February 29, 2024 - More structured and a little younger than 2001, showing deeper color, some pure red berries, darker notes too of tar, some graphite, spices and balsamic notes, also some cedar wood again. It‘s medium-full bodied, deep and with very good persistence, it has high acidity and some pretty high tannin showing good quality. Very good length. Excellent. This is a very good Montestefano and in the vertical of 12 vintages was the best of the older wines. This still has many years ahead.
September 5, 2023 - From magnum. Dark red with browning towards the edge. Nose with hints of tar, floral, cherry and licorice. The palate has angular fruit, pepper, cherry, and licorice. Ripe, but the wine still has some structure left.
April 25, 2023 - The fruit is sourced from the Montestefano vineyard. Released only after a minimum of four years of aging. Bottle #5709 of total 11853 bottles. Lot number L8.156. 14% alcohol.
Luminous and moderately translucent cherry-red color. The nose feels ope, dark-toned and somewhat sweetly-fruited with quite intense aromas of ripe black cherries, some jammy black raspberry tones, a little bit of juicy red plum, light perfumed notes of violets and crushed rose petals, a hint of wild strawberry and a touch of licorice root. The wine feels ripe, juicy and silky yet firm on the palate with a moderately full body and quite savory flavors of sour cherries and crunchy cranberries, some gamey notes of meat, a little bit of gravelly minerality, light nuanced of old leather, a hint of tart lingonberry and a sweeter touch of ripe red berries. The overall feel is pretty structured and sinewy with its high acidity and still rather grippy and quite unresolved tannins. The finish is long, dry and rather grippy with a quite intense aftertaste of wild strawberries and sour cherries, some rough gravelly mineral tones, a little bit of tart lingonberry, light licorice root nuances and a hint of old leather.
A fine, quite stern and still pretty youthful PdB Riserva that shows quite a bit of power and intensity, but surprisingly little development and resolution. Even though the wine is almost 20 years old, its flavor profile is still relatively youthful with surprisingly little tertiary complexity, and the tannic structure still remains pretty unyielding, although not excessively so for a wine of this caliber. With some aeration, this wine is perfectly enjoyable right now, but knowing how these PdB Riservas age, this is a mere baby. I'd let the wine age for another decade or two. Good stuff, but more about aging potential than immediate charm. Expect the score to go up as the wine ages.
December 25, 2022 - Wine color is brick red showing the age. Nose of black tar & dark cherries, violets. Texture is smooth and typical Nebbiolo lively acidity supporting the wine well. Tannins are smooth and refined. Taste is dark foggy mountains of Nebbiolo with tar, leather saddle, violets and red rose bushes. Awesome dark theme going here! 93 pts.
November 26, 2022 - Expected a bit more at this price point. Still really good with food. A lot of flavor left to blend with dinner. Medium finish.
October 23, 2022 - Drinking beautifully. A gorgeous wine, delightfully balanced. Excellent finish.
August 30, 2022 - Burgers and Nebbs vol.II (My place, Portland OR): The nose is deeply perfumed and layered with red cherries, raspberries, red berries, violets, roasted herbs, leather notes, crushed rocks, licorice, and some earth notes. There is still a primary nature to the tones, but they are weaving together in great harmony right now while showing just a bit of tertiary creeping in. The Medium/full bodied feel is silky and balanced with tart, high acidity and refined, high tannins. The structure is still clearly there, though it doesn't get in the way. This is drinking beautifully after a few hours of air. The structure makes it feel like it will have a long life ahead of it, though it is in a great place right now.
June 25, 2021 - PnP til ferskt hipster-brød. fin lukt med god balanse mellom kirsebær, modning og marsipan. Intens og klar frukt med rognebær. åpner opp ytterligere etter noen minutter i glasset med kaprifol. Flott opplevelse. En dag i flaske: Mer moden i dag, svakere enn i går.
April 25, 2021 - First bottle was pruney. I opened a second bottle that was fresh and correct. The nose was berries, florals, and olive tapenade. The palate had dark cherries, florals, iron, and balsamic. Tannins firm up at the end. No rush on this, but I have no more.
July 23, 2020 - Deep garnet, mature black fruit mixed with a little must on the first nose, followed by rose, violet and grilled meats, soft on the attack followed by layered red and black fruit, spice, mild tannins, juicy acidity and with strong grilled meat flavors, finished long but a little thin with raspberry fruit, tar, earth, subtle spice and lingering powdered red cherry
Note: Btl #7542, from the other TNs, guessing it may be an off bottle, although I've owned this since its release, it just seemed a little "unfresh," pinning my hopes on the other bottles