1/24/2016 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Colour is transparent, red orange with typical pink-orange edges. However. less pink than usual and very beautiful indeed. Hence, a little more blood orange than pink almost like a nebbiolo wine. :)

A nose of immediate popcorn, newly cut ginger and subtle notes of cardamom. The vineyards recognisable, seductive and hedonistic inner perfume emerges extremely slowly after two hours in waves. After another two hours, newly cut rose petals and white lilies appear as top notes as well as grape-peel and the sought-after morning-dew on gravel.

On the palate, the red fruit is clean, pure and dominated by wild strawberries, but also red currant and ginger as well in the anorectic building body with quite long and somewhat elegant finish. However, oak is a little dominating yet. Acidity is fresh, cool, but except from grape-peel, it wraps overly saline crystalline minerals; almost salty and a little bitter. Unfortunately, it is a little diluted too, but precision is here and elegancy. Texture is soft, but still spurs too much in the cheeks and needs much more time.

It certainly lacks concentration, is overly saline and a little bitter, but still it offers the elegancy and perfume from this sacred and wonderful vineyard with some precision. Since this is the first wine Patrick produced, most likely quality will improve and we need to try upcoming vintages. Open in 2019.

92-93p/100

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1/2/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

The colour is dark, translucent cerise-red middle with light-orange and pink edges.

After only two hours in the decanter, a quite deep and big nose with sturdy notes of saline mushroom, dry herbs, raspberry jam, candy, overly intense dried red flowers and prominent burnt, detailed lime stone.

This is a powerful wine, but weightless with deep layers of ripe, chalky fruit, but as can be the case with wines from Nuits-Saint-George, this is not rustic and flat. Palate offers dry distinct blood orange, very ripe strawberries, anise, clove, cinnamon, some savoury notes and chalky lime minerals. Texture is soft, velvety and tannins are ripe providing a very good backbone and grip in the just a little dry and austere, but persistent finish. Acidity is really great, fresh and filled with balsamic oils, deep minerals and distinct grape-peel.

A very rich, a little sturdy and full-bodied wine and for a Burgundy wine it is powerful. Except for the comparably less solid and not equally as chewy tannins, this resembles me of a really good, but much lighter version of a fresh Barolo from Serralunga d'Alba which is a great rating in my view. I am surprised by the building structure of the tannins here for being a pinot and from Burgundy.

92p/100

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1/23/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour is translucent, almost transparently blood red but still red purple with light-orange edges. They add stems, so the colour is lighter than the Cathiard.

After some hours of decanting, the nose is still reticent and emerges with glue, exotic spices, new baked brioche, bright floral notes and then after a lot of swirling in the glass; a subtle very complex perfume as well as some deep, fresh minerals appears in all its fragrant grace.
On the palate there is orange-peel, delicate sea shell minerals, clove and deep fruit as well as hints of blood orange and cherries. Texture is silky and creamy with really good tannins. Acidity is crisp and vivid but pleasantly settled. Concentration is great and it has just enough structure to reach to a little bitter but persistent and pure finish.

Even though this wine is reticent and analytic, it is very deep and balanced with a remarkable precision but also generous, fresh and really elegant.

95p/100

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3/6/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour is opaque, dark blood orange with light brown-orange edges.

Give this at least three hours of airing, swirl the decanter a little and you’ll be surprised how genuine it is and with this slow-cycled vintage outrageous ripe tannins. The typical rubber rain coat nose is distinctive as well as notes of chewing tobacco and dried herbs, and it is complex and fresh. In addition, feminine dried rose petals and fresh, saline mineral-like perfume for men and worn leather. This classic Barolo is perhaps something for both men and women. :) Cannubi doesn't do well in dry, warm years, due to the high levels of sand over clay that don't retain water well, so in a such a good cold, slow year as this, it really shines. A fresh and genuine Cannubi-nose that is really satisfactory and intriguing!

Even though the youthful tannins take a bite in your cheeks and gum, an experienced Barolo-passionista can still really feel the softness, ripeness and chewiness of these remarkably high-quality and thick tannins. There is something extraordinary with the 2010 vintage that really puts Burgundy up to competition all over the scale. This is right at the very edge of over ripe and sweetness to both the tannins and red fruit, but still this is great quality and here are dark, quite chalky minerals, dry liquorice, sweet tobacco again, leather and herbs wrapped in a promising, vivid, energetic and a little saline acidity.

Except for a great genuine nose, the the cool thing here is that nothing dominates, it is seamless and the fruit is already a very pleasant part of it all. There is a little greenness on the nose that I think is from pumping, but otherwise, this is absolutely great. It is building voluptuous, generous and persistent. If you think that the tannins bite, just a little too much even after a few hours, I recommend that you leave it in the decanter for one day. This is all about soft, smooth texture and expressive originality. A genuine classic with grace yet to come and without question, the absolute best Cannubi from this producer so far. Yes, we really like it!

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3/3/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour is quite transparent blood orange with tints of red purple and transparent edges.

After three hours of decanting, a quite deep nose emerges with distinct wallpaper adhesive, some fresh oil paint, worn leather, anise seeds, wet gravel, menthol, thyme and very fresh, ethereal qualities. Wow, after some more hours, an airily fresh scent of blossoming violets, rose petals and an aristocratic, elegant and very pretty inner perfume arrives to the scene.

On the palate at this stage it is dominated by a whiny and overly saline acidity. However, I notice distinct blood orange, cranberries, red fruit, crystalline minerals, anise, white pepper, herbs and orange-peel. Burgundy lovers would be surprised by its textural softness of its naturally ripe tannins. This is La Morra, so structure is lighter than in other areas, but here it is surprisingly light-footed and unusually weightless. The only downside with this is that it is perceived as thin, a little volatile and inconsistent now.

Please follow this wine the day after too to let the over energetic acidity to a drinkable level. Even though lacking some concentration and precision, this is still a very good Sarmassa and it is full of freshness, offers a very pretty nose and appears to be hiding away its mystic right now. My guess is to open it in 2020.

94-95p/100

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4/10/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour is transparently blood orange pulp with tints of orange-red purple in the middle and transparent edges at this stage.

After three hours of decanting, a scent of distinct dried oil paint, raspberry candy and cut rose petals that really is the signature of this great producer leaves the glass in slow waves. After several more hours, it is reluctantly woken up from its beauty sleep and there is suddenly a lovely and genuine deep inner perfume lurking. However, it is naturally very, very reticent and analytic at this stage, but already tremendously complex and it obviously broods on something very special.

The palate is full of juicy blood orange and incredibly pure, highly concentrated, deep layers of red fruit coated in crystalline, delicate minerals and balsamic herbs. In addition, Asian spices, dry licorice-root and the persistent finish is genuinely austere, but certainly not dry. Texture is currently a little grainy, but tannins are perfectly ripe, soft and chewy which is the trademark of the vintage. It is supple and seamless with already truly impressive balance. However, it certainly needs a lot of time to evolve, but it will be a masterpiece. We guess you should open this in 2022, if you can still find one that is.

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4/3/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Beautiful, glowingly and quite transparent blood orange pulp colour with tints of red purple in the middle and transparent edges this young.

The nose emerges as very closed and reticent, even after several hours of airing. However, I notice dark cherries, distinct wood glue, lavender, eucalyptus, tiny notes of leather, some tobacco, balsamic fur tree, earthy minerals. The day after there is a noble perfume accompanied by dried violets. It is a pretty and complex nose, but very subtle, analytic and reticent at this stage.

The gnarly acidity really needs hours of airing now, but then and especially the day after, it emerges as a very deep and absolutely seamless with ripe, relatively soft and chewy tannins. The palate offers cool, pure dark cherries, black peppers, licorice-root, spices, shale stone, thyme and some tobacco.

It is a little backward, very demanding and not a thrilling barolo at this stage, but after spending two days with it, we are convinced that it conceals a very complex, mystic and deeply layered barolo that may just evolve into something truly great with impeccable precision, but you need to give it a lot of time. Wait until 2025 is our guess.

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5/3/2015 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour is glowingly blood orange on the edges with darker red middle.

The nose is slow and needed a lot of airing to wake up and the oak is dominating now, but after several hours in the decanter, there is a very pretty perfume, loads of seductive flowers, ripe fruit, fresh subtle herbs, spices and new baked brioche that slip through from this sacred vineyard in La Morra.

On the palate, its texture is soft but currently somewhat grainy from oak and the tannins bites just a little at this stage so it needs a lot of time to integrate further. Really good concentration and packed with ripe and candid red fruit, some tar, pastry and anise. Mouth-coating and full bodied, but just a little dry now in the very persistent finish. Acidity is fresh, crisp and promises a long life a head.

It is a very Burgundish and fruit-driven Brunate with razor-sharp precision that will most likely need a decade, but it will certainly be pretty and elegant. Well done, Silvia Altare!

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2/25/2014 - Sir Galahad wrote:

The colour is beautifully scarlet, translucent red middle with light-orange transparent edges.
After more than two hours of decanting eventually very delicate, complex and vibrantly burnt chalky minerals, distinct exotic herbs, fragrant peon roses and stylish, seductive inner perfume emerges from the glass. A lovely and quite complex nose for a village wine!
The palate offers fresh, pure red fruit, anise, herbs, clove, delicious grape juice and spices. Impressive super-fresh acidity that wraps balsamic oils and ripe, but rather weak tannins with a velvety texture. Typically, slim body with one-directional precision type of wine from the site. However, concentration is low and it certainly lacks backbone and grip. Etienne de-stems as hard as he can, but some ripe stems might have done the trick here.

Altogether a very fresh, well balanced and very pure wine with an impressive and complex nose but as expected from a village wine, the taste lacks complexity, depth and moreover in this case it is low on concentration as well as lacking some grip, but still it is a great effort and a wine to enjoy for its genuine expression that we certainly recommend. Open 2015.

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2/7/2014 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Color: Very dark ruby middle and scarlet, light red purple edges.
Nose: A very deeply composed nose emerges from the glass. Some very interesting scents of pencil-lead, saline mushrooms, shale, summer meadow, complex earthy minerals, balsamic notes, distinct black pepper and unfortunately, suddenly some "black-green" oak notes, flowery bath soap hints on the otherwise very interesting nose. The latter three most likely from oak. Anyway, if you can ignore the oak contributions this is an overall elegant and deep nose indeed with a lot of expression from its site.
Taste: Dark, dense and jammy fruit. Distinct raisins, figs, obvious gravel, shale, cassis, notes of cocoa, menthol, peppers and bitter anise. Acidity is very fine and balsamic and a little saline with a very delightful fresh grape twist. Texture is polished, fine sandy and tannins are ripe, thick and pleasantly chewy. A very powerful wine with thick, chewy layers of fruit with impressive persistent, but in addition to oak notes, there is a tiny metallic-bitterness in the long finish that disturbs the overall impression. Even though the label says 15% alcohol, this is not a problem really.

It is a powerful, big, rich and fresh wine, full of thick, chewy layers of fruit with a lot of complex aromas and some depth in here from very old vines, but sadly a little coated with toasty oak notes and some bitterness in the finish that lowers the overall impression unfortunately. Clearly, a more careful use of oak would have rendered a better wine and score. This is strange as they claim to be using no new oak here, but maybe the toasting is the key here. Open now-2020.

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2/10/2014 - Sir Galahad wrote:

The colour is beautifully translucent garnet red with light-orange, transparent edges. After about one hour, there is a very careful, lovely scent of distinct worn leather, dusty gravel, wood glue, dried mushrooms, white peppers, balsamic herbs, tiny notes of cardamon and eucalyptus emerging when putting the nose to the glass. After yet another two hours, oil paint, fresh mint and a very deep, delicate and gorgeous inner perfume suddenly appears. Quite amazing change into an already fine, but now a lovely, deep and very beautiful nose. The taste offers layers of fresh, pure and cool, but currently sourish red fruit. Other mid palate aromas are anise, white pepper, gravel, grape juice, herbs, clove, exotic spices and blood orange. Texture is velvety, little dusty and tannins are quite ripe, but still rasps the tongue so it needs to settle and integrate more. The acidity is full of balsamic grape peel and is energetically fresh, but still a little whining. It is a super round and well-balanced wine, but slim and feather-light Volnay type that is handcrafted with precision and transparently complex, but even though their is no disturbing notion of oak, the wine is maybe a little too polished. In addition, we lack some concentration in this just a little hollow envelope and persistence is all fine but the finish lacks some grip.

This is a brunello that certainly doesn't feel like doing any hasty advances or flirtations. It is rather a sophisticated, aristocratic lady and perfectly looking cat-walking model in the same package that obviously knows she is very beautiful, but still a little shy, quiet and take her time. Unfortunately, she fumbles a little in her high heels on the catwalk, lacks some elegance and suffers a little from a somewhat volatile concentration and a little week finish. Her scent is amazingly complex and lovely, but the taste does not live up to the expectations and promises. However, this is absolutely still a great and very interesting wine. Open in 2017.

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1/19/2014 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Colour: Beautiful, translucent garnet red middle, transparent and light-orange edges.
Nose: The base frames typical tobacco, cigar box, notes of tar, dry licorice-root, distinct conserved rasp berries, oil paint, wood glue. Lovely top notes of dried rose petals, dry mint and fragrant fresh inner perfumes. Typical scent of the famous Cannubi site, but here remarkably fresh and elegant with lovely inner perfume. In addition, tiny notes of lavender soap from the oak, but nothing that disturbs. Honestly, an overall wonderfully detailed and lovely, transparent nose.
Taste: Very forward and intense with loads of opulent, ripe and almost too sweet fruit and most prominent is sourish wild strawberries. The mid palate offers distinct anise, grape juice, herbs, delicate, complex lime stone and shale. The acidity is very energetic, fresh wrapping grape-peel, balsamic notes and bitter herbs. Texture is fine sand now, but will of course improve with time into a more velvet finish. However, we lack chewy tannins and these are maybe not unripe, but not of the expected high quality and yet a little harsh. The wine has a medium body, it is round, very well balanced with a pleasant and harmonious crescendo in the quite persistent final.

They show, again, that they are very skillful with oak and render a very round, balanced wine made with finesse and the nose is really great. However, the taste lacks some complexity and depth that we expect from this wine, so even though we enjoy it, it is a little of a disappointment from yet a good but average vintage. Open 2016.

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1/19/2014 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour: Dark ruby middle and just a little orange, transparent edges.
Nose: After about four hours, there is a very careful and slow scent of fresh, seductive and complex floral fragrances of grace in the glass; typically top notes of rose petals, lilies. Other notes follow like fresh red fruit, tar, oil paint, leather, metals, dog rose and very fine tuned limestone minerals. A very delicate, slow and fragrant nose!
Taste: A mid palate of cool, fresh boysenberries, sourish wild strawberries, menthol, fennel, loads of fine tuned limestone minerals, plenty of iron, shale stone, some spice and tar. Tannins are already somewhat polished with soft, sandy texture and they are chewy, but absolutely neither heavy nor harsh. On the contrary, it is less tannic and powerful than you might expect from Bussia and maybe it confirms its special location. Even though concentration is really good and it is mouth-filling, structure is quite slim and beautifully light-weighted. Its balance is impressive. The acidity is energetic, fresh and just a little whining now but the wine is just a baby, so obviously this will improve and is very promising, so if you can resist opening it, you should most likely forget it for another 7-8 years.

A very well balanced, quite complex and very persistent wine with classic elegance. It is surprisingly quite approachable already, but I think it really has a lot of potential to be even better if you manage to be patient.

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1/19/2014 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour: Dark ruby red, white edges.
Nose: Solvent, oil paint, tar, grass, truffle, balsamic-fresh minerals, autumn leaves. After an hour of airing, lovely violets and fragrant roses emerges from the glass. An elegant and terroir-complex nose.
Taste: Deep, ripe and caressing fruit; boysenberries, plum and cherries. A little on the sweet side. Tar, worn leather, anise, orange-peel, distinct dry licorice, some toffee and very fine tuned balsamic minerals. The wine is very approachable, round, texture is really fine sandy almost silky already and tannins are soft and of good quality. The structure is almost full-bodied and the tannins and the very fresh balsamic acidity converge beautifully in the persistent finish.

We have tasted other earlier vintages from Ceretto and had some issues with overuse of oak, but here Alessandro and Federico Ceretto's team have obviously been cutting down on the time new oak is in contact with the juice and clearly show that they really got it right this vintage. We really enjoy its transparency for terroir, its richness, complexity and unexpected level of elegance at this price level. Open now-2020. Costs about €35.

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1/19/2014 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour: Dark garnet red and transparent edges.
Nose: X-mas spices, preserved raspberries, distinct orange-peel, some cherry notes and fine tuned complex minerals. After a few hours, there are some high notes of lovely, quite seductive red flowers, violets and delicate stylish perfumes emerging. A very delicate and complex nose.
Taste: A lot of complex, quite deep layers of fresh, cool and exceptionally pure red fruit is offered in the foreground of the palate. A vast variety of red current, wild strawberries, rowan berries and lingonberries. In the back ground there is some anise and clove, but it is dominated by loads of delicate lime minerals and orange-peel. Even though, as much as scarily 100% new oak is used to produce this wine it is skillfully integrated and the territorial aromas slips through and are enhanced. The lack of ripe, firm tannins in the vintage and 100% de-stemming does not render enough tannins, so oak tannins are really needed here. The texture here is super-silky and the tannins are incredibly soft, refined but lacks just a little grip. A very (as always) round, smooth and fantastically well balanced wine.

Purity, elegance and balance are the obvious key words for the overall impression of this great wine. As always we are impressed with the vast and complex nose and the pure fruit. It is a feather-light wine and our only remarks are that the wine lacks structure and some grip. In addition, the mid palate is not as broad-spanning as the nose promises. Anyway, it feels great to have some of the better vintages; 2009 and 2010 in store.

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1/18/2014 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Colour is very dark red, almost black with scarlet-orange edges. Immediately after opening this wine and giving it a swirl, distinct worn leather, savoury notes and asphalt leaves the glass. Then it changes again and very pure and fresh dark fruit as well as inner, very deep perfume emerges as top notes and then the base is filled up with tar, oil paint, warm herbs, clove, very complex, slightly burned lime minerals, saline mushrooms, eucalyptus and cigar box. An extremely fresh, broad-spanning and lovely nose indeed with a lot complexity, elegance and deep inner perfume.
Then after two hour of decanting, the energetic, very grape-peel-balsamic acidity settles down and then impressively deep, pure layers of rich, opulent and very ripe black fruit gets through. In addition, the rich mid palate offers distinct anise, fresh herbs and loads of complex, vibrant and burned lime minerals. It is dense, offers fantastic concentration and powerful building structure. This is a full-bodied and very persistent wine that grows into a beautiful crescendo of intense flavours and freshness in great harmony. Texture is velvety, almost silky, but with bite and tannins are chewy, ripe but gives the tongue some spur right now, so it needs to integrate just a little more.

Key words are purity, intensity, depth and balance. This is a great wine with fantastic nose that is worthy of exploring sacredly without even drinking. Ahh, what I love the delicacy of the brunello grape when it reveals its origins with this transparency and purity, but this wine is strangely seductively elegant too and Andrea is obviously very skilled with oak, since absolutely no oak is notes. The Uccelliera riserva of 2004 may not be in the same honest traditional division, but it is clearly in the same top-level league as Cerbaiona, Salvioni, Biondi-Santi, Soldera and Poggio di Sotto. Open 2015.

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12/29/2013 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Make sure to air this wine for at least three-four hours in a decanter, but follow the wine if you can. The immediate nose puts me in a very fresh and balsamic herbs garden. The typical seductive fragrant roses follows, but here they are very seductive and intense, and of course tar. Moreover, the base offers saline mushrooms, some glue, licorice, leather jacket, very intense, vibrant minerals, distinct conserved raspberry and complex, fresh fruit of which blackberry is the most prominent. The nose is so complex, seductively fresh and deep that you just want to sit and discover it further for a while.
After hours of airing in a decanter, the today somewhat gnarly and energetic acidity calms down tremendously and then you can enjoy really pure and deep layers of fruit. Furthermore, the mid palate offers grape-peel, shale, dry licorice root, fennel and very balsamic herbs. Texture is fine sandy, unexpectedly almost velvety, and the quality of the tannins is impressively ripe and chewy. Concentration is impressive, structure is weightlessly of medium power, body is on the slim side and it is very persistent. The only tiny remark is the little austere tone in the end, but I think this is will go away with time. And again, Mascarello makes it clear that harsh, hard tannins should never be associated with traditionally made barolos. In fact, they are very approachable already at this stage. I am pretty sure that they harvested relatively early this year and still rendered ripe tannins, which could explain the approachability somewhat.

After a really impressive and complex nose, the overall impression is that this is a fantastically detailed and balanced wine even though it is still a baby, offering depth and purity of fruit with a rare concentration and elegance. Open 2017.

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12/15/2013 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Colour: Very dark ruby red, crimson-red edges.
Nose: Smoke, dusty gravel, obvious stable, lead pencil, distinct shale, earth, forest floor and minerals. A complex nose, quite deep really that is driven by the unique terroir of Graves.
Taste: The mid palate offers very dark, fresh, sappy and distinct black- and blue mineral-fruit, hints of coffee, grape juice, broth, shale, new wedged grass, smoked wood and saline mushrooms. Acidity impresses with its very balsamic and fresh quality. Structure is full-bodied, it is powerful and persistence is good. Texture is coarse sandy and tannins are thick and offers chewy, not yet polished tannins but of good quality.

This wine needs plenty of airing, about 3-4 hours and until then it is peevish, quite flat and harsh. Then in a decanter, suddenly and surprisingly, everything changes and the wine emerges as complex and offers deep fruit and flavours from the terroir of Graves, it is rich and has some elegance. Open 2015-2030.

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11/13/2013 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour: Dark ruby red with orange edges.
Nose: Very deep, very fragrant top notes, feminine, perfumes and dried rose petals comes out of the glass. Incredibly fresh and ripe fruit. Very balsamic too and complex autumn scents at the base.
Taste: The mid palate offers impressively complex, super-fresh, breath-taking depth of cool, fresh and very ripe fruit. In addition, there is shale, some licorice-root, very balsamic, tiny notes of grape-peel, gravel, notes of tobacco and distinct minerals. The little saline, balsamic acidity is already well integrated with the tannins that are polished, ripe and chewy. From a vintage that is very powerful and tannic, it was a surprise how soft and polished they are already.

With this wine, everything gets up a notch and you grab for descriptive words like purity, insane balance, complexity, unbelievable depth and sheer elegance. Wow! What an iconic wine. It is all in here, the combination of power and elegance as well as the deep, complex aromas to be explored and all so effortlessly balanced into wonderful harmony. A surprisingly very approachable Barolo this young when considering the vintage, but it will most likely peak much later. Open 2020-2050.

99p/100

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10/13/2012 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Impressive combo of weightless power and elegance. A little reduced, but after a while it is very delicate offering a pure nose of rose petals, some earth, peppers and fruit. A mid palate of very pure, fresh, mature (not sweet) wild strawberries, notes of boysenberries, cinnamon, fennel, exotic spices, clove, mint, dark almond-chocolate, a little water-on-stone, fine tuned but vibrating minerals. A very energetic and super-fresh acidity and already quite silky but chewy tannins. Concentration is very good and the complexity, purity of its aromas are impressive. It is very long, balanced and beautiful too and maybe it is a little less powerful than usually for this site.

Tasted from barrel.

8/21/2013 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Nose: Floral top notes, roses, wild red berries, tar, roses, balsamic notes, wedged grass, fresh earthy minerals and leather.
Taste: fennel, boysenberry, wild strawberry, fresh minerals, medium long finish. Already quite silky, soft very approachable tannins and very fine tuned except for the acidity that is still a little harsh and needs to integrate more.
Summary: Good potential and already drinkable, quite long and with generous mid palate and typical terroir characteristics of the site.

8/21/2013 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Color: An intense ruby color middle and rust orange outer part with white edges.
Nose: It shows hints of dried red flowers, tobacco, graphite, leather, water on stone, plenty of earthy minerals, fresh herbs(rosemary?), balsamic, hints of wedged grass.
Taste: The mid palate shows layers of fresh black fruit, creamy dry jam, leather, hints of dark chocolate, eucalyptus, mushrooms, herbs, saline, packed with earthy minerals, espresso and black tea. Generously, mouth-filling with chewy tannins that are already quite polished and building its structure elegantly. A little saline acidity now, but this will integrate fine with the tannins in a decade so this promises a very long life. Long and with very promising freshness from the acidity.

A very complete wine with really impressive depth, fantastic balance, very good concentration and subtle complexity.

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8/21/2013 - Sir Galahad wrote:

This wine lacks some fine tuned complexity and is not directly elegant, but very generous, has a vast interesting palate and really offers something very unique. It is a bargain for the money.

Color: dark ruby-red color and rust orange edges.
Nose: Somewhat animal, meaty, massive earthy minerals, dried fruit, tar and metals.
Taste: A little fleshy, savoury with thick and chewy, but not harsh, tannins. A mid palate of blood pudding, broth, wedged grass, pepper, herbs, layers of dry and jammy black fruit, massive earthy minerals, licorice root and loads of tar. Full-bodied and powerful, but not heavy. Long, some depth and with impressive concentration.

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8/21/2013 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Color: Very dark, compact almost black ruby-red center and very tiny rust orange edges.
Nose: After about four hours of decanting, a subtle and fragrance offers wonderful lilies, roses, truffle, deep burned chalky minerals, fresh balsamic notes, fir-needle, lavender, red flowers, layers of black fruit, a little eucalyptus, graphite, some tar, earth and crushed stone. Equally great, but a more direct and bigger nose here than in the Massolino! Maybe less complex than Massolino but more seducing and charming. Pretty sure that some new oak here is applied to convey these notes.
Taste: Tannins are too heavy now, but they are firmly building the structure to the long finish here. The mid palate has deep layers of black fruit, blackberry jam, truffle, balsamic flavors and very pleasant earthy minerals, plenty of iron and tar. On the downside, the end has now an austere and bitter tone that is unpleasant and the acidity is really sharp and gnarly and needs to settle down a lot more and is certainly not dancing with the tannins here.

The wine has a very seductive and big lovely nose. It is very full-bodied, quite deep considering the young vines in their vineyard, very generous, have impressive concentration and structure, but is too heavy/powerful now, a little unbalanced and lacks elegance.

8/21/2013 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Color: Dark ruby-red and rust orange edges.
Nose: After more than three hours of decanting, the wine finally opens itself and a very subtle and very complex fragrance slowly leaves the glass. Incredibly elegant and very subtle nose and I notice cinnamon, lavender, some dry red flowers, subtle feminine perfumes, notes of leather, warm herbs, balsamic notes, fir-needle, shale stone, some tar, earth and very fine tuned limestone minerals. A great complex, broad-spanning and delicate nose!
Taste: A mid palate of dark cherry, preserved dry raspberry, sourish blackberry, some saline mushrooms, truffle, some tar, a little savory, iron, limestone minerals, plenty of earthy notes and hazelnut. Tannins are thick, chewy and solid in the end as expected from this site, but not harsh or heavy, and they are elegantly building the structure to the long finish here. They are unexpectedly already approachable, polished and of high quality, no doubt. Very good concentration, texture is great and the wine is mouth-filling without any weighting power and structure is actually slimmer than expected. High complexity and quite deep aromas too. Even though the acidity still is just a little gnarly, you can feel its quality in just a few years. Even more so, the acidity and tannins are already dancing together and all is very balanced, complex and elegant indeed.

Open the 2005 now but I think it is probably even better to open it 2016-2030 to let the acidity calm down just a little more. If you open it earlier make sure to air it in a decanter for at least four hours, but follow the wine. If you do, you are rewarded as it starts up by firing off Christmas spices like cardamom, clove and cinnamon after two hours and then changing again to a more subtle and versatile fragrance. Yes, this is great with its complexity, remarkable balance and with unexpected level of elegance! A fantastic work done by the Massolino brothers!

8/19/2013 - Sir Galahad Likes this wine:

Colour: Transparent, clear light yellow.
Nose: After almost two hours of air in a decanter, the wine is slowly waking up with a scent of incredibly fresh and complex floral fragrances, imposingly pure citrus fruits and extremely fine tuned burned, vibrating lime minerals. An impressive delicate and complex nose indeed!
Taste: The mid palate offers extremely pure aromas of lime, impressive deep layers of fresh citrus fruits, passion fruit, apricot, dried honey, roasted almond, shale stone, fresh balsamic notes and elegant fine tuned burned minerals. A very fresh and crispy acidity is building the structure to the intense, extraordinary long lingering finish. The wine literally takes a hold of you with a firm grip and lead you into a wonderful dance to beautiful music. It is surprisingly powerful for a chablis in a very good way. And above all this its balance is sensational.

Wow, I am in love with this wine! This wine makes you fumble after expressive words, but I was blown away by its purity, freshness, complexity and balance. The wine is simply so enchanting that you just want to spend hours with it as it continues to firing off long, pure, super-fresh, rich, elusive, but lovely, flavours and all this at a sensational balance. And it is just a baby! A truly complete wine and monumental achievement of Didier and his crew! I definitely need to buy more bottles before they run out, especially from this vintage.

Make sure to decant this for almost two hours before anything happens, since it is very closed in the beginning. Then cool it down to 11-12 degrees C.

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8/16/2013 - Sir Galahad wrote:

Colour: pale, transparent light yellow.
Nose: Very pleasant fragrance of white flowers, fresh apricot, notes of toffee, balsamic notes, nettle, some buttercup, beeswax and burned lime stone minerals. Very nice nose!
Taste: A mid palate of citrus, apricot, grape fruit, pine apple, a little saline and some burned chalky minerals. It is aromatic, generous, medium-bodied, quite rich and has medium length. However, it is a little low on acidity causing some flatness and it is less fresh as well as carrying some residual sugars that disturbs the palate. Did they harvest too late or needed chapitalise and made a mistake?..

After a pleasant and interesting nose, the taste was a disappointment. Even though the wine is generous and aromatic, it certainly is a little flat, lacks complexity and elegance.

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11/9/2012 - Sir Galahad wrote:

This well-known grand cru from Francois Carillon is simply incredible and it may be the best white wine I have ever tasted and yet at comparably ok prices considering the super low production of only one barrique for 2011. The nose was so incredibly subtle, versatile and elegant beyond words, but I notice white flowers, fresh perfumes, citrus fruit, hazelnut, dry honey, balsamic notes, super fresh minerals, some shale stone and virgin oil.
The taste has mid palate that is vast and versatile offering fresh minerals, lime fruit, gooseberry, passion fruit, honeydew melon, dry honey, light-toasted almond, hazelnut and silky balsamic oils.

The balance is sensational, complexity incredible and it is very long with a delicate and elegant finish beyond words. I was completely blown away by its beauty and elegance. And in my case I tasted it from barrels, so already this good at this stage is unbelievable.
Simply put a complete and fantastic white wine!

Problem is to get hold of any bottle of course, but a fantastic work by Francois.