Community Tasting Notes 10

• Fractalage Likes this wine:

  December 15, 2023 - 15 Dec 2023
  Scarpa 2008 Barbaresco, Tettineive
  3:30PM decant.
  No much sediment, just small amounts of smoke left in about 2oz of juice in bottle.
  
  Initial nose blew up and blasted my senses with tart berry. Smelled so good.
  
  Here at 8:21 PM at about 5 hours later it calmed down and shows plums, honey, touches of flab, fresh clover, hints of tar, wet straw, some fat.
  
  Palate was crazy powerful, all kinds of flavors going on with length! They kept going on and on. Very dry, and initially tasted like teas with an anise power, but the stars! The stars kept on exploding in my mouth. This first taste evolved insanely fast, so fast that my brain could not keep up with what was going on so I gave up and just enjoyed.
  
  Dried cherries, dust from grandmas attic, hibiscus, raspberry, licorice, with delicate texture of finesse that would place this in a Victorian crystal with doilies, fine linen and ornate frames of masterpieces. This tasted like what royalty would be drinking 300 years ago.
  
  3rd mouthful showed more of the same, but with citrus of ripe Meyer lemon, some rind, fabulous mouthcoating like a silk chiffon.
  
  Pairing with lamb made more of that grandma’s attic come forward. Not sure if I liked it so much with lamb. It was amazing by itself. Definitely authentic. Surely lighter and more elegant than most wines, a feminine Nebbiolo, well made and excellent.
  
  9:30 PM 6 hours after decant.
  Fresh pour from decanter:
  Not much has changed. That grandma’s attic was the first on the nose, then plummy raspberry. Then, after a few more swirls the roses showed. There they were, fresh cut roses. Amazing. All these reviews here, such a shame that they drank well before this could even start to show.
  Palate held those classic tars. Just excellent at this point. All that disjunct knitted together to show what Scarpa is about and I’m in love. This might be the best wine of the year. It was elegantly powerful and showcased all those Nebbiolo components which I love, including smoke, depths of smoldering earth. I will be saving half the bottle for tomorrow's try.
  
  As I swig my last sip the coating of volcanic embers linger with my smile. Elegance with power of Pele: So delicious.
  
  8:16 PM the next day about 29 hours after decant:
  Nose was perfect! It shouted Nebbiolo with perfect aromas of tart cherry pie, herb teas, hints of licorice, smells of soft blanket, lushness. No more grandma’s attic smell or taste.
  Palate was so delicious with ever evolving length and energy, coatings of herbal extracts, hibiscus, smoke, smoldering embers, flowers, cherries, dust of old forest, decomposed leaves including bay, grip, and god-like excellence.
  
  This is my vote for wine of the year.
  
  My strong recommendation is to decant the day before serving. Do NOT drink before at least 24 hours of decant as that would be a waste of excellent juice. Slow ox will not do it. Just popping the cork and letting the bottle sit will not do it justice, as it will probably be able to sit like that for a month. Air must be incorporated into the liquid by decant into container.

  Comment

• phynes wrote: 91 points

  April 24, 2021 - Dark, brooding wine with bitter fruits and strong finish.

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• Scutz wrote: 90 points

  February 25, 2021 - nice

  Comment

• pa1966stang Likes this wine: 90 points

  December 10, 2020 - Opened an hour before dinner and decanted into our 2L erlenmeyer flask. I didn't touch the wine before the 1 hour mark but the nose was muted directly after decanting. Little to no sediment in the bottle. I let the wine come from cellar temp up to room temp hoping to ellicit some more nose. Nothing, nada. At the one hour mark I poured into a set of Grassl 1855's. The wine was good, but one dimensional and had a streak of bitterness on the mid palate that did not go away the entire evening.
  
  Fast forward to three hours after opening. Wow, the nose is starting to come alive with dark cherry, licorice, cherry liquor, and a tinge of earth. In the mouth things are starting to open up but still falling short. A chewiness is present but fleeting with a short finish that I wish would linger just a little bit longer. Is it best to just smell this wine for the rest of the evening?
  
  In conclusion, a fine and interesting wine, but not over contemplative or playful. It is tough to stomach with the price of entry and I definitely wouldn't call this a good QPR. Better than a weeknight quaffer, but won't hold it's own against the best of the best Barbarescos. I ask myself, is this closed down and should I have waited another decade+? I won't know as this was a single bottle.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• JonnyG Likes this wine: 92 points

  February 21, 2019 - So many oxymorons, fascinating. Really approachable, yet barely budged over a few hours. Something of a quandary: old school, but not typical. A textured wine, chewy and structured even though light-bodied. Sweet herbs and a bit of acidic sting. Offers plenty of pleasure at this early stage. I look forward to monitoring this wine’s development.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2008
• Type Red
• Producer Scarpa
• Varietal Nebbiolo
• Designation Tettineive
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Italy
• Region Piedmont
• SubRegion Langhe
• Appellation Barbaresco
• UPC Code 8029077000524

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 118 (69%)
• Consumed 54 (31%)

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