tappo e livello erano ok, ma l’eleganza di Giacosa manca completamente, bottiglia chiaramente non a posto, acidità sbilanciata, troppo rusticità in bocca e al naso. Peccato
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An outstanding white label that is now in a peak window that should last for a decade or two. Pristine, pure cherry fruit with so much floral and road tar complexity. Suave but still noteworthy tannins are well-integrated. An outstanding vintage for Giacosa.
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Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume VIII (Chicago, IL): #3795. Opened at 7am, double decanted at 4pm. Delicate, crystalline red fruit the way 1996 Giacosa ought to be. Very structured but the non-Riserva status of this actually makes it a little more approachable here. It's certainly quite tannic still, but the fruit profile is such a contrast to the slightly muddier 1997s alongside. I've always been a big fan of the 1996s, and this bottle is yet another case in point.
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Ian's Birthday Piedmont Extravaganza: Another very perfumed nose. Really cologne like being while also being fresh and lifted with red fruit and a little red apple. Palate delivers the same with a grippy finish.
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Ian's Piedmont Extravaganza (Noize): Beautifully resolved and quite smoky on the nose. A punch of bright strawberry fruit on the palate, seasoned with some ash, and a refreshing acidity. A gorgeous and elegant wine, albeit overpowered by the two red labels we had in the same flight.
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Ian's Piemonte Celebration Dinner: Little colour evolution - looks very fresh and correct. Muted nose. Medium bodied, with gorgeous red fruit, pitch perfect acidity, seems young and extraordinary length. Defined by its sense of balance more than anything.
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Tasted next to the 1998. Lovely, deep, and intense nose with red cherries, violets, and darker toned fruit. Nice acidity with a bit more tannins than the 98, more red cherry notes, and orange rind flavors on the palate. Long finish. Beautiful wine, but not as open and accessible as the 98. This could use another 5-10 years to show its best. 95+
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Really pretty aromatics, this was a beauty that I actually f’d up a bit by over decanting. It was best after 30-60 minutes, and by 3 hours it was falling apart a bit. Doesn’t need much air, this one.
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il gran finale del Barolo di compleanno (Osteria Langhe, Chicago IL): This is a wine that for me needs absolutely zero introduction. It's one that I've been quite lucky to repeatedly drink over the years, though there was a famously corked bottle for a birthday dinner. Seeing as how this was for year 42 and the corked bottle was for year 32, this provided a nice bookend. This bottle was absolutely gorgeous and in full flight with deep and layered tones of licorice, red cherries, strawberries, violets, spices, crushed rocks, red berries, leather, and sweet tobacco notes. The Full bodied feel is deep and refined with silky, high tannins and crisp, high acidity. The feel is mature, refined, and poised with all sorts of balance and length to the finish. This is just wonderful and pretty much everything I could ask for from it.
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The palate is dense, still a little compact, but the juice is impressive in intensity. Nice balance but we are clearly in the register of power. The finish is explosive on spices. A very pleasant and well executed wine, but I personally prefer a little more finesse. Perfect pairing with Taleggio.
Very well.
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Still quite fresh with a classic aged Nebbiolo sinewy texture. Wonderful savory notes of dark red fruits, forest floor and smoked truffles. Finishes grippy with supple tannins and lacy length. Ready but years to go.
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The nose was expressive, with dark red cherry fruit, sweet spices, roses, smoke, and licorice. On the palate, it was explosive with dark fruit, spices, and balsamic towards the finish. It remains a highly structured wine with softening but still strong tannin toward the back end. Acidity level is medium to high. It’s a thrilling, dark wine with plenty of life left - seems like it is likely to benefit from a bit more age to further soften the tannins.
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Roses, balsam, tar, and spice on the nose. Beautiful Serralunga nose. On the palate, this is firmer than the Vlllero, with more depth, gravitas and structure. There is depth, breadth and sap to the fruit, with density without heaviness. Power delivered with grace. It has terrific balance, inner perfume, and a sense of effortlessness to its full bodied frame. A more savory and deeper wine than the Villero, and drinking at quite early peak. I suspect it will be drinking better in 5-10 and rink really well for a long time thereafter. 95+
Stored under textbook conditions since release. Garnet with orange hue to the rim. Vts. Quite the same scents and flavors as in may 2019 (95 points). But this one is significant less intense and so the acidity is a bit too prominent. Tannins are smooth. Even decant and airing for hours doesn't help. Rather the opposite. I don't believe that this one holds something back or that it is not ready to drink. There are just better and worse bottles, I guess. -2025? 5/12/16/8
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Wow, this is really in the zone tonight - I've already had two pours of the '96 Falletto Riserva, but this wine is running right with that beauty - one of those vintages where the difference between white and red label is minimal.
Good persistence and acidity, a great nose, focused with red fruit, and pretty expansive on the palate - this has it all going on tonight!
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~8 hour decant. Just entering a good zone. Still rather primary. Pure, almost feminine fruit. Suave tannin. Lots of cherry, licorice and florals. Needs another 5+ years to add complexity.
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Double decanted two hours before serving. A terrific barolo with rose, tar, vitamin, graphite, dark fruit and smoke. Palate was very elegant and precise with a long finish.
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I thought a 3 hour decant would Be sufficient. Nope, even at hour 6 this had room for improvement. Don’t get me wrong, this is outstanding and was great at hour 3 but it has been continually improving and it’s still not fully revealing itself. This is likely in or near prime but this will hold for two decades. Highly recommend a long decant. This wine is built for Aging. Looking forward to my remaining bottles.
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Garnet with orange rim. Ready right from the start with intense bacon, smoke, truffles and game scents combined with cherry fruit. On the palate showing great poise with shed tannin and refreshing acidity. However though quite explosive on the palate the finish is a bit short, but of course it is not a riserva. If I keep in mind that the prices of these wines today are on riserva level of the early 2000s or end of 1990s, it is clear to me that it is not worth to buy it in ourdays for me. 5/13/17/10 If stored at perfect conditions since release like this bottle, this is going to hold through another decade or maybe 15 years. But in my opinion there is nothing to win with further cellar time. I decant this bottle partially. This procedure did not harm, but the wine didn't benefit as well.
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A gorgeous Barolo if you find a good bottle as this one is. Has the crisp powerful acids of the vintage but they are beginning to mellow and the fruit here is in perfect balance. Absolutely delicious flavors of iodine, black cherry and licorice with a lacy texture that leads to a fabulous finish with notes of dark cherry spice and iron minerals. So lifted and fresh with a great and complex mineral crunch. I’ve experienced crazy variability with this wine over the years but this bottle is simply stunning and still quite young. A wow wine tonight! Can you imagine how good the Red Label Riserva will be in 40 years? I hope my kids send me a tasting note in Heaven ...or hell.
A beautiful bottle of this wine which can be so irregular. Very silky and fine at this point with softened tannins and somewhat muted acidity. Delicious dark red and black fruits with notes of truffles and smoked game. Extremely well-balanced with a lovely finishes that floats over the tongue. This is one '96 that's ready to go! Traditional in style.
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Bruno Giacosa Tribute Dinner (Casa Tartufo, Singapore): Absolutely beautiful - a tremendous bottle of wine just coming into its own now. Like so many of the other wines on show this evening, this had a show-stopping nose. A hint of smoke and a drift of tar on entry, a sniff of earth, some violet petals, and then lovely wafts of fleshy cherry, all sweet loveliness greeting you from the moment you raise the glass. Wow. The palate was just beautiful. Still subtly sculpted with juicy aidity and a shadow of fine, powdery tannins tannins, there was a real sense of sinewy strength and power behind otherwise sweet tones of cherries and spice playing against an earthy backdrop, all this unfolding in the mouth in layers of with effortless power. Such a complete wine - intense, layered, sinewy, showing great depth and drive, yet always elegant and effortless as it wound its into a long, full finish kissed with more of that gentle spicine. Super. I have always liked the 1996 vintage in Piedmont for producing more elegant, classically shaped wines, and this was a prime example of just how good the very best bottles can get. While starting to drink beautifully, I have a sneaking feeling that it will be even better with over the next decade and beyond. Bravo - this was not far behind the red labels.
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Afterparty (Weingut Keller, Flörsheim-Dalsheim, Germany): The last red wine of the day was by far the best. What a wonderful, complex, burgundian nose with red fruit, spices, some mushrooms, underbrush, some rose petal and a hint of tar. The tannins are very strong on the palate but totally ripe. I think they will integrate after some more years of time. Very long, strong acidity and perfectly in balance. And still a young wine. Potential easily for another two decades. A truly stunning showing from one of the Masters in Barolo.
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Opened several days ago, and enjoyed a few glasses each day to watch this wine evolve. It is stunning, precise, and elegant. Fine grained, exceedingly astringent tannins and intense acidity give a tension in the mouth that is beguiling. Sour cherry fruit, quite perfumed, with a steely quality, complicated by medicinal tones, a bouquet of roses, old leather, sauteed mushrooms. This is a hauntingly beautiful wine, basically perfect to my palate. Drink now through 2024+.
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While this is still a young wine it is oh so round and delicious. A bouquet of dark berries fills the nose in anticipation of the first sip which does not let you down. Many years ahead for this Giacosa classic.
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Now here we go: Roses, a rounder more inviting nose with some menthol, balsamic notes, all in a richer, denser Serralunga profile. Powerful but effortlessly so, with no heaviness, and ann ease to enjoying this contemplative wine that you could either sit back and take in or dissect and find beauty. Lovely stiff at early peak. I will like this mor in a decade but no crime to drink now. Beautiuful. 95
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The nose showed dark black cherry and minerals, yet it was restrained and ungiving at this stage. On the palate, the fruit turned crystalline and brilliant with mineral-wrapped black cherry and dark herbal tones that shot across the senses. It finished on concentrated red fruits, iron and fine tannin. I feel like many of the other tasters were let down by the Falletto tonight, yet I found it to be youthfully poised to grow into a beautiful wine.
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1996 Barolo & Barbaresco Blind (L'Apicio, NYC): [Double decanted at 8am.] Muted medicinal nose. Backward, thick. Chocolate and black cherry. Doesn't taste at all like Giacosa. Maybe an off bottle?
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Surprisingly approachable (at least for me). Power and grace. To steal other's terms, this is a vertical wine. Towering, and with power and terrific balance. Grace and huge power that does nothing you over the head. There's tension, power, structure, all with a sense of grace and harmony. This has it all together. Beautiful stuff that will be even better in a decade I would guess. Thank you HK. 96+
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Metallic and blood notes on the nose, on top of faint blackberry and black truffle. A rich palate with red plum, earth and noticeable tannins. A few more years are required for the tannins to soften and recede to the point the wine is in balance. This is a good white label for Giacosa but could not compete with the Riserva served alongside. This is a wine that is currently still trying find its way. 90+
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Yet another affected bottle of Giacosa. The guy made amazing wines but it's still a bottle to bottle crapshoot. Same case and half of the wines are amazing and the other half are from some stinkin' barnyard.
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Disappointing in a tasting of barolos. Lightest color of the bunch. Funky nose at first, that blew off. Red fruited. Very good acidity. Minerals. Moderate tannins and acid. Good length.
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Beautiful clean nose of black fruits, tar, truffles and rose petals. Lean and mineral-driven with authentic flavors of road tar, black earth and truffles. Finely delineated with a good smack of '96 acidity to keep it fresh. This is ready to drink but should hold for quite some time and perhaps develop a bit more complexity on the finish. It was interesting pairing this with a '96 Gaja Barbaresco which was much more feminine, less earthy and less indentifiable for sure but also more complex on the finish.
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Decanted for an hour. This wine was singing right out of the bottle, but then shut down a bit and came back after an hour. Light in color, but full of fruit on the nose and palate. This still has plenty of structure on the finish, and should improve with another couple of years - and last for a while. A-
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Second Annual Butcher&Larder dinner (Butcher&Larder, Chicago IL): nose: a bit tight and unyielding at first, but when it opened up absolutely gorgeous tones of dark red fruits, tar, roasted herbs, various floral tones, roses and bits of violets meld together in perfect harmony.
taste: This was extremely pretty with a silky medium/full body and medium/high acidity. The tannins are still quite there and showing that this wine has youth along with regal tones of dark red cherries, dark red fruits, roasted herbs, roses and some other various floral tones.
overall: Once this opened up it was like the beginning of a symphony. This wine has the ability to be completely etheral with even more time. I had given this 3 hours in the decanter and it still took another 90 minutes to really sing.
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Served blind. At first I thought it was a dried out '96 tuscan,totally bricked orange, tough and acidic; but with about an hour lovely rose, tarry aromas and flavors. Wow!. Gorgeous now or seeming for some time. ****+ Bottle #5074 of 8536
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Lovely black fruited wine with notes of mushrooms and truffles. The fruit is really perfectly ripe and sweet and is balanced by crisp acidity and gripping tannins. The longer it breathed, the better it got. I think another 3-5 years and this will be drinking beautifully.93+
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Fading ruby color. Funky nose of red spices, black truffles and mushrooms. Lean and classically-styled with taut dry tannins. Lovely flavors of spicy red plums, truffles and mushrooms with a slight vegetal hint. Really juicy and grippy with good acidity and very old world in style. This hasn't budged much since I tasted it 2 years ago and there remains just a slight bit of what I call "dirty Barolo" notes. This will be interesting to follow but seems to have years of development ahead. 92+
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Youthful wine. Fresh berries,tar,soy, and dark florals in the hiz. Huge tannins this wine has by the truck load. Dried cherries,dust, herbs,and some really nice fresh spices. I believe this got plenty of air but man does it need more time could be a stunner check back in 5+.
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The 96 Giacosa’s are legendary and this is humming along beautifully. It is so sexy and almost feminine Barolo yet with awesome power and muscle. There are notes of tar, roses, raspberries, meat, iron, scorched earth and sweet cedar. It possesses the most sensual texture and all flavours are in perfect balance and proportion. The abundant yet spherical tannins seem to just occupy a space but you sense they’ll still be there in 50 years providing posture.
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taste: chewy tannins and medium/high acidity show off the youth of the wine along with fresh and balanced tones of asian spices, red cherries, roasted herbs, tar, and a good bit of fresh picked berries
overall: A very young wine, but showing off great structure and all sorts of perfume to it. Needs time, but there is a great wine to be had from this with great depth on both the nose and palate
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Dark browning color with bricking edges. Classic Barolo nose of tar and sweet rose petals along with funky earth. This is pure and quite a big vintage for this wine. The tannins are still huge and gripping but the wonderful earthiness and spicy dark cherry fruit are quite apparent. Finishes with a wonderful funkiness with note of forest floor and mushrooms. Still needs more time but its a classic vintage just waiting for the complexity to develop. 93+
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Dark purple with some slight browing around the edges but still youthfull. Fantastic aromas of lavender, sage and rosemary, but the most dominating aroma is of violets. A hefty wine with lost of burly tannins and some heft acid.
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3/27/2024 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Keith's Italian Wine Dinner (Osteria Langhe - Chicago IL): Certainly an off bottle, seemed slightly corked
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2/23/2024 - Fftjr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful nose. Color beginning to fade. Pale red. Very well balanced. Drinking well. Likely has a few years left.
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12/3/2023 - fadincvaros wrote: 88 Points
tappo e livello erano ok, ma l’eleganza di Giacosa manca completamente, bottiglia chiaramente non a posto, acidità sbilanciata, troppo rusticità in bocca e al naso. Peccato
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11/18/2023 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
An outstanding white label that is now in a peak window that should last for a decade or two. Pristine, pure cherry fruit with so much floral and road tar complexity. Suave but still noteworthy tannins are well-integrated. An outstanding vintage for Giacosa.
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11/18/2023 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume VIII (Chicago, IL): #3795. Opened at 7am, double decanted at 4pm. Delicate, crystalline red fruit the way 1996 Giacosa ought to be. Very structured but the non-Riserva status of this actually makes it a little more approachable here. It's certainly quite tannic still, but the fruit profile is such a contrast to the slightly muddier 1997s alongside. I've always been a big fan of the 1996s, and this bottle is yet another case in point.
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5/24/2023 - Radders12345 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ian's Birthday Piedmont Extravaganza: Another very perfumed nose.
Really cologne like being while also being fresh and lifted with red fruit and a little red apple. Palate delivers the same with a grippy finish.
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5/24/2023 - NickA Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ian's Piedmont Extravaganza (Noize): Beautifully resolved and quite smoky on the nose. A punch of bright strawberry fruit on the palate, seasoned with some ash, and a refreshing acidity. A gorgeous and elegant wine, albeit overpowered by the two red labels we had in the same flight.
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5/24/2023 - fussyeater Likes this wine: 95 Points
Ian's Piemonte Celebration Dinner: Little colour evolution - looks very fresh and correct. Muted nose. Medium bodied, with gorgeous red fruit, pitch perfect acidity, seems young and extraordinary length. Defined by its sense of balance more than anything.
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3/24/2023 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted next to the 1998. Lovely, deep, and intense nose with red cherries, violets, and darker toned fruit. Nice acidity with a bit more tannins than the 98, more red cherry notes, and orange rind flavors on the palate. Long finish. Beautiful wine, but not as open and accessible as the 98. This could use another 5-10 years to show its best. 95+
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2/3/2023 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 95 Points
blind
Detected the region but no idea of the vintage. For me close to his peak. Violet, tar, roses and some cherries. Great acidity structure. 95
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12/5/2022 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Really pretty aromatics, this was a beauty that I actually f’d up a bit by over decanting. It was best after 30-60 minutes, and by 3 hours it was falling apart a bit. Doesn’t need much air, this one.
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5/21/2022 - KeithAkers wrote: 96 Points
il gran finale del Barolo di compleanno (Osteria Langhe, Chicago IL): This is a wine that for me needs absolutely zero introduction. It's one that I've been quite lucky to repeatedly drink over the years, though there was a famously corked bottle for a birthday dinner. Seeing as how this was for year 42 and the corked bottle was for year 32, this provided a nice bookend. This bottle was absolutely gorgeous and in full flight with deep and layered tones of licorice, red cherries, strawberries, violets, spices, crushed rocks, red berries, leather, and sweet tobacco notes. The Full bodied feel is deep and refined with silky, high tannins and crisp, high acidity. The feel is mature, refined, and poised with all sorts of balance and length to the finish. This is just wonderful and pretty much everything I could ask for from it.
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1/25/2021 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very spicy nose and on tobacco
The palate is dense, still a little compact, but the juice is impressive in intensity. Nice balance but we are clearly in the register of power. The finish is explosive on spices. A very pleasant and well executed wine, but I personally prefer a little more finesse. Perfect pairing with Taleggio.
Very well.
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9/23/2020 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still quite fresh with a classic aged Nebbiolo sinewy texture. Wonderful savory notes of dark red fruits, forest floor and smoked truffles. Finishes grippy with supple tannins and lacy length. Ready but years to go.
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7/24/2020 - Robmcl920 wrote: 95 Points
The nose was expressive, with dark red cherry fruit, sweet spices, roses, smoke, and licorice. On the palate, it was explosive with dark fruit, spices, and balsamic towards the finish. It remains a highly structured wine with softening but still strong tannin toward the back end. Acidity level is medium to high. It’s a thrilling, dark wine with plenty of life left - seems like it is likely to benefit from a bit more age to further soften the tannins.
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1/31/2020 - cct wrote: 95 Points
'96 Barolo and Barbaresco at Maialino: Double decanted a couple hours before dinner and drunk over several hours.
Roses, balsam, tar, and spice on the nose. Beautiful Serralunga nose. On the palate, this is firmer than the Vlllero, with more depth, gravitas and structure. There is depth, breadth and sap to the fruit, with density without heaviness. Power delivered with grace. It has terrific balance, inner perfume, and a sense of effortlessness to its full bodied frame. A more savory and deeper wine than the Villero, and drinking at quite early peak. I suspect it will be drinking better in 5-10 and rink really well for a long time thereafter. 95+
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1/5/2020 - Caruso Likes this wine: 91 Points
Stored under textbook conditions since release.
Garnet with orange hue to the rim. Vts. Quite the same scents and flavors as in may 2019 (95 points). But this one is significant less intense and so the acidity is a bit too prominent. Tannins are smooth. Even decant and airing for hours doesn't help. Rather the opposite. I don't believe that this one holds something back or that it is not ready to drink. There are just better and worse bottles, I guess. -2025?
5/12/16/8
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12/7/2019 - Bob H wrote:
Wow, this is really in the zone tonight - I've already had two pours of the '96 Falletto Riserva, but this wine is running right with that beauty - one of those vintages where the difference between white and red label is minimal.
Good persistence and acidity, a great nose, focused with red fruit, and pretty expansive on the palate - this has it all going on tonight!
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11/25/2019 - Nordy wrote:
TJ Martell Wine Dinner 11/21/19
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11/9/2019 - ElmarV Likes this wine: 92 Points
Schön gealtert. Torf, Lakritze und Sauerkirsche.
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9/28/2019 - Nanda wrote:
~8 hour decant. Just entering a good zone. Still rather primary. Pure, almost feminine fruit. Suave tannin. Lots of cherry, licorice and florals. Needs another 5+ years to add complexity.
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9/3/2019 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 94 Points
Double decanted two hours before serving. A terrific barolo with rose, tar, vitamin, graphite, dark fruit and smoke. Palate was very elegant and precise with a long finish.
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5/18/2019 - N.Bonaparte wrote: 93 Points
I thought a 3 hour decant would Be sufficient. Nope, even at hour 6 this had room for improvement. Don’t get me wrong, this is outstanding and was great at hour 3 but it has been continually improving and it’s still not fully revealing itself. This is likely in or near prime but this will hold for two decades. Highly recommend a long decant. This wine is built for Aging. Looking forward to my remaining bottles.
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5/5/2019 - Caruso Likes this wine: 95 Points
Garnet with orange rim. Ready right from the start with intense bacon, smoke, truffles and game scents combined with cherry fruit. On the palate showing great poise with shed tannin and refreshing acidity. However though quite explosive on the palate the finish is a bit short, but of course it is not a riserva. If I keep in mind that the prices of these wines today are on riserva level of the early 2000s or end of 1990s, it is clear to me that it is not worth to buy it in ourdays for me. 5/13/17/10
If stored at perfect conditions since release like this bottle, this is going to hold through another decade or maybe 15 years. But in my opinion there is nothing to win with further cellar time. I decant this bottle partially. This procedure did not harm, but the wine didn't benefit as well.
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5/4/2019 - dream Likes this wine: 95 Points
A gorgeous Barolo if you find a good bottle as this one is. Has the crisp powerful acids of the vintage but they are beginning to mellow and the fruit here is in perfect balance. Absolutely delicious flavors of iodine, black cherry and licorice with a lacy texture that leads to a fabulous finish with notes of dark cherry spice and iron minerals. So lifted and fresh with a great and complex mineral crunch. I’ve experienced crazy variability with this wine over the years but this bottle is simply stunning and still quite young. A wow wine tonight! Can you imagine how good the Red Label Riserva will be in 40 years? I hope my kids send me a tasting note in Heaven ...or hell.
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12/5/2018 - Beachfan Likes this wine: 96 Points
Just how I like it!
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11/8/2018 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
A beautiful bottle of this wine which can be so irregular. Very silky and fine at this point with softened tannins and somewhat muted acidity. Delicious dark red and black fruits with notes of truffles and smoked game. Extremely well-balanced with a lovely finishes that floats over the tongue. This is one '96 that's ready to go! Traditional in style.
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6/15/2018 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Bruno Giacosa Tribute Dinner (Casa Tartufo, Singapore): Absolutely beautiful - a tremendous bottle of wine just coming into its own now. Like so many of the other wines on show this evening, this had a show-stopping nose. A hint of smoke and a drift of tar on entry, a sniff of earth, some violet petals, and then lovely wafts of fleshy cherry, all sweet loveliness greeting you from the moment you raise the glass. Wow. The palate was just beautiful. Still subtly sculpted with juicy aidity and a shadow of fine, powdery tannins tannins, there was a real sense of sinewy strength and power behind otherwise sweet tones of cherries and spice playing against an earthy backdrop, all this unfolding in the mouth in layers of with effortless power. Such a complete wine - intense, layered, sinewy, showing great depth and drive, yet always elegant and effortless as it wound its into a long, full finish kissed with more of that gentle spicine. Super. I have always liked the 1996 vintage in Piedmont for producing more elegant, classically shaped wines, and this was a prime example of just how good the very best bottles can get. While starting to drink beautifully, I have a sneaking feeling that it will be even better with over the next decade and beyond. Bravo - this was not far behind the red labels.
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3/17/2018 - m_arcon Likes this wine: 96 Points
Afterparty (Weingut Keller, Flörsheim-Dalsheim, Germany): The last red wine of the day was by far the best. What a wonderful, complex, burgundian nose with red fruit, spices, some mushrooms, underbrush, some rose petal and a hint of tar. The tannins are very strong on the palate but totally ripe. I think they will integrate after some more years of time. Very long, strong acidity and perfectly in balance. And still a young wine. Potential easily for another two decades. A truly stunning showing from one of the Masters in Barolo.
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5/27/2017 - drrobvino wrote: 99 Points
Opened several days ago, and enjoyed a few glasses each day to watch this wine evolve.
It is stunning, precise, and elegant.
Fine grained, exceedingly astringent tannins and intense acidity give a tension in the mouth that is beguiling.
Sour cherry fruit, quite perfumed, with a steely quality, complicated by medicinal tones, a bouquet of roses, old leather, sauteed mushrooms.
This is a hauntingly beautiful wine, basically perfect to my palate. Drink now through 2024+.
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12/12/2016 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
While this is still a young wine it is oh so round and delicious. A bouquet of dark berries fills the nose in anticipation of the first sip which does not let you down. Many years ahead for this Giacosa classic.
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10/8/2016 - cct wrote: 95 Points
'96 Retrospective at Franny's Brooklyn
Now here we go:
Roses, a rounder more inviting nose with some menthol, balsamic notes, all in a richer, denser Serralunga profile. Powerful but effortlessly so, with no heaviness, and ann ease to enjoying this contemplative wine that you could either sit back and take in or dissect and find beauty. Lovely stiff at early peak. I will like this mor in a decade but no crime to drink now. Beautiuful. 95
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8/3/2016 - Jozefs wrote: 93 Points
Still too young.
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6/24/2016 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 Points
The nose showed dark black cherry and minerals, yet it was restrained and ungiving at this stage. On the palate, the fruit turned crystalline and brilliant with mineral-wrapped black cherry and dark herbal tones that shot across the senses. It finished on concentrated red fruits, iron and fine tannin. I feel like many of the other tasters were let down by the Falletto tonight, yet I found it to be youthfully poised to grow into a beautiful wine.
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6/15/2016 - kenv wrote: flawed
1996 Barolo & Barbaresco Blind (L'Apicio, NYC): [Double decanted at 8am.] Muted medicinal nose. Backward, thick. Chocolate and black cherry. Doesn't taste at all like Giacosa. Maybe an off bottle?
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2/5/2016 - cct wrote: 96 Points
2016 Festa del Barolo Gala Dinner
Surprisingly approachable (at least for me). Power and grace. To steal other's terms, this is a vertical wine. Towering, and with power and terrific balance. Grace and huge power that does nothing you over the head. There's tension, power, structure, all with a sense of grace and harmony. This has it all together. Beautiful stuff that will be even better in a decade I would guess. Thank you HK. 96+
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2/5/2016 - kenv Likes this wine: 95 Points
Gala Dinner at Antonio Galloni's La Festa del Barolo (Four Seasons Restaurant, NYC): [Henry says this was pop and pour.] Shocked to find out this had not been decanted. This is still young, but showing brilliantly now. Wow! Just a gorgeous and classic Giacosa Barolo with cherries and fruitcake.
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11/23/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 90 Points
Metallic and blood notes on the nose, on top of faint blackberry and black truffle. A rich palate with red plum, earth and noticeable tannins. A few more years are required for the tannins to soften and recede to the point the wine is in balance. This is a good white label for Giacosa but could not compete with the Riserva served alongside. This is a wine that is currently still trying find its way. 90+
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9/26/2015 - dream wrote: flawed
Yet another affected bottle of Giacosa. The guy made amazing wines but it's still a bottle to bottle crapshoot. Same case and half of the wines are amazing and the other half are from some stinkin' barnyard.
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4/12/2015 - johnh1001 wrote: 91 Points
This wine needs at least 10 more years. On day two, it was more perfumed, but still holding back.
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4/11/2015 - johnh1001 wrote: 91 Points
Loads of black fruit and tar. Very subtle rose petal note. The palate was thick and dirty. I think this needs time to work itself out.
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12/9/2014 - rnellans wrote: 92 Points
Disappointing in a tasting of barolos. Lightest color of the bunch. Funky nose at first, that blew off. Red fruited. Very good acidity. Minerals. Moderate tannins and acid. Good length.
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8/17/2014 - WineGuyFL wrote: flawed
Absolutely horrible. I hope this is a single bottle issue. I see a few other reviewers have rated their bottle as flawed, which is troubling.
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11/4/2013 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful clean nose of black fruits, tar, truffles and rose petals. Lean and mineral-driven with authentic flavors of road tar, black earth and truffles. Finely delineated with a good smack of '96 acidity to keep it fresh. This is ready to drink but should hold for quite some time and perhaps develop a bit more complexity on the finish. It was interesting pairing this with a '96 Gaja Barbaresco which was much more feminine, less earthy and less indentifiable for sure but also more complex on the finish.
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12/23/2012 - MC wrote:
Decanted for an hour. This wine was singing right out of the bottle, but then shut down a bit and came back after an hour. Light in color, but full of fruit on the nose and palate. This still has plenty of structure on the finish, and should improve with another couple of years - and last for a while. A-
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12/2/2012 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points
Second Annual Butcher&Larder dinner (Butcher&Larder, Chicago IL): nose: a bit tight and unyielding at first, but when it opened up absolutely gorgeous tones of dark red fruits, tar, roasted herbs, various floral tones, roses and bits of violets meld together in perfect harmony.
taste: This was extremely pretty with a silky medium/full body and medium/high acidity. The tannins are still quite there and showing that this wine has youth along with regal tones of dark red cherries, dark red fruits, roasted herbs, roses and some other various floral tones.
overall: Once this opened up it was like the beginning of a symphony. This wine has the ability to be completely etheral with even more time. I had given this 3 hours in the decanter and it still took another 90 minutes to really sing.
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8/15/2012 - cos65 wrote:
Served blind. At first I thought it was a dried out '96 tuscan,totally bricked orange, tough and acidic; but with about an hour lovely rose, tarry aromas and flavors. Wow!. Gorgeous now or seeming for some time. ****+
Bottle #5074 of 8536
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5/18/2012 - KeithAkers wrote: flawed
Birthday Giacosas (Antico, Chicago IL): wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, this was badly corked
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5/18/2012 - tooch wrote: flawed
Giacosa Dinner (Antico - Chicago, IL): Cork city.
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7/19/2011 - dream wrote: 93 Points
Lovely black fruited wine with notes of mushrooms and truffles. The fruit is really perfectly ripe and sweet and is balanced by crisp acidity and gripping tannins. The longer it breathed, the better it got. I think another 3-5 years and this will be drinking beautifully.93+
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4/2/2011 - dream wrote: 92 Points
Fading ruby color. Funky nose of red spices, black truffles and mushrooms. Lean and classically-styled with taut dry tannins. Lovely flavors of spicy red plums, truffles and mushrooms with a slight vegetal hint. Really juicy and grippy with good acidity and very old world in style. This hasn't budged much since I tasted it 2 years ago and there remains just a slight bit of what I call "dirty Barolo" notes. This will be interesting to follow but seems to have years of development ahead. 92+
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7/23/2010 - LeatherPalate wrote: 92 Points
Youthful wine. Fresh berries,tar,soy, and dark florals in the hiz. Huge tannins this wine has by the truck load.
Dried cherries,dust, herbs,and some really nice fresh spices. I believe this got plenty of air but man does it need
more time could be a stunner check back in 5+.
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7/4/2010 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
The 96 Giacosa’s are legendary and this is humming along beautifully. It is so sexy and almost feminine Barolo yet with awesome power and muscle. There are notes of tar, roses, raspberries, meat, iron, scorched earth and sweet cedar. It possesses the most sensual texture and all flavours are in perfect balance and proportion. The abundant yet spherical tannins seem to just occupy a space but you sense they’ll still be there in 50 years providing posture.
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6/17/2010 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points
Some nebbiolo for LeatherPalate's b-day (Terragusto, Chicago IL): nose: bold and perfumed nose loaded with asian spices, red cherries, berries, bits of tar and all sorts of floral tones. Great depth and showing all sorts of layering right now as well
taste: chewy tannins and medium/high acidity show off the youth of the wine along with fresh and balanced tones of asian spices, red cherries, roasted herbs, tar, and a good bit of fresh picked berries
overall: A very young wine, but showing off great structure and all sorts of perfume to it. Needs time, but there is a great wine to be had from this with great depth on both the nose and palate
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10/9/2009 - dream wrote: 93 Points
Dark browning color with bricking edges. Classic Barolo nose of tar and sweet rose petals along with funky earth. This is pure and quite a big vintage for this wine. The tannins are still huge and gripping but the wonderful earthiness and spicy dark cherry fruit are quite apparent. Finishes with a wonderful funkiness with note of forest floor and mushrooms. Still needs more time but its a classic vintage just waiting for the complexity to develop. 93+
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12/30/2007 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 95 Points
Dark purple with some slight browing around the edges but still youthfull. Fantastic aromas of lavender, sage and rosemary, but the most dominating aroma is of violets. A hefty wine with lost of burly tannins and some heft acid.
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