Community Tasting Notes 20

• torciaumana wrote: 82 points

  April 25, 2023 - This bottle was not at the same level of the one frunk 2 month ago. The wine is old and tired and should be consumed now.
  
  Garnet red with orange ring, very balsamic nose. wet earth, hash....not so balanced in the mouth with a short finish

  Comment

• bevetroppo Does not like this wine:

  August 23, 2021 - Following longstanding advice from Chambers Street Wines regarding older Barolo (and this isn't really all that old) I decided to give the bottle plenty of air, opening it around 1PM. Good thing too, because the first impression after opening was like, what? Red/brown at best on the rim, chunky and monolithic on the nose and barely anything but wood on the palate.
  
  Five hours later Lazurus began to stir. Some sweet oaky notes and subdued red fruit emerged joining acetone and alcohol on the nose. The palate was lean with fruit clearly overrun by the persistent astringent tannins. I'm going to give this the rest of the night off and see if anything improves by tomorrow...
  
  It's a day later and there's still no joy in Mudville. In fact, the muddy color was a clue to a wine that reminds me of old school over-oaked Rioja before modern hygiene was introduced and so many bottles just tasted like dead fruit, dry leather and wet wood. Hard to say whether this is a bad bottle or a bad wine at this point.
  
  Schiavenza has gotten a lot of favorable press recently and I thought it worth investigating their practices in the wake of this unpleasant experience. Imagine my surprise (not!) when I found this paragraph on the importer's website:
  
  "Over the last few vintages, Schiavenza has made some subtle but effective changes in the cellar. There is a gentler approach to extraction and when the press wine is used, it comes from their new, delicate hydraulic vertical basket press. The length of aging in bottle for the Barolos has also been reduced, coming down to around 30 months whereas it had previously been 36+ months. Getting the wines into bottle earlier has helped preserve the fruit for the long haul."
  
  No shit, Sherlock. I guess we should be wary of anything older than the last few years here per their advice. I have another bottle to try and can only hope for better luck next time.

  1 person found this helpful Comments (8)

• PierrePoupon Likes this wine: 91 points

  July 1, 2021 - I've been studying (mostly drinking!) wine intently for about four years now, but this is just second tasting note on here. I wanted to write a note about this one because it is special. It was given to me to drink on my 30th birthday, and I loved it. I'm still obviously a beginner when it comes to tasting notes, but I'll give it a shot...
  
  The first thing I noticed upon pouring the wine was the color. I've had maybe a handful of wines of this age and quality, and the brownish color around the edges and faded brickish color in the center is unmistakeable.
  
  And then - the smell. I'm getting to the point where I can somewhat identify the nose of a great wine, but I'm really bad at describing why I know it's great. This wine has that scent. Leather, cherry, and forrest floor were three descriptors me and my girlfriend Roxanne (aka BeaujolaisJolie on here!) could come up with. Bottom line - we knew we were in for a treat.
  
  As for the taste - rich, smooth, incredibly complex. Again, I'm working on my language here, but it was just clear in drinking this that we were working with a different level wine than we're used to.
  
  If anyone is considering purchasing, I highly recommend. And if any CellarTracker'ins out there have also enjoyed this wine, I'd love to hear another point of view!

  4 people found this helpful Comments (2)

• dave747400 wrote: 92 points

  August 19, 2020 - Nice cherry nose on opening, then into the decanter for 3 hours. Nose still there with the first glass, a little spice & perfume. Classic palate, terrific tannic spine coupled with plenty of cherry and raspberry fruit. Acidity in balance. Really enjoyed this classic barolo, and absolutely no rush to drink - with all that supporting fruit it will just mellow out for another decade or more.

  Comment

• up4wine wrote: 92 points

  July 25, 2016 - Just an all around well done Barolo. Fruit was bright; tannins are ever present in this age of Barolo, but they were easy going and integrated into the long, pleasant finish. The typical anise and cherries gave a nice counterpoint throughout.

  Comment

Pro Reviews 2

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2004
• Type Red
• Producer Schiavenza
• Varietal Nebbiolo
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Bricco Cerretta
• Country Italy
• Region Piedmont
• SubRegion Langhe
• Appellation Barolo

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 152 (64%)
• Consumed 87 (36%)

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