Tasted blind next to its 2001 sibling. Notes of black olive tapenade. Rose petals emerged. On the palate huge acidity - really huge. Red fruit, super fine tannins. Surprinsgly accessible, but I don’t think it will improve from here.
Return to Italy: Pio Cesare, Gaja, Oddero, Tignanello and more (Flour Shop, Charlotte, NC) (Charlotte, NC): 7 hours in advance, decanted for 2 hours, back in the bottle and slo-ox in temperature controlled cellar. From start to finish this wine screamed quality of the highest order. Explosive nose of concentrated dark fruits. Dark ruby in color. Fresh and fulsome on the mouthfeel, the wine displayed great strength of blackberry and black cherry flavors. Leans decidedly primary but beginning to develop those secondary notes and increased complexity. Long, long finish for a wine that can go for decades. Possibly the highest quality Barolo I’ve ever had and this bottle can reach even greater heights. Really hope I can drink this again in 5 - 10 years. Overall Wine of the Night (5 first place votes).
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Fathers' Gathering (RPM Italian, Washington D.C.): Very youthful expressive nose displaying concentrated black fruit, blackberry, black cherry, a hint of dry cherry, licorice, ink, a slight hint of oak, dark spices, tar, leather and iron mineral. Excellent concentration, subtle concentrated black fruit, rich and deeply toned, mouth puckering acidity, strong iron mineral, still noticeable but unobtrusive tannins, and a long concentrated black fruit driven finish. Just like the 96 Burgundy, the acidity is very pronounced. It is drinking well but can improve.
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Nose on leather and spices. The palate is dense but the attack remains supple, in particular thanks to a good balance. Fortunately, because we have a large body which completely unties in the mouth. This is a beautiful, perfectly raised and mature Nebbiolo with a hint of cedar with floral aromas, brown sugar and cigar blend harmoniously on the palate. The finish is beautiful, intense and spicy, with good length.
An excellent Barolo as I like them, supple and distinctive at the same time, it brilliantly replaced the Haut Brion 1982.
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Tasting with some crazy geeks (@Private location, Solingen): *** Brief notes for my own memory, no CT rating. Points expressed are only rough guidelines *** Popped and poured. Very good Barolo at its peak. Would loved to taste it in parallel with the Rinaldi later this evening from same vintage. Good acidity and balance, high, mellow tannin. Long. 92-93
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Opened and decanted for 2 hours, decanted back into the bottle where it sat for another couple hours. For many this was the WOTN. I thought the 95 Gaja Sperss edged it out. This wine was classic Nebbiolo - cigar, leather, soy, umami, rose pedals, red and black berries. In particular the tannins were very soft and delicate. The texture was silk. Lots to like here and long road ahead.
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A super inpressive mature Barolo. My last bottle - 2 years ago - was tired, but this one is vibrant. Perfect balance, good fruit, no brown edges at all. Simply beautiful.
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Drinking very well - better than my last bottle a few years ago. Starting to detect a wee bit of oxidation, but just barely. Opened quickly and smoothed out over a few hours. Complex, but fruit, great structure and finish. Amazing wine!
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Great wine and superclassic Barolo expression with good mature fruits. Just lacks a little in terms of precision in my mind. It is almost too bold - but still - very good
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Initially alarming on the nose, smelled a little like a past peak Bordeaux. Disappeared after 1 hour and developed a beautiful nose with roses, mature red berries, butter caramel, honey, brown sugar and licorice. Sexy creamy mouthfeel with elegant touch. Long finish. Perfectly mature high quality Nebbiolo, a real pleasure!! 95p
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Very full and very '96 with great intensity and powerful acidity. There is delicious fruit underneath the structure with flavors of dark berries, truffles and dark minerals. Finishes grippy with high acidity. We'll see over time if the fruit holds up as the acidity mellows...
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Big red berry fruit - almost American in terms of fruit forward Very easy to drink and Not heavy to drink Leaves a nice silky deposit in mouth Tannins all resolved Really enjoyable- doesn't need to long in decanter Could be more complex but doesn't detract from experience
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I wanted to see how this showed. A controversial wine, at least for a couple of us at the end of the table. At first coconut and dill hit my nose. Underneath this, there is a beautiful structured, graceful and powerful wine, broader stroked than most of the other wines tonight, with mouthfcoating texture that is really fine, but but there is this dill, and caramel, and coconut that I just can't get out of my head or rather out of my nose. i think others liked this more than me, and based on structutre and texture, it was beautiful and I give it credit for that, and scored it accordingly higher. Other's I suspect liked this a lot more and I can see it, and this had some great aspects and if I could get past the dill I would have scored it higher. Still an interesting outstanding wine that I just wonder how good the fruit could have been
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Decanted 3-4 hours and drank over next 3 hours. Beautiful. In a perfect spot right now. Classic Barolo nose. This is medium body with plenty of nuance. I dont know if I see this getting any better but its a long way from decline. In its plateau and drinking wonderfully. A great effort.
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The nose displayed dark fruit, as blackberries dipped in liqueur, sweet spice and hints of espresso dominated. On the palate, it was soft, dare I say diluted, with notes of plum and tart cherry. It finished stern, with drying tannin and bitter remnants of red fruit. Everything about this wine made me believe it would be a modern-styled Barolo.
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1996 Barolo & Barbaresco Blind (L'Apicio, NYC): [Opened around 9, decanted at 3, left in decanter about 2 hours, and then back into the bottle.] Smoky black fruit nose. Balsam. Tart and tannic cherries. Thick and silky. A lovely wine.
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This bottle tasted like it had suffered some heat damage along the way as the fruit seemed intense (port like) and pinched. It never opened up or came around. Bummer!
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The color is dark and perfect, only a slight initial orange. Poured into glasses from Barolo and not decanted. Just poured feels an obvious smell of Marsala, that fades very slowly. After three hours is almost completely disappeared completely in the nose and mouth where it reveals a wine of exceptional finesse. After four hours is pretty much perfect to drink. Excellent balance of notes buds with the power and the body of the wine.
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Very refined, but never quite opened up to what I suspect is its full potential, even after several hours. Medium bodied, complex, but not quite at the level of Giacosa or Rinaldi (esp fruit).
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Opened for a bout 4 hours and it needed all of that time and more. Somewhat strict at first with the huge tannins and acidity of the vintage. With time in the glass and some of the magnificent food at Nomad, it began to show a lovely elegance and smoothness with dark fruit flavors and strong mineral and eucalyptus notes. The finish is fine and complex and showing a bit of maturity with a lovely licorice and black cherry spice thing going on. I enjoyed this more and more and the last sip was the best so I'm hoping for some continued upside here. 93+
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Last of the 6 Baroli I served at our wine group tasting. Runner up to the G. Rinaldi. Like the Rinaldi it was hitting on all cylinders. The fruit was gorgeous, balanced and focused. The nose tantalized the senses and the finish was one where you close your eyes and enjoy. The essence of traditionally made old world Barolo.
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Keith's Birthday Dinner (Kai Zan - Chicago, IL): Really beautiful nebbiolo. Dark nose of tar, berries, earth, and mushroom. The tannins were still there, but they were smooth and didn't distract from the gorgeous fruit. So lithe, and powerful. Great barolo.
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completely ethereal.... there was such a light touch to this wine; great delicacy but with with incredible length... get better and better the longer the wine was open. very feminine but with some punch on the backside.... beautiful showing.
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Great Barolo! Perhaps not all the way up to usual standard, with the extraordinary fireworks shown by this wine? Still, hard, if not impossible, to beat this producer in his own backyard, which this bottle clearly shows. Complex, and full of all the Barolo qualities, in its purest form, one would expect and want from the region. A great wine from a great producer. Still, have had better (at this point of this bottles life anyway) examples of this juice. This is a bit short and died out rather soon in the glass. Therefore I will give it 94 p for now, and hopefully come back a rainy day and be happily rewarded and surprised
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Not so made in Italy (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Decanted for 2 hours. wine maybe needd 30mins not more to breath. As always with old italian wines we need to remember that bottle variation is significant. Sweet core, cherry notes well rounded and with no harshness. Unfortunately our bottle lost its sparkle, and felt as if its good days are behind it. Enjoyable yes. Memorable No. 88-90. Drink now
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Piedmont Dinner (Barbetta): Red-fruited and elegant with fairly pure nebbiolo character and no taste of oak or other modernist trappings, and in a very drinkable condition, too, but next to the Rinaldis it just didn't seem to have any hook to make it memorable.
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Aromas of bright cherries, black licorice, roses. On the palate sweet red fruit with good balance between acidity and tannins. A few more years and this wine will really sing. Classy juice.
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Supremely elegant in a leaner style than some of the other Barolo's tonight. Pure flavors of tar and dark cherry fruit with classic rose petals and earth on the long finish. Still not showing much in secondary flavor development. Finishes very intense and rich. Gorgeous but needs time. 94+
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Piemonte BYO (HSH): A field of fresh flowers is dominating the nose which is very intense. Also present is sweet plums with a hint of wet forest floor and camphor. Wauw. The palate is very fruity and potent with red currant and roses and simply put a wall of fruit acidity! There is complex hints of eucalyptus and camphor with leather showing nicely on the mid-palate. Great wine with a lot of potential.
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Simple Series II: Henry's Birthday (Ming Kee, Macpherson Road): Open for about 3 hours and left to stand in the bottle. Far too young, but this was clearly outstanding even so. Nose was tight, barely allowing high-tined notes of sweet red fruit to emerge at first. With time, and a bigger-bowled glass, out came lavender, violets, roses and tar. Very attractive. Palate was still very primary, but there was a beautiful perfume to it, with piercingly pure cherry and flower notes filling the mouth. A really joyous wine I thought. Its lithe elegance belied the weight and concentration of the fruit, making the wine seem almost light, but there really was lots of depth and breadth with this one. At the moment, it was still marked with fine, but very firm tannins, especially moving into the long finish. Not the easiest of wines to drink by itself, but when served with smoked duck, it just came alive, with tar, roses and cherries just tumbling out of the glass, into the palate and lingering on and on and on in the mouth. Wow.
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Outstanind cherry nose with lavander. Still very tanninc w at least 10 years of age before the tannins go away. With rose petal with structure tannins. Way too UPI g.
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Dinner with friends (Mado, chicago IL): nose: holy hell what a soaring nose of herbs, various cherry tones, tar, lavender, rose petals, and various perfumes that I can't put my finger on. The aromatics on this wine are through the roof to near etheral proportions. Insanely deep nose but the tones are fairly precise too
taste: Great balance with various cherries, herbs, lavender, and tar tones that just glide and transition ever so smoothly with deft precision
overall: this is still a puppy and had only been opened for 2 1/2 hours before drinking. The acidity takes a bit away from the mid palate, but everything else is just so pure and balanced with supple layers of flavors. Pure beauty in a glass with silky length. This wine will be fun to keep on revisiting like a great friend as it ages
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A huge, fabulous Barolo that is years away from being ready. This bottle just began to show itself after being decanted for 6 hours! Rich and intense with a great backbone of acidity and flavors of tar and very dark cherries. Keep this in the cellar for a long time. 94++
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Holy Mackeral. We decanted this baby for about 2 hours. I can't beleive how soft this wine is. For a 96 to be this lush!!!. Its got the fruit of 96 but the palate texture of a 97 with no heat or overr ripeness. The aromatics are just incredible, Roses, lavender, rosemary, tar. Its all there in gobs. On the palate the wine is like licking a babys but. Soft and round.
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Very young still but the glories this wine holds for the future can be ascertained now with decanting and breathing for several hours. Full bodied, deep, rich, silky and loaded with dark cherry fruit. Intense and steel-like on the finish but the gorgeous flavors of classic Barolo (tar, rose petal, primeval forest) can be tasted in the ultra-long finish.
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5/3/2024 - viniferatu Likes this wine:
pure cherry, roses, leather, deep spice, roses ... feels like it still has many years left, there's beautiful sweetness and purity to the fruit
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3/2/2024 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Precise; coarse; cherry; licorice; refined; long and complex.
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11/9/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 91 Points
Austere and lean; some cherry; time is needed.
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6/24/2023 - Rani Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted blind next to its 2001 sibling. Notes of black olive tapenade. Rose petals emerged. On the palate huge acidity - really huge. Red fruit, super fine tannins. Surprinsgly accessible, but I don’t think it will improve from here.
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5/2/2023 - kevinpatrick Likes this wine:
Return to Italy: Pio Cesare, Gaja, Oddero, Tignanello and more (Flour Shop, Charlotte, NC) (Charlotte, NC): 7 hours in advance, decanted for 2 hours, back in the bottle and slo-ox in temperature controlled cellar. From start to finish this wine screamed quality of the highest order. Explosive nose of concentrated dark fruits. Dark ruby in color. Fresh and fulsome on the mouthfeel, the wine displayed great strength of blackberry and black cherry flavors. Leans decidedly primary but beginning to develop those secondary notes and increased complexity. Long, long finish for a wine that can go for decades. Possibly the highest quality Barolo I’ve ever had and this bottle can reach even greater heights. Really hope I can drink this again in 5 - 10 years. Overall Wine of the Night (5 first place votes).
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1/15/2023 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Full; heavy; youthful; rich berry; lingering sweet finish.
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12/9/2022 - paulst Likes this wine: 94 Points
Restrained and developing; earth and manura; light raisin and licorice; tannic; complex with finesse; long coarse finish.
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9/3/2022 - Papies wrote: flawed
Our curse with this wine continues. The second time we cross paths with it and the result the same. Spoiled wine. Painful
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7/14/2022 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
Fathers' Gathering (RPM Italian, Washington D.C.): Very youthful expressive nose displaying concentrated black fruit, blackberry, black cherry, a hint of dry cherry, licorice, ink, a slight hint of oak, dark spices, tar, leather and iron mineral. Excellent concentration, subtle concentrated black fruit, rich and deeply toned, mouth puckering acidity, strong iron mineral, still noticeable but unobtrusive tannins, and a long concentrated black fruit driven finish. Just like the 96 Burgundy, the acidity is very pronounced. It is drinking well but can improve.
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6/2/2021 - Mrboudin wrote: 94 Points
Great bottle, perfect cork. Only had 1 bottle and this was still young. I wish I had waited 10 more years.
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2/6/2021 - Tony Ling Likes this wine: 94 Points
Slow-oxed for 14 hours prior to serving into Zalto Burgundy (“Leaf” day): Pale ruby with fine deposits.
Clear oak influence but very much integrated.
Red dates, sour cherries. Very much structured and complete wine indeed.
94 points for me.
2nd round, 1/3 left: sharper acidity that now stood out a little bit. Vanilla notes that suggest quite a strong oak influence here.
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1/17/2021 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 94 Points
It substitued a flawed Haut Brion 1982
Nose on leather and spices. The palate is dense but the attack remains supple, in particular thanks to a good balance. Fortunately, because we have a large body which completely unties in the mouth.
This is a beautiful, perfectly raised and mature Nebbiolo with a hint of cedar with floral aromas, brown sugar and cigar blend harmoniously on the palate. The finish is beautiful, intense and spicy, with good length.
An excellent Barolo as I like them, supple and distinctive at the same time, it brilliantly replaced the Haut Brion 1982.
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4/26/2020 - NJwineguy wrote: 89 Points
First drinkable bottle from the case. Decent but I’m guessing heat exposed.
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1/10/2020 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine:
Tasting with some crazy geeks (@Private location, Solingen): *** Brief notes for my own memory, no CT rating. Points expressed are only rough guidelines ***
Popped and poured. Very good Barolo at its peak. Would loved to taste it in parallel with the Rinaldi later this evening from same vintage. Good acidity and balance, high, mellow tannin. Long. 92-93
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12/8/2019 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tart cherry and red fruits. Leather, spice and flowers. Lots of fruit for its age. Lots of life
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11/28/2019 - Dehrmann Likes this wine: 89 Points
2019 thanksgiving dinner - marcus, christine, camille, bernard, pol...1988 Yquem 92 / 1999 clos des lambrays 92 / 1996 granbussia conterno 90 / 1990 lynch babes 93
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12/6/2018 - DaleW wrote:
Tar, mushrooms and vanilla, robust and tannic, hopefully oak will integrate, B/B+ for now
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11/2/2018 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened and decanted for 2 hours, decanted back into the bottle where it sat for another couple hours. For many this was the WOTN. I thought the 95 Gaja Sperss edged it out. This wine was classic Nebbiolo - cigar, leather, soy, umami, rose pedals, red and black berries. In particular the tannins were very soft and delicate. The texture was silk. Lots to like here and long road ahead.
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9/8/2018 - Thomas123 wrote: 95 Points
A super inpressive mature Barolo. My last bottle - 2 years ago - was tired, but this one is vibrant. Perfect balance, good fruit, no brown edges at all. Simply beautiful.
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3/27/2018 - Collector1855 wrote: 88 Points
Very rustic nose, oxidative and funky, lovage, the palate is still dry and tanninc. Not much pleasure here.
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3/12/2018 - Happybob Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking very well - better than my last bottle a few years ago. Starting to detect a wee bit of oxidation, but just barely. Opened quickly and smoothed out over a few hours. Complex, but fruit, great structure and finish. Amazing wine!
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4/2/2017 - Honeyburst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Great wine and superclassic Barolo expression with good mature fruits. Just lacks a little in terms of precision in my mind. It is almost too bold - but still - very good
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11/26/2016 - Markus IWC wrote: 95 Points
Initially alarming on the nose, smelled a little like a past peak Bordeaux. Disappeared after 1 hour and developed a beautiful nose with roses, mature red berries, butter caramel, honey, brown sugar and licorice. Sexy creamy mouthfeel with elegant touch. Long finish. Perfectly mature high quality Nebbiolo, a real pleasure!! 95p
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11/22/2016 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very full and very '96 with great intensity and powerful acidity. There is delicious fruit underneath the structure with flavors of dark berries, truffles and dark minerals. Finishes grippy with high acidity. We'll see over time if the fruit holds up as the acidity mellows...
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11/4/2016 - mjdixon Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big red berry fruit - almost American in terms of fruit forward
Very easy to drink and Not heavy to drink
Leaves a nice silky deposit in mouth
Tannins all resolved
Really enjoyable- doesn't need to long in decanter
Could be more complex but doesn't detract from experience
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10/8/2016 - cct wrote: 92 Points
'96 retrospective at Franny's Brooklyn
Double decanted in AM.
I wanted to see how this showed. A controversial wine, at least for a couple of us at the end of the table. At first coconut and dill hit my nose. Underneath this, there is a beautiful structured, graceful and powerful wine, broader stroked than most of the other wines tonight, with mouthfcoating texture that is really fine, but but there is this dill, and caramel, and coconut that I just can't get out of my head or rather out of my nose. i think others liked this more than me, and based on structutre and texture, it was beautiful and I give it credit for that, and scored it accordingly higher. Other's I suspect liked this a lot more and I can see it, and this had some great aspects and if I could get past the dill I would have scored it higher. Still an interesting outstanding wine that I just wonder how good the fruit could have been
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9/10/2016 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted 3-4 hours and drank over next 3 hours. Beautiful. In a perfect spot right now. Classic Barolo nose. This is medium body with plenty of nuance. I dont know if I see this getting any better but its a long way from decline. In its plateau and drinking wonderfully. A great effort.
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6/24/2016 - Eric Guido wrote: 90 Points
The nose displayed dark fruit, as blackberries dipped in liqueur, sweet spice and hints of espresso dominated. On the palate, it was soft, dare I say diluted, with notes of plum and tart cherry. It finished stern, with drying tannin and bitter remnants of red fruit. Everything about this wine made me believe it would be a modern-styled Barolo.
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6/15/2016 - kenv Likes this wine: 93 Points
1996 Barolo & Barbaresco Blind (L'Apicio, NYC): [Opened around 9, decanted at 3, left in decanter about 2 hours, and then back into the bottle.] Smoky black fruit nose. Balsam. Tart and tannic cherries. Thick and silky. A lovely wine.
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12/17/2015 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
My previous notes on this from last year say it all. A WOW wine with a couple of decades ahead of it.
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8/9/2015 - winemaker wrote: flawed
This bottle tasted like it had suffered some heat damage along the way as the fruit seemed intense (port like) and pinched. It never opened up or came around. Bummer!
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3/22/2015 - mezzasega Likes this wine: 95 Points
The color is dark and perfect, only a slight initial orange. Poured into glasses from Barolo and not decanted. Just poured feels an obvious smell of Marsala, that fades very slowly. After three hours is almost completely disappeared completely in the nose and mouth where it reveals a wine of exceptional finesse. After four hours is pretty much perfect to drink. Excellent balance of notes buds with the power and the body of the wine.
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1/19/2015 - Happybob wrote: 91 Points
Very refined, but never quite opened up to what I suspect is its full potential, even after several hours. Medium bodied, complex, but not quite at the level of Giacosa or Rinaldi (esp fruit).
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11/21/2014 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened for a bout 4 hours and it needed all of that time and more. Somewhat strict at first with the huge tannins and acidity of the vintage. With time in the glass and some of the magnificent food at Nomad, it began to show a lovely elegance and smoothness with dark fruit flavors and strong mineral and eucalyptus notes. The finish is fine and complex and showing a bit of maturity with a lovely licorice and black cherry spice thing going on. I enjoyed this more and more and the last sip was the best so I'm hoping for some continued upside here. 93+
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10/12/2014 - MauriceE wrote:
Together with 1989 and 1971 the star of a tasting with: 2001, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1990 (flawed), 1989, 1988, 1985, 1982, 1974 and 1971.
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9/23/2014 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Last of the 6 Baroli I served at our wine group tasting. Runner up to the G. Rinaldi. Like the Rinaldi it was hitting on all cylinders. The fruit was gorgeous, balanced and focused. The nose tantalized the senses and the finish was one where you close your eyes and enjoy. The essence of traditionally made old world Barolo.
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5/19/2014 - tooch wrote: 93 Points
Keith's Birthday Dinner (Kai Zan - Chicago, IL): Really beautiful nebbiolo. Dark nose of tar, berries, earth, and mushroom. The tannins were still there, but they were smooth and didn't distract from the gorgeous fruit. So lithe, and powerful. Great barolo.
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3/27/2013 - carlwhat wrote: 95 Points
completely ethereal.... there was such a light touch to this wine; great delicacy but with with incredible length... get better and better the longer the wine was open. very feminine but with some punch on the backside.... beautiful showing.
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2/28/2012 - St Paul wrote: 94 Points
Dark compact fruit. Dried fruit. Complex and good length. Died out a bit early in the glass though.
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2/27/2012 - Ramberg wrote: 94 Points
Great Barolo!
Perhaps not all the way up to usual standard, with the extraordinary fireworks shown by this wine?
Still, hard, if not impossible, to beat this producer in his own backyard, which this bottle clearly shows.
Complex, and full of all the Barolo qualities, in its purest form, one would expect and want from the region.
A great wine from a great producer.
Still, have had better (at this point of this bottles life anyway) examples of this juice.
This is a bit short and died out rather soon in the glass.
Therefore I will give it 94 p for now, and hopefully come back a rainy day and be happily rewarded and surprised
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11/16/2011 - Rupert wrote: 92 Points
An Aldo Conterno Evening (The Ledbury, London): Butch, malty, rich, lots of substance, grippy and impressive
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6/11/2011 - Papies wrote: 89 Points
Not so made in Italy (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Decanted for 2 hours. wine maybe needd 30mins not more to breath. As always with old italian wines we need to remember that bottle variation is significant.
Sweet core, cherry notes well rounded and with no harshness. Unfortunately our bottle lost its sparkle, and felt as if its good days are behind it. Enjoyable yes. Memorable No. 88-90. Drink now
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6/3/2011 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 88 Points
Piedmont Dinner (Barbetta): Red-fruited and elegant with fairly pure nebbiolo character and no taste of oak or other modernist trappings, and in a very drinkable condition, too, but next to the Rinaldis it just didn't seem to have any hook to make it memorable.
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11/6/2010 - BurgFixx Likes this wine: 93 Points
Aromas of bright cherries, black licorice, roses. On the palate sweet red fruit with good balance between acidity and tannins. A few more years and this wine will really sing. Classy juice.
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4/4/2010 - dream wrote: 94 Points
Supremely elegant in a leaner style than some of the other Barolo's tonight. Pure flavors of tar and dark cherry fruit with classic rose petals and earth on the long finish. Still not showing much in secondary flavor development. Finishes very intense and rich. Gorgeous but needs time. 94+
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2/27/2010 - canan wrote: 96 Points
Piemonte BYO (HSH): A field of fresh flowers is dominating the nose which is very intense. Also present is sweet plums with a hint of wet forest floor and camphor. Wauw.
The palate is very fruity and potent with red currant and roses and simply put a wall of fruit acidity! There is complex hints of eucalyptus and camphor with leather showing nicely on the mid-palate. Great wine with a lot of potential.
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1/29/2010 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Simple Series II: Henry's Birthday (Ming Kee, Macpherson Road): Open for about 3 hours and left to stand in the bottle. Far too young, but this was clearly outstanding even so. Nose was tight, barely allowing high-tined notes of sweet red fruit to emerge at first. With time, and a bigger-bowled glass, out came lavender, violets, roses and tar. Very attractive. Palate was still very primary, but there was a beautiful perfume to it, with piercingly pure cherry and flower notes filling the mouth. A really joyous wine I thought. Its lithe elegance belied the weight and concentration of the fruit, making the wine seem almost light, but there really was lots of depth and breadth with this one. At the moment, it was still marked with fine, but very firm tannins, especially moving into the long finish. Not the easiest of wines to drink by itself, but when served with smoked duck, it just came alive, with tar, roses and cherries just tumbling out of the glass, into the palate and lingering on and on and on in the mouth. Wow.
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1/29/2010 - astroman wrote:
Outstanind cherry nose with lavander. Still very tanninc w at least 10 years of age before the tannins go away. With rose petal with structure tannins. Way too UPI g.
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8/14/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points
Dinner with friends (Mado, chicago IL): nose: holy hell what a soaring nose of herbs, various cherry tones, tar, lavender, rose petals, and various perfumes that I can't put my finger on. The aromatics on this wine are through the roof to near etheral proportions. Insanely deep nose but the tones are fairly precise too
taste: Great balance with various cherries, herbs, lavender, and tar tones that just glide and transition ever so smoothly with deft precision
overall: this is still a puppy and had only been opened for 2 1/2 hours before drinking. The acidity takes a bit away from the mid palate, but everything else is just so pure and balanced with supple layers of flavors. Pure beauty in a glass with silky length. This wine will be fun to keep on revisiting like a great friend as it ages
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8/10/2008 - dream wrote: 94 Points
A huge, fabulous Barolo that is years away from being ready. This bottle just began to show itself after being decanted for 6 hours! Rich and intense with a great backbone of acidity and flavors of tar and very dark cherries. Keep this in the cellar for a long time. 94++
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10/13/2007 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 97 Points
Holy Mackeral. We decanted this baby for about 2 hours. I can't beleive how soft this wine is. For a 96 to be this lush!!!. Its got the fruit of 96 but the palate texture of a 97 with no heat or overr ripeness. The aromatics are just incredible, Roses, lavender, rosemary, tar. Its all there in gobs. On the palate the wine is like licking a babys but. Soft and round.
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11/26/2006 - dream wrote: 95 Points
Very young still but the glories this wine holds for the future can be ascertained now with decanting and breathing for several hours. Full bodied, deep, rich, silky and loaded with dark cherry fruit. Intense and steel-like on the finish but the gorgeous flavors of classic Barolo (tar, rose petal, primeval forest) can be tasted in the ultra-long finish.
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