Nose is ruby/garnet red with slight slight browning at the rim. Very complex and deep nose: topsoil, meat and green vegetal hues that eventually give way to bakig spices, incense and a lovely pot pourri. The nose keeps expanding and throwing off more as time goes by... On the pallet, there seems to be more fruits, hints of cherry leather and spices. It's tannic and muscular and this is a wine that needs food. Drinking superbly now, this wine should hold and dare I say even improve further with more cellar time. Drink now-2033.
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This Magnum of Ornato was incredible. Beguiling and expressive nose. Vanilla, cedar, roses and cloves. Minerally, with a dense carpet of tannins and fresh lively fruit, long long long long finish. Incredible winemaking, could easily open in ten years
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Dark berries, licorice, earth and black olives in the bouquet. Same on the palate. Good acidity and round tannin. Beautiful wine with a great length and in fact much more youthful than expected. This wine will definitely still be a feast in 2025 or even a few years later. Unfortunately this was my last bottle.
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Mixed reviews for me. Definitely better after a few days in the fridge. Definitely lots of high acidity tannins. Extremely robust and a great floral aroma. Dark leather + black olives describes it well. Am not sure if it will improve further, but heck its Barolo and another ten years might just do the trick.
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Medium tawny colour. A pronounced nose of vanilla, leather, black olives and white pepper. On the palate is dry, high acidly tannins with a full body and a long finish. Flavours of dill, fennel and tobacco are added to the nose. Very GOOD. A pleasure to drink now.
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3 hour decant. Lovely ripe dark cherry, light cedar, spice and earth. Medium finish, medium bodied. Oak is still present, but not obtrusive. Soft, round tannins. Nice, and does not require food.
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This is in a nice spot right now, but understand this has years ahead of it. Wonderful mix of red fruit (soft cherry), earth/mushroom, mineral, and spice. Great from end to end. Paired very nicely with a beef bourguignon dish.
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Lots of tar and sour red berry fruit with licorice and grippe coarse tannin. An explosion of sweet candied cherry and sour cranberry fruit aftertaste. Seamless until the massive wall of tannin hits you. Fresh and vibrant with lots of vigor. Great for 03, holding up well.
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Good wine friends; random wines (@ JK): Much darker in color than you expect from a Nebbiolo. Concentrated bouquet with dark berry fruits, earth, licorice, autumn forest, some tobacco and good oak. On the palate a somewhat sweet start with ripe dark forest fruits, some red fruits as well, herbs and spices, good acidity, drying tannin and a firm amount of bitterness. Day 2 the wine had gained quite much. More in balance. Still beautifully concentrated and the dark fruits dominated, beautiful sweet spices and lovely oak. More friendly tannin. I should keep my last bottle until well into the 2020’s. Not before 2022. I scored the wine 92+ on day one, but day 2 it was definitely 93+.
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Colour:ruby red, darker than expected Nose:leathery notes, a bit of sweetness Taste:good mouth coating tannins still somewhat firm at the end. Red cherries,violets. Very long finish,good structure. Could hold for 5+ years more
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Occasional tasting group (@ My place Bordeaux 2002 plus some other nice wines.): Bouquet with licorice, leather, dark fruits and earth. On the palate a concentrated wine with (salty) licorice and dark fruits. Quite broad and powerful in the mouth. Soft tannin and also elegance. Still youthful. Have two more bottles and I am looking forward to them. Next try in 2015 or 2016.
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In a perfect drinking window with earth and a sweet cherry in balance and lasting throughout the evening;at the same time a tart berry was initially present that gave the wine a complexity and length reminding me of the 1983 vintage;could have been the wine of the year,but the holiday letter has already been sent; glad the world did not end today
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a very nice, well balanced and very smooth Barolo, a little light on the nose but I wish I had bought more. i suspect I drank this bottle close to the top.
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Pio Cesare Tasting - Old Vintages (Mike Raav at Burgata): Superb. Complex on the nose – flowers and good fruit.. Excellent balance, medium bodied with very well integrated acidity and soft tannins. It should improve in the following years.
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The 2003 Pio Cesare Ornato was hard to understand. I kept hoping the nose would improve with time, but upon tasting this wine, I had to wonder if it was simply flawed. The nose showed bread crust and a rusty note, with cherry fruit lurking beneath it all. On the palate, I found sweet cherry, yet the acidity in this wine burned, literally, into the finish.
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Dinner at home with friends. Wow, it's an amazing Barolo! Deep and vibrant ruby color. On the nose, loads of dark fruits, licorice, smoke, cedar and oak. Medium to full bodied on the palate, with round and sweet tannins and flavors of cedar, scorched earth, caramel, tabacco leaves, cherries, creme de cassis and pepper. Fine and sweet aftertaste. Very balanced wine ready to drink now, with a porcini risotto.
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Delicious wine! Very subtle nose of cherry, vanilla and oak. Even with the relatively high alcohol content and the hot vintage this bottle had it all together. Definitely ready to drink, but I'm sure can still improve over the next few years. A real pleasure and a bit of a surprise.
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A delicious wine, one that beat out the 2005 Canon la Gaffeliere. Powerful and rich and loaded with dark fruits, dark chocolate, and earth. LB and I were not expecting much from this wine, especially in light of the very hot vintage, but it blew the two of us away. 94-95 points.
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12/13/2023 - bugdoced Likes this wine: 90 Points
not as good as some other offerings at pixca
no complaints either
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10/23/2023 - FabesMTL wrote: 95 Points
Nose is ruby/garnet red with slight slight browning at the rim. Very complex and deep nose: topsoil, meat and green vegetal hues that eventually give way to bakig spices, incense and a lovely pot pourri. The nose keeps expanding and throwing off more as time goes by...
On the pallet, there seems to be more fruits, hints of cherry leather and spices. It's tannic and muscular and this is a wine that needs food. Drinking superbly now, this wine should hold and dare I say even improve further with more cellar time. Drink now-2033.
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3/11/2023 - JDubyaMtl Likes this wine: 94 Points
This Magnum of Ornato was incredible. Beguiling and expressive nose. Vanilla, cedar, roses and cloves. Minerally, with a dense carpet of tannins and fresh lively fruit, long long long long finish. Incredible winemaking, could easily open in ten years
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12/24/2022 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Dark berries, licorice, earth and black olives in the bouquet. Same on the palate. Good acidity and round tannin. Beautiful wine with a great length and in fact much more youthful than expected. This wine will definitely still be a feast in 2025 or even a few years later. Unfortunately this was my last bottle.
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12/8/2019 - Nerdy Earth Boy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Mixed reviews for me. Definitely better after a few days in the fridge. Definitely lots of high acidity tannins. Extremely robust and a great floral aroma. Dark leather + black olives describes it well. Am not sure if it will improve further, but heck its Barolo and another ten years might just do the trick.
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6/21/2019 - Holadi wrote: 95 Points
Medium tawny colour. A pronounced nose of vanilla, leather, black olives and white pepper. On the palate is dry, high acidly tannins with a full body and a long finish. Flavours of dill, fennel and tobacco are added to the nose. Very GOOD. A pleasure to drink now.
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6/8/2019 - GaryGrande Likes this wine: 89 Points
Better day 2 after opening up!
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6/3/2019 - Sievvy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep ruby color, Earthy, tobacco tones. Feeling of glycerine, acetone.
Nice long finish. Still a little young for me. Try again in 2/3 years.
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12/25/2018 - JCGuthrie wrote:
Really good, albeit a bit young. Hints of balsamic. Decanted 2 hours, plus another couple hours in bottle.
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8/27/2018 - Gunakadeit Likes this wine: 92 Points
3 hour decant. Lovely ripe dark cherry, light cedar, spice and earth. Medium finish, medium bodied. Oak is still present, but not obtrusive. Soft, round tannins. Nice, and does not require food.
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10/18/2016 - isdblm@lsu.edu Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking quite nicely right now, with a few years to go. Smooth w typical nebbiolo flavors, with cedar prominent.
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10/9/2016 - bigredPA Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is in a nice spot right now, but understand this has years ahead of it. Wonderful mix of red fruit (soft cherry), earth/mushroom, mineral, and spice. Great from end to end. Paired very nicely with a beef bourguignon dish.
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9/29/2016 - Yagil wrote: 93 Points
Piemonte (mainly Barolo tasting) (at Adina's): P&P
dark opaque red-brown
fine elegant fruity-earthy nose with truffles notes, floral & acetone hints
rich fruity flavours, excellent structure and complexity, firm tannins, earthy-truflles, tobacco, leather, smoked-prociutto, excellent finish and aftertaste
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12/18/2015 - Poisey Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lots of tar and sour red berry fruit with licorice and grippe coarse tannin. An explosion of sweet candied cherry and sour cranberry fruit aftertaste. Seamless until the massive wall of tannin hits you. Fresh and vibrant with lots of vigor. Great for 03, holding up well.
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8/27/2015 - Zweder wrote: 93 Points
Good wine friends; random wines (@ JK): Much darker in color than you expect from a Nebbiolo. Concentrated bouquet with dark berry fruits, earth, licorice, autumn forest, some tobacco and good oak. On the palate a somewhat sweet start with ripe dark forest fruits, some red fruits as well, herbs and spices, good acidity, drying tannin and a firm amount of bitterness. Day 2 the wine had gained quite much. More in balance. Still beautifully concentrated and the dark fruits dominated, beautiful sweet spices and lovely oak. More friendly tannin. I should keep my last bottle until well into the 2020’s. Not before 2022. I scored the wine 92+ on day one, but day 2 it was definitely 93+.
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1/25/2015 - sachsen Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted 3 hours before being rebottled, then consumed from 1-4 hours later. SMOKING good wine!!!
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1/12/2014 - Tag01 wrote: 94 Points
Colour:ruby red, darker than expected
Nose:leathery notes, a bit of sweetness
Taste:good mouth coating tannins still somewhat firm at the end. Red cherries,violets. Very long finish,good structure. Could hold for 5+ years more
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12/24/2013 - Pinotphile123 wrote: 90 Points
Light style, earthy forest characters. Maybe at peak.
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12/15/2013 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
Occasional tasting group (@ My place Bordeaux 2002 plus some other nice wines.): Bouquet with licorice, leather, dark fruits and earth. On the palate a concentrated wine with (salty) licorice and dark fruits. Quite broad and powerful in the mouth. Soft tannin and also elegance. Still youthful. Have two more bottles and I am looking forward to them. Next try in 2015 or 2016.
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2/16/2013 - sachsen wrote: 94 Points
Just sublime after 2-2.5 hours in the decanter, and kept improving through night. Hold another 3-5 years or give loooong decant to see show properly.
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12/21/2012 - bugdoced Likes this wine: 96 Points
In a perfect drinking window with earth and a sweet cherry in balance and lasting throughout the evening;at the same time a tart berry was initially present that gave the wine a complexity and length reminding me of the 1983 vintage;could have been the wine of the year,but the holiday letter has already been sent; glad the world did not end today
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9/29/2012 - hermann Likes this wine: 90 Points
a very nice, well balanced and very smooth Barolo, a little light on the nose but I wish I had bought more. i suspect I drank this bottle close to the top.
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9/18/2012 - King JR wrote: 93 Points
Very very smooth! Really nice bottle. Ready to go, finally!! Beautiful nose, lots of light read fruit.
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7/17/2012 - bugdoced wrote: 92 Points
still quite tight so this is a hold for a year or two in our world;great potential for lovers of ornato
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3/15/2012 - madia wrote: 93 Points
Pio Cesare Tasting - Old Vintages (Mike Raav at Burgata): Superb. Complex on the nose – flowers and good fruit.. Excellent balance, medium bodied with very well integrated acidity and soft tannins. It should improve in the following years.
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11/19/2011 - bugdoced wrote: 94 Points
For me an ethereal bottle ;earth more than fruit, but balanced in a way that I like and appreciate; always a wonderful experience with or without food
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11/1/2011 - Eric Guido wrote: 83 Points
The 2003 Pio Cesare Ornato was hard to understand. I kept hoping the nose would improve with time, but upon tasting this wine, I had to wonder if it was simply flawed. The nose showed bread crust and a rusty note, with cherry fruit lurking beneath it all. On the palate, I found sweet cherry, yet the acidity in this wine burned, literally, into the finish.
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7/8/2011 - balassis wrote: 94 Points
Dinner at home with friends.
Wow, it's an amazing Barolo!
Deep and vibrant ruby color.
On the nose, loads of dark fruits, licorice, smoke, cedar and oak.
Medium to full bodied on the palate, with round and sweet tannins and flavors of cedar, scorched earth, caramel, tabacco leaves, cherries, creme de cassis and pepper.
Fine and sweet aftertaste.
Very balanced wine ready to drink now, with a porcini risotto.
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5/7/2011 - ews3 wrote: 92 Points
2011 Philadelphia Wine Festival (Marriott, Philadelphia PA): more tannin and acid than the 04. a touch hot. may become the better wine if stars align.
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1/28/2011 - King JR wrote: 94 Points
Delicious wine! Very subtle nose of cherry, vanilla and oak. Even with the relatively high alcohol content and the hot vintage this bottle had it all together. Definitely ready to drink, but I'm sure can still improve over the next few years. A real pleasure and a bit of a surprise.
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6/19/2010 - Pinotphile123 wrote: 80 Points
Disappointing, very little friut
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5/3/2008 - Paul Lin wrote: 94 Points
A delicious wine, one that beat out the 2005 Canon la Gaffeliere. Powerful and rich and loaded with dark fruits, dark chocolate, and earth. LB and I were not expecting much from this wine, especially in light of the very hot vintage, but it blew the two of us away. 94-95 points.
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