Classic Cappellano to me light and ethereal, finished very long. The tannins were there but they diffused throughout the mouth rather than gathering at the gums. My last bottle of this was dark, brooding, rife with VA. Based on the comments this vintage seems to be quite variable, but this bottle was stellar.
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Unlike my previous bottle in 2020, this one did not show the floral and sandalwood fragrance after 24 hours of slow-ox, but felt somehow over oxidation. Still mediocre fter another day in the fridge. I have to doubt whether the 2013 has begun to experience excessive aging, as I saw comments mentioning lower levels of SO2 in this vintage. Or even worse, there may be issues with the preservation or authenticity of my wine, which is not something I want to see because there are 3 more bottles left purchased in the same batch :'(
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2013 Barolo tasting at 67PM: Unlike the Rinaldi this didn't assert itself at all at the beginning, as it didn't stand out from the other wines despite its pedigree. Eventually it did come around and had a lovely, lifted nose with a hint of nail varnish. Alcohol is noticeable but integrated, but the fruit wasn't fully expressive and the wine felt like it was still in third gear. Needs more time, the 2011 I had last year is a better candidate for drinking today. Ranked 5/9.
Off bottle from the start. Tons of acid and alcohol with muted flavors at opening. With air it turn stewed with still no character. Coloration also turned dark brown with time. No freshness.
Spicy, masculine cologne on the nose then a bit peppery deep and darkly fruited . Sweet in the mouth with lovely fruit and freshness; powerful but not heavy. Wow this is good, lively, full of dark fruit but so clear on the palate and surprisingly open with great austere tannins and fine balance. 95pts and only going to get better.
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Decanted for about three hours before the first glass and got about 4-5 hours more during the evening. First of all this is seriously young, that shouldn't come as a surprise but what struck me was how that fact reflected in the wine. Structure wise I found the '13 PR firm and steady, but far from rough and unapproachable. The tannins are of high quality and the acidity is really pronounced. Elegant and refined. The nose doesn't give away much and doesn't really open up during the evening. Featherweight fruit, cherries and transparent rosehip. Lots of crunchy rocks. On the palate the structure clearly overpowers the fruit. Silky, transparent and elegant. To be honest I haven't hoaned in on the 13's and those I've tried it's evident its a seriously classic vintage that needs time. For example the Cappellano PR '12 is a totally different beast altogether, much more dirty, open and with plenty of secondary notes. At this stage it really is a waste to open imo. When this comes out of its shell it could very well be as a masterpiece but that will take some serious time. I won't have any problem keeping my hands from the remaining bottles, that's for sure.
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Aerated to decanter for 4 hours; not quite sure that was even close to enough. OK, I'm sure it wasn't. Bold red berries, some cherry, and a dusting of strawberry are at the core of a soil and tar outer layer. Med/Med+ body, with significant structure. Good+ length; obviously holding back. Shows goo+ length already, and it's clear its not yet reached the beginning of its preferred plateau. Digging this more for its potential than what its giving just now. HOLD. highly recommended+
After a great experience with the 2013 Roagna Pira recently, I decided to take this for a test drive and it was excellent! The word that comes to mind is elegance, the real iron fist in a velvet glove. The color is a pale red with a nose of cherry, flowers and savory herbs and leather. Really lovely texture but with a growing tannic presence as we go through the bottle. As it opens there's a note of menthol that complicates the nose and the palate has a sort of iron edge to the fine tannin that seem to be limestone dependent (I don't know the actual bedrock of the Gabutti vineyard). I bought a healthy chunk of this and the Roagna and I plan on checking in on them through their development on a regular basis. I might check in on other 2013 Langhe wines given this success. Young Nebbiolo is awesome.
The nose was dark and savory, with dark red cherry fruit, tar, leather, tobacco, and licorice. On the palate, it showed high concentration and also elegance, with an inner sweetness that was surprising to me given the savory, slightly rustic expression on the nose. Red and blue-toned fruit, inner floral tones, leather and spices burst on the palate with plenty of depth, but also a lot of elegance with finessed tannins. There is a high level of minerality, with a saline quality to the finish. It's a beautiful young wine, and was more elegant than I expected on the palate.
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Uncorked 7 hours before serving into Zalto Burgundy glass (“No” day): Pale ruby with slightly watery rims.
Quite ethereal indeed with high toned rich red berry fruits like strawberries, layered florals and elegant white spices.
Highly mineral on palate. Really nice acidity too and clean finish. Tannins are silky. Not exceptionally complex overall but enjoyable at this initial impression.
93-94 points at this point. Reserve for longer term observation.
1.5 hour upon first pour: Even broader spectrum of fruits and more tea infused red fruits and white spices. More animale / fur notes too. More finesse and layered arguably. 93-94 points.
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Some GC action. Light tawny-garnet. Layered nose of red fruits, spices, roses,. Light to medium bodied, red berried profile shot through with nice minerality on the midpalate, broad-shouldered tannins, great persistence with the mineral note. Of course too early to drink this now however if someone else has opened a bottle, why not?
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Bright garnet, with good clarity. Nose: mostly primary notes of a young Barolo - morello cherry, juicy cranberries, red currant, mint, fresh leaves. Palate: fresh acidity, silky tannins, medium-bodied, rather delicate and subtle. Still a baby but so beautiful already.
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It takes some hours of air before it opens up, and when it does, it delivers aromas of raw meat, forest floor, ripe fruit, pipe tobacco and old wood. On the palate the wine appears light and elegant, with clean but ripe fruit, well balanced acidity and polished tannins. Great structure and length. A lovely wine but too mature for a 2013
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Open and quite drinkable now, spicy flavours, figs, syrupy, husky tones, nice power, hints of rubber tones here and there and a tad sweaty, nevertheless an enjoyable classy Barolo, I wonder will this Barolo from a great vintage go to sleeping mode in the next few years only to emerge as a superstar wine after plus/minus 10 years has lapsed. This beauty has all the potential to do so.
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Dinner at Home (Millbrae, CA): Stood 1 month, minimal sediment at the bottom 1 oz. Decanted just prior to tasting. Pale translucent ruby (lighter than a 1975 Cappellano drank with this); high intensity aromatics, fresh roses, bright cherry fruit, slight menthol; palate is light bodied but also with surprising depth of fruit flavor, plenty of red cherries, red fruit, high youthful tannin that gives the midpalate plenty of structure; finish is medium-long and full of juicy fruit. This is going to be a top Cappellano Rupestris. Day 3: The last 1-2 oz in the bottle: A bit more density on the nose and the palate. This is heading towards the 1975 in style just a bit, though it will take decades to get there. Still perfumed and floral/rose on the nose.
Dinner at Ashish's (Millbrae): Beautiful! Pale ruby with a garnet rim. Automatically intense and superbly integrated. Dried and wet leaves. Bright red and black cherry. White cherry / peach / rose petal florals. Slight savory development - moist forest floor after rain. Feels around 14.5% and classically medium minus body. High acid, high minus tannins (polished and rounded). Long floral and leafy finish.
Man, I really like young Nebbiolo when it’s firing.
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First slightly closed but opens up with some air. Notes of tobacco, tar, red fruit, also some darker fruit, black tea, a touch of licorice and menthol. It's medium-full bodied with medium-high tannin and high acidity. Great length. This will be superb in a few years and is already showing fantastic now, but looks almost a touch clumsy next to the Franco (on a very high level).
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Very young, almost fruity. Opens light and playful, tightens in the glass adding telltale notes of tar and tobacco. The fruit is juicy and rich, but the wine is in no way overdone - just very young. 93+ point #Centro Storico
Popped open a bottle of this after a sadly corked bottle of Pie Franco of the same vintage.
A little tight automatically. With some swirling, a multifaceted nose of rose, asphalt, a touch of almond and violets; clean and elegant on entry, medium bodied, the midpalate is a rumbling core of dark and savoury graphite and minerals, some red fruits surfing on top. Complex and challenging. Power through the core without unnecessary weight. Obviously young and needing much time for the various parts to come together. Next bottle in 2028.
Cappellano, Lynch Bages & Friends (Formentos - Chicago, IL): In a 98/13 flight. Decanted for a few hours before dinner. Muted and brooding nose. With swirling shows some primary, musky cherries. This is all power and tannin today, with a similar signature to the 98 tasted side-by-side. No sign of ripe or solar fruit. Young with chewy drying and grippy tannin. Should be great in 20+ years.
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Cappellano and Lynch (Chicago, IL): This is not the most stunning example of young Cappellano I've had (cf. 2011), but this is an excellent wine all the same. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this wine that I experienced going into it was the expectation of a ripe and full wine thanks to the solar vintage. But this is not the case with this wine -- it is far lighter than I would have expected. It shows a beautiful amount of red cherry, florals, and just a smidgen of licorice, but does not have (though this is not a bad thing) that sweet intensity of fruit I was guessing this would have. There's a minerality here coupled with the tannins (somehow) that I really like as well. And although it's not showing the most expressively tonight, I have no doubt this will be a true beauty with time, for what I see here already fits so well with what I want in a nebbiolo.
Barolo Terroir tasting, I could not really get my grip on that one, it was clearly on the low sulfur, reduction side, edgy, slight volatile, nearly off...palate quite big, with that edgishh style again, I am quite doubtful about that wine... I know there is a huge following on that nowadays, I wish I could have tasted the wine day2/3 as it seemed to have improved a lot... honestly the Marcarini at 45 Bucks...
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Five days in Barolo: A visit to Cappellano (Serralunga d'Alba): Barrel sample at just ~8 months of age. Lots of people are already speaking the praises of 2013, but there was a much more conservative approach here, saying, "We'll see how it develops." I'm fine with not hyping things up too soon! We sampled two barrels of Rupestris, which I think accounts for the whole of the vintage. The first barrel was an older Gamberllotto one. As expected, this was imposingly structured. Just incredibly grippy on the finish, but the palate did offer a lighter expression of fruit. The other barrel was a Franz Stockinger. This was a bit more showy on the nose, but also showing imposing structure throughout. Very interesting to drink these at this stage of evolution, but for me, it's not revealing much of what this wine will become.
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5/22/2024 - fine137 wrote: 95 Points
Classic Cappellano to me light and ethereal, finished very long. The tannins were there but they diffused throughout the mouth rather than gathering at the gums. My last bottle of this was dark, brooding, rife with VA. Based on the comments this vintage seems to be quite variable, but this bottle was stellar.
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5/2/2024 - Ward Huang wrote:
Unlike my previous bottle in 2020, this one did not show the floral and sandalwood fragrance after 24 hours of slow-ox, but felt somehow over oxidation. Still mediocre fter another day in the fridge. I have to doubt whether the 2013 has begun to experience excessive aging, as I saw comments mentioning lower levels of SO2 in this vintage. Or even worse, there may be issues with the preservation or authenticity of my wine, which is not something I want to see because there are 3 more bottles left purchased in the same batch :'(
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3/8/2023 - melvinyeowq wrote: 91 Points
2013 Barolo tasting at 67PM: Unlike the Rinaldi this didn't assert itself at all at the beginning, as it didn't stand out from the other wines despite its pedigree. Eventually it did come around and had a lovely, lifted nose with a hint of nail varnish. Alcohol is noticeable but integrated, but the fruit wasn't fully expressive and the wine felt like it was still in third gear. Needs more time, the 2011 I had last year is a better candidate for drinking today. Ranked 5/9.
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1/9/2023 - SARED wrote: 94 Points
Dark cherry, cherry, earthy VA
Espressive and drinkable, but should pick up more length with age
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8/5/2022 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote:
Off bottle from the start. Tons of acid and alcohol with muted flavors at opening. With air it turn stewed with still no character. Coloration also turned dark brown with time. No freshness.
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1/15/2022 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 95 Points
Spicy, masculine cologne on the nose then a bit peppery deep and darkly fruited . Sweet in the mouth with lovely fruit and freshness; powerful but not heavy. Wow this is good, lively, full of dark fruit but so clear on the palate and surprisingly open with great austere tannins and fine balance. 95pts and only going to get better.
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11/13/2021 - Okholm wrote:
Flaved
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10/30/2021 - JohanPe wrote: 91 Points
Decanted for about three hours before the first glass and got about 4-5 hours more during the evening. First of all this is seriously young, that shouldn't come as a surprise but what struck me was how that fact reflected in the wine. Structure wise I found the '13 PR firm and steady, but far from rough and unapproachable. The tannins are of high quality and the acidity is really pronounced. Elegant and refined.
The nose doesn't give away much and doesn't really open up during the evening. Featherweight fruit, cherries and transparent rosehip. Lots of crunchy rocks.
On the palate the structure clearly overpowers the fruit. Silky, transparent and elegant. To be honest I haven't hoaned in on the 13's and those I've tried it's evident its a seriously classic vintage that needs time. For example the Cappellano PR '12 is a totally different beast altogether, much more dirty, open and with plenty of secondary notes.
At this stage it really is a waste to open imo. When this comes out of its shell it could very well be as a masterpiece but that will take some serious time. I won't have any problem keeping my hands from the remaining bottles, that's for sure.
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11/11/2020 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
Aerated to decanter for 4 hours; not quite sure that was even close to enough. OK, I'm sure it wasn't. Bold red berries, some cherry, and a dusting of strawberry are at the core of a soil and tar outer layer. Med/Med+ body, with significant structure. Good+ length; obviously holding back. Shows goo+ length already, and it's clear its not yet reached the beginning of its preferred plateau. Digging this more for its potential than what its giving just now. HOLD. highly recommended+
http://www.italianwine.blog
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10/21/2020 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 93 Points
After a great experience with the 2013 Roagna Pira recently, I decided to take this for a test drive and it was excellent! The word that comes to mind is elegance, the real iron fist in a velvet glove. The color is a pale red with a nose of cherry, flowers and savory herbs and leather. Really lovely texture but with a growing tannic presence as we go through the bottle. As it opens there's a note of menthol that complicates the nose and the palate has a sort of iron edge to the fine tannin that seem to be limestone dependent (I don't know the actual bedrock of the Gabutti vineyard). I bought a healthy chunk of this and the Roagna and I plan on checking in on them through their development on a regular basis. I might check in on other 2013 Langhe wines given this success. Young Nebbiolo is awesome.
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9/11/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:
The nose was dark and savory, with dark red cherry fruit, tar, leather, tobacco, and licorice. On the palate, it showed high concentration and also elegance, with an inner sweetness that was surprising to me given the savory, slightly rustic expression on the nose. Red and blue-toned fruit, inner floral tones, leather and spices burst on the palate with plenty of depth, but also a lot of elegance with finessed tannins. There is a high level of minerality, with a saline quality to the finish. It's a beautiful young wine, and was more elegant than I expected on the palate.
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9/4/2020 - Sundbyberg wrote: 94 Points
A very good barolo, and slightly better than the 2014, which I have hade previously.
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7/16/2020 - Ward Huang Likes this wine: 97 Points
24 hours bottle decanting.
Nose of red cherry, rose, violet and bay leaf. Palate was light with transparent acidity and fiem fine tannins. Like a Barbaresco.
Second round from decanter, more obvious floral nose and sandalwood. Very seductive. Palate still firm but balanced, pure and elegant.
There is true nobility of class in this beauty. Easily beat two CM and VR 1er Cru from burgundy on the table.
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12/28/2019 - AWBryce wrote:
Soft red fruits, very well structured, tannic. Ripe fruit and well balanced palate, this needs to rest for 5+ years
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11/23/2019 - Tony Ling Likes this wine: 94 Points
Uncorked 7 hours before serving into Zalto Burgundy glass (“No” day): Pale ruby with slightly watery rims.
Quite ethereal indeed with high toned rich red berry fruits like strawberries, layered florals and elegant white spices.
Highly mineral on palate. Really nice acidity too and clean finish. Tannins are silky. Not exceptionally complex overall but enjoyable at this initial impression.
93-94 points at this point. Reserve for longer term observation.
1.5 hour upon first pour: Even broader spectrum of fruits and more tea infused red fruits and white spices. More animale / fur notes too. More finesse and layered arguably. 93-94 points.
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9/16/2019 - lightning wrote: 92 Points
Some GC action. Light tawny-garnet. Layered nose of red fruits, spices, roses,. Light to medium bodied, red berried profile shot through with nice minerality on the midpalate, broad-shouldered tannins, great persistence with the mineral note. Of course too early to drink this now however if someone else has opened a bottle, why not?
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8/22/2019 - Arnaud Cbn Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bright garnet, with good clarity. Nose: mostly primary notes of a young Barolo - morello cherry, juicy cranberries, red currant, mint, fresh leaves. Palate: fresh acidity, silky tannins, medium-bodied, rather delicate and subtle. Still a baby but so beautiful already.
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5/12/2019 - RuneW Likes this wine: 91 Points
It takes some hours of air before it opens up, and when it does, it delivers aromas of raw meat, forest floor, ripe fruit, pipe tobacco and old wood. On the palate the wine appears light and elegant, with clean but ripe fruit, well balanced acidity and polished tannins. Great structure and length. A lovely wine but too mature for a 2013
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3/27/2019 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Felt more modern than expected, but no complaints. Very polished.
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3/6/2019 - Lype Likes this wine:
Open and quite drinkable now, spicy flavours, figs, syrupy, husky tones, nice power, hints of rubber tones here and there and a tad sweaty, nevertheless an enjoyable classy Barolo, I wonder will this Barolo from a great vintage go to sleeping mode in the next few years only to emerge as a superstar wine after plus/minus 10 years has lapsed. This beauty has all the potential to do so.
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2/13/2019 - aagrawal wrote:
Dinner at Home (Millbrae, CA): Stood 1 month, minimal sediment at the bottom 1 oz. Decanted just prior to tasting. Pale translucent ruby (lighter than a 1975 Cappellano drank with this); high intensity aromatics, fresh roses, bright cherry fruit, slight menthol; palate is light bodied but also with surprising depth of fruit flavor, plenty of red cherries, red fruit, high youthful tannin that gives the midpalate plenty of structure; finish is medium-long and full of juicy fruit. This is going to be a top Cappellano Rupestris.
Day 3: The last 1-2 oz in the bottle: A bit more density on the nose and the palate. This is heading towards the 1975 in style just a bit, though it will take decades to get there. Still perfumed and floral/rose on the nose.
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2/13/2019 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 93 Points
Dinner at Ashish's (Millbrae): Beautiful!
Pale ruby with a garnet rim. Automatically intense and superbly integrated. Dried and wet leaves. Bright red and black cherry. White cherry / peach / rose petal florals. Slight savory development - moist forest floor after rain.
Feels around 14.5% and classically medium minus body. High acid, high minus tannins (polished and rounded). Long floral and leafy finish.
Man, I really like young Nebbiolo when it’s firing.
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10/19/2018 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:
First slightly closed but opens up with some air. Notes of tobacco, tar, red fruit, also some darker fruit, black tea, a touch of licorice and menthol. It's medium-full bodied with medium-high tannin and high acidity. Great length. This will be superb in a few years and is already showing fantastic now, but looks almost a touch clumsy next to the Franco (on a very high level).
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10/7/2018 - beatles wrote: 92 Points
Very young, almost fruity. Opens light and playful, tightens in the glass adding telltale notes of tar and tobacco. The fruit is juicy and rich, but the wine is in no way overdone - just very young. 93+ point
#Centro Storico
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7/20/2018 - lightning wrote: 93 Points
Popped open a bottle of this after a sadly corked bottle of Pie Franco of the same vintage.
A little tight automatically. With some swirling, a multifaceted nose of rose, asphalt, a touch of almond and violets; clean and elegant on entry, medium bodied, the midpalate is a rumbling core of dark and savoury graphite and minerals, some red fruits surfing on top. Complex and challenging. Power through the core without unnecessary weight. Obviously young and needing much time for the various parts to come together. Next bottle in 2028.
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6/20/2018 - Nanda wrote:
Cappellano, Lynch Bages & Friends (Formentos - Chicago, IL): In a 98/13 flight. Decanted for a few hours before dinner. Muted and brooding nose. With swirling shows some primary, musky cherries. This is all power and tannin today, with a similar signature to the 98 tasted side-by-side. No sign of ripe or solar fruit. Young with chewy drying and grippy tannin. Should be great in 20+ years.
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6/20/2018 - acyso wrote:
Cappellano and Lynch (Chicago, IL): This is not the most stunning example of young Cappellano I've had (cf. 2011), but this is an excellent wine all the same. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this wine that I experienced going into it was the expectation of a ripe and full wine thanks to the solar vintage. But this is not the case with this wine -- it is far lighter than I would have expected. It shows a beautiful amount of red cherry, florals, and just a smidgen of licorice, but does not have (though this is not a bad thing) that sweet intensity of fruit I was guessing this would have. There's a minerality here coupled with the tannins (somehow) that I really like as well. And although it's not showing the most expressively tonight, I have no doubt this will be a true beauty with time, for what I see here already fits so well with what I want in a nebbiolo.
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3/23/2018 - Stanrocks wrote: 90 Points
Barolo Terroir tasting, I could not really get my grip on that one, it was clearly on the low sulfur, reduction side, edgy, slight volatile, nearly off...palate quite big, with that edgishh style again, I am quite doubtful about that wine... I know there is a huge following on that nowadays, I wish I could have tasted the wine day2/3 as it seemed to have improved a lot... honestly the Marcarini at 45 Bucks...
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7/3/2014 - David Paris (dbp) wrote:
Five days in Barolo: A visit to Cappellano (Serralunga d'Alba): Barrel sample at just ~8 months of age. Lots of people are already speaking the praises of 2013, but there was a much more conservative approach here, saying, "We'll see how it develops." I'm fine with not hyping things up too soon! We sampled two barrels of Rupestris, which I think accounts for the whole of the vintage. The first barrel was an older Gamberllotto one. As expected, this was imposingly structured. Just incredibly grippy on the finish, but the palate did offer a lighter expression of fruit. The other barrel was a Franz Stockinger. This was a bit more showy on the nose, but also showing imposing structure throughout. Very interesting to drink these at this stage of evolution, but for me, it's not revealing much of what this wine will become.
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