May 22, 2022 - Quite enjoyable, notwithstanding a bit of VA. This is gentle on the palate but quite complex, with dried fruits, herbs, and the remnants of some juicy red fruit. Bested by the Burg on this night, but this was lovely in its own right.
April 28, 2022 - Worth every single Euro for this bottle. Delicious and complete. Best after 3-4 hours in the decanter. had an '01 on the side for comparison, and they both slayed for different reasons.
August 31, 2021 - This was brought by Matt and poured blind, with intention as it was the only bottle opened. Popped and decanted, then immediately poured the first glass. Upon my very first sniff it was clear as day: this is either a Barolo or Barbaresco with ~30 years of age. We carried on with our conversation, and I kept drinking my glass. The more and more I let the wine sit in my glass, the more I began to question myself as to what was in the glass... It moved and shifted in the glass, and lost its structure, becoming much softer and milder, with a relatively thin body. Throughout, the tannins felt completely resolved, but acid was still present. By the time the glass was over, I had talked myself out of it being a Nebbiolo, but still thought it was a finely made wine, if a bit over the hill. I was still quite shocked when it was revealed as I was not expecting a Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate on a Tuesday when we were talking about work. The off vintage totally makes sense, then... and why this tastes much older than it is, and why it starts out vibrant and very quickly fades in the glass.
Formal note: This has been in the decanter for an hour and a half, but this is a fresh pour. Definitely best on a fresh pour, as it quickly dissipates thereafter. Has nice soil tones (graphite, flint, rocks), and roses.. it's very pretty and elegant on the nose. Palate is soft and pure, with mild acidity and quite light in body and flavors other than the acidity. The finish has pretty ripping acidity vs. the flavors and tannin left, which again, should have been a dead ringer for old Barolo. Has small shoulders; quite lithe and lean. Finish is a bit dried up with fruit, but there is just a bit of raspberries. Overall the wine is very pretty, but light. In hindsight, this is better than you'd expect from a 1994... I was expecting it was a better vintage than that, but I was expecting it was a worse producer than this. On the balance, now knowing what this is (even considering the vintage), I think this is showing better than I would have expected. Most who don't like the general character of old Barolo as much as I do likely wouldn't enjoy it as much as I did.
January 26, 2021 - Last wine of the evening back at home. This is a contemplative sipper. I enjoyed it very much. Again some biting acidity so the wine crackles a bit. Still has the darker fruit character but more secondary side as well. I am thinking 20-30 year old barolo is the sweet spot for me.
October 19, 2019 - The nose was wonderfully perfumed with tart blackberry, giving way to savory spices and wild herbs. On the palate, I found soft textures offsetting nervy acidity, and mineral-tinged black fruits, with hints of wild herbs, earth tones and sous bois resonating throughout. The finish was long, showing remnants of black fruit, minerals and lingering earth tones. If the ‘94 wasn’t surrounded by the giants on this table, it would have been just fine with me.
October 12, 2019 - sweet cherry and licorice; earthy and layered; sweet long finish.
July 7, 2019 - Resolved tannins; earthy with cherry; decent balance; narrow earthy cherry finish.
March 26, 2019 - Earth; light cherry; cedar; scratchy finish.
November 19, 2018 - 1994 was not an easy vintage too. The 1994 we had that night showed slightly better performance than 1993. The palate showed gentle leather, black tea, soil, and dried herbs, on the palate, it offered some sweet dark fruits, forest floor, and hint of minerality, however, the finish faded rather quick and was short.
Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo wine dinner in New York with friends
List of wines we had: 1985 riserva selezionata Brunate, 1993 Brunate Le Coste, 1994 Brunate Le Coste, 1995 Brunate Le Coste, 1996 Brunate Le Coste, 1997 Brunate Le Coste, 1998 Brunate Le Coste magnum, 1999 Brunate Le Coste, 2001 Brunate Le Coste, 2004 Ravera magnum, 2005 Brunate Le Coste, 2006 Brunate Le Coste, 2007 Brunate Le Coste
November 7, 2018 - Here I found a restrained yet refined expression, which never fully came to life, showing dried black cherries, blackberry and dried rose with savory minerality. On the palate, lean yet focused red berry fruit coasted along on a light-bodied frame, aided by lively acidity as savory spices and minerals washed across the senses. The finish was medium in length, with saturating tart red berries and lingering minerality. The ‘94 was a product of a less than stellar vintage and would have been a pleasure on any night when it was not surrounded by the best vintages of Brunate-Le Coste.