June 20, 2023 - Stood up for 1 month. Decanted off fine sediment and into wine fridge for 5 hrs in early am. Poured back into bottle at 8a. Uncorked bottle at 6:30p and then drank with dinner an hour later with a group of 8 people. Clear, light brown/amber color. Just a lovely, elegant, nose. Seamless mild dark caramel, dried cherries, roses, minerals, bark, and a bit of dark earth. The flavors on the palate mirror the nose with nice acids giving the wine lift and a bit of tannins to add some more structure. But it's the elegance and seamlessness on the tongue that was riveting to me. All of the flavors flowing together without any breaks. Silky and lively texture. Nothing out of place. Just a fantastic showing. 94+
July 23, 2021 - Reached into the cellar and pulled out this long held bottle purchased decades ago. Didn't do anything special. Opened and let it breath for a few minutes. Still slightly chilled. It has the color of age, a thin, light purple with a slightly light rim. A wonderful cherry, barnyard nose with hay. On the palate it is silky smooth with full cherry notes and tangy tannins. The cherry is still in full force and the wine is strong. This baby is still going strong and has years left. It is very, very good. Kudos to Piemonte. Color me surprised. This has outlasted some of the Bordeaux's from the same vintage.
November 19, 2020 - What a wonderful surprise this was. Decanted 4 hours and could easily have been more. Initially a hint of chemicals/acetone in the nose. But it blew away later on. Soft tannins and good aftertaste all evening. Rose, tar, soil, cherry, mushroom and balsamic dominating. Good fleshy mouthfeel though the color was quite brick brown. Will hold some time yet.
August 18, 2019 - based on the condition of the cork, which looked rather new, this bottle could be re-corked, the level was very high for a 30 year old as well. That said, it was a great bottle, silky tannis, lots of mushroom and herbal notes, dried roses, you name it, this one got them all. why only 91? it does lacked fruit somewhat and also a little more structure would suit me better, well, after all, this is the Queen of Neb.
November 16, 2018 - Burnt rubber and sweet sugary tastes, a bit minimalistic but good. Produttori dB is always good value.
October 16, 2018 - A really lovely bottle. Plenty of Indian spice, tar and leather to the aroma. It is sweet and vinous with savoury plant matter and meat flavours. It has good depth and chew and a line of fine, minerally acidity.
July 27, 2017 - Sweet, soft, and fading a bit, but a lovely old nose of roses and licorice, and sweet, plummy, mature fruit on the palate. Tasty with a nice meal, but nothing head-spinning here. Drink now.
July 24, 2017 - Has some truffle and porcini development on the nose. There's a core of sweet red fruit. It is complex and ethereal and drinking beautifully today.
July 1, 2017 - Holding up beautifully. The black label bottling of this wine, described on Ken Vastola's site, Fine Wine Geek. Mature, but at no risk of decline. A classic structured vintage, with good structure and balance, fruit, and lots of iron, rust, tar, etc. Good stuff.
April 25, 2017 - The Rotating Dinners, I.9: Produttori Normale (Chicago, IL): Compared to the 1990, this was a bit more demure and far less volatile, and had a better nose, but the palate was not as convincing. There's a nice earthiness on the nose, but it feels the fruit is somewhat muted here. I get the same impression on the palate as well, and I can't help but think that given this great vintage, that there should be a little bit more from this wine.