2014 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino Nebbiolo
5/7/2018 - cct wrote:
98 points
With Roberto and Stephanie

From barrel

Hugely perfumed. A profound nose. Lung filling. Deep cherry, roses, balsam on the nose. Silence ensued on smelling this wine, and in our group of talkers, that is a rare moment. This is archetypal Barolo. Structured, yet detailed, with terrific acidic balance, sap, power and precision. Seamless. Incredibly long, with from nebbiolo tannins, but with more finesse than the '13s tannins. Expansive, yet not heavy. A regal, profound wine.
  • cct commented:

    5/26/18, 3:55 PM - My usual 10 cases :)

Red
2013 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Le Brunate Nebbiolo
2/3/2018 - cct wrote:
96 points
2018 Festa del Barolo AM seminar

Dark cherry, roses on the nose. Fresh, deep and pure. This has a sense of transparency and effortless power. This is chiseled, pure classic Barolo. Power and grace and all in perfect harmony for me, and in spite of its depth and power, it remains understated, with classic lines, and great lift. The tannins are a bit more prominent than they were in May of last year. This has a clarity and focus coupled with its power and depth that is wonderful. A wine of harmony, a joy to drink. Terrific and one for long term cellaring. 96
  • cct commented:

    2/9/18, 7:20 AM - :)

Red
2013 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne Nebbiolo
2/3/2018 - cct wrote:
92 points
2018 Festa del Barolo AM seminar

Dark fruits, tar, black licorice, violets and dried roses on the nose. On the palate, dark fruited nebbiolo, structured, but not stern on the palate, while still maintaining freshness. There are very well done fine tannins that finish firmly. This has depth and clarity and poise. I am not in love with this wine, but it is really well made and for me maintains balance and harmony. I am sure others will love this much more than I. 92
  • cct commented:

    2/9/18, 7:12 AM - In general I find their wines, polished and modern styled losing what makes Nebbiolo great. It is my personal palate bias. Sandrone makes wine very well in a style I do not prefer.

Red
1996 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Cannubbio Nebbiolo
10/8/2016 - cct wrote:
92 points
'96 retrospective at Franny's, Brooklyn

Darker fruited and more approoachable nose than the Brunata, but that said, the nose is still shy, and with less Cannubi perfume than I had hoped for. Stony and still quite tight. Like the Brunate, it has enamel thinning acid and tannins, but maybe dialed down a notch or two. This is more approachable than the Brunata, and I do think it has the requisite parts to become something special in a decade plus. 92+

This flight made me a bit nervous for the rest of the evening, but this was the sole flight I felt was too young to drink.
  • cct commented:

    10/27/16, 7:57 PM - Sorry for the delay. I did not bring that wine, but believe it was double decanted 4+ hours prior to the tasting. It was not enough, and I suspect it would have showed much better with much more air, or in my preference several more years to integrate. I think this will be an outstanding, classic, a little on the austere side, Barolo in time. Just not yet. I am glad I have it in my cellar, but I won't touch mine for a decade.

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