April 28, 2024 - Dead on Arrival. Color almost yellow!
January 13, 2024 - Not quite as good as my last bottle, but I suspect that was because this one was a PnP. It did get better over the next 90 minutes, but too hard to lay off it. Otherwise same notes as relatively recent bottle consumed: Sweet, nearly candied cherry on the nose initially before flowers, herbs and Oak balanced it out. On the palate the black and red cherry fruits were not as sweet as initially on the nose and the wine was very balanced with touches of tar, dried herbs, and sweet Oak. I suspect this wine has up to another 10 years of quality drinking.
September 10, 2023 - Unlike the prior review, my Coravin stirred up crazy amounts of sediment that made the wine undrinkable. I put it into little bottles to let the sediment settle and drank on subsequent days. The wine is denser and darker than an Aldi Conterno or Vietti. It’s texture moves towards Cabernet vs Pinot, perhaps due to more oak. I think the wine is decent Barolo especially at $100 but I derive little pleasure from drinking it. I’d rather be drinking Bordeaux or Burgundy, but I’m trying to appreciate it despite Barolo being an inferior product. I believe this should be drunk sooner rather than later. It has more fruit left than older vintages of Scavino I’ve had and I think that this is a feature, at least for Bordeaux and Burgundy drinkers.
August 19, 2023 - Decanted for an hour. Only an 1/8th of a teaspoon of sediment. Sweet, nearly candied cherry on the nose initially before flowers, herbs and Oak balanced it out. On the palate the black and red cherry fruits were not as sweet as initially on the nose and the wine was very balanced with touches of tar, dried herbs, and sweet Oak. Very smooth. I suspect this wine has up to another 10 years of quality drinking.
June 26, 2022 - Drinks really beautifully now. Everything in the right place, no hard angles. At peak but no need to rush
January 19, 2022 - wonderful, Barolo in the first drinking window. Wonderfully balanced, ripe tannins, good grip. would still repurchase from it
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December 23, 2021 - Paolo Scavino Barolo Carobric 2004
Modern style barolo with noticeable oak. On the nose, it took a bit of air but at its best there was sweet licorice, hints of vanilla and almonds, dried nuts, sweet clove, dark fruit, and some sweet brown sugar. On the palate, black fruit and black cherries combined with some licorice, almonds, dried figs, hints of banana and vanilla, dried fruits, almonds, balsamic, leather. Finish was quite short though. 93/100
November 19, 2021 - Decanted four hours before tasting. Appearance: darker ruby hue, no significant bricking. Nose: quite aromatic - more roses and violets than tar. Red and black cherries, mushroom and hints of spice.
Palate: full bodied and intense. Noticeable tannins but now well integrated. The acidity is also obvious but not too sharp. Nicely balanced with a persistent finish. Saved a glass to taste 24 hours, still drinking beautifully at that point. Not in the traditional structured Barolo style - no surprise given the vineyards contributing the fruit. This is definitely in the drinking window now. Great wine.
October 13, 2021 - an excellent expression of a modern style barolo that is in a good drinking window right now with many years left. the wine was decanted 2.5 hours before drinking. it opens with an expressive nose of dark cherry, a bit of rose, and was unmistakably "piemontese". this was a rather rich and dark expression of nebbiolo. it was a wine of finesse, sex appeal, great depth, and excellent craftsmanship. I appreciated that the new oak was not overpowering at all despite obviously changing the varietal characteristics of the wine to something that is more drinkable early on. the palate was dominated by dark cherry, plum, blackberry, and just the beginnings of some secondary flavors. the modern style of barolo has fallen out of favor with me compared to the traditional style as many of the varietal characteristics of the wine get obliterated by the new oak. many of these modern baroli tend to taste similar due to the oak and what it does to the wine early on. this wine despite being 17 years old was still drinking remarkably young. no telling how long this will age but it still has plenty of years left. will open the next bottle maybe in 6 or 7 years. food for thought .....what would this cannubi and rocche di castiglione juice taste like today if this were a traditional barolo? Hmmmmmm!
October 12, 2021 - Double decanted at 3:30pm and brought to Sette Cucina in Bernardsville, NJ fore dinner. Recent acquisition by a friend and tasted from about 6:30-8:30pm. Opaque dark garnet color with no sign of bricking.. Clearly a “modern-style” Barolo, the nose displayed tar, dark cherry, leather, chocolate, blackberry and black currant. Tannin was still there but mostly integrated. Acidity was fairly fresh but somewhat over powered by the richness of fruit and depth of secondary flavors like mushroom, leather, chocolate and a rather meaty finish. Excellent with lamb chops and mushroom risotto, Later in the evening it got a bit “pruney” and somewhat bitter on the finish.