Young BaBa 2014-2019 theme dinner at Duomo. Tasted blind. Drank in Conterno Sensory. Appearance is clear, pale intensity, ruby colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aroms of classic red cherries, elegant red plums, licorice, puff of chalky minerality and earth. Developing. On the palate, dry, lovely high acidity, high alcohol (14.5%), fine grippy high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sour red cherries, darker red cherries, red plums, red licorice, spices, nice toast oak layer with a bit of vanillin. Long finish. Very good quality. Young but approachable. Definitely only upside as it integrates more over the next 5+ years.
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La Festa del Barolo Masterclass (The Pool, NYC): Beautifully balanced wine, with dark red berry fruit, sweet spices, dark red floral tones, hint of balsamic. This one also has something wild about it that's hard to describe. On the palate, medium plus in body with fantastic inner sweetness, with dark fruit and exotic floral and spice notes. Concentrated, but beautifully finessed. This should be great with age, and there's nothing obviously modern about it.
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Cooler fruited and perfumed. Rose and violet, red fruited with lovely clarity. I really like Rob's exotic and concentrated description of it. It's powerful, yet graceful and pretty with some savory herbal notes that add to the floral and fruit perfume. Firm fine and a little bitter tannic back end. I do like the turn in the producers style of late. 93
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Vinous 2019 Barolo Masterclass (The Pool Restaurant, NYC): [A blend of grapes from Baudana (Serralunga d'Alba), Villero (Castiglione Falletto), Vignane (Barolo), Merli (Novello), and Le Coste di Monforte. The last one is new in 2019.] Gorgeous nose of red and black fruit. Smooth and rich on a long finish. Tannins just peeking out here on the finish. Lovely.
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2019 Barolo Masterclass at La Festa del Barolo (The Pool, New York): Medium to lighter ruby. Very perfumed wintergreen. Medium weight, earthy feel, and to me, lower acidity than most of the other wines. Again, dominated by soil and substantial, austere tannins. A bit of tart cherry appeared with vigorous swirling, but mostly I was left scratching my head and asking myself “Where’s the fruit??”. When a gent several chairs down said after the tasting that “Sandrone killed it”, I found it hard to believe that the pours came from the same bottle (they did). Maybe he’s right and the real issue is that I have a very poor excuse for a palate.
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A little disappointed by this wine. The nose and taste is very tight and closed, and it's hard for me to dissect and distinguish the different layers of complexity. That being said I can clearly sense "something" big underneath "the hood" and hopefully this wine will open up over the next decade or so. Maybe it needs time and maybe I need experience to "see through" the youthness of this wine. But for now it's a pass and the price taken into consideration this wine (at the moment) does not deliver.
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The tannin quality is much, much better than the 2017 version of this wine; rather refined and finely grained in comparison. Dark red fruit on the palate with a hint of herbs and mineral complexity. My one issue is that the wine feels a little soft and plush for my taste; I typically like Nebbiolo to be a little more tense, hard, and austere texturally, especially young.
I spoke to Barbara Sandrone and she confirmed that maceration times for the Le Vigne and Aleste (Cannubi Boschis) were relatively short at 12 days, which may be why the wine felt a little soft. On the other hand, they use 500 liter tonneaux for elevage (there may be some new oak in the mix, I'm not sure), which may explain why I didn't pick up any strong oakiness on the wine.
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3/15/2024 - Derek Darth Taster Likes this wine: 94 Points
Young BaBa 2014-2019 theme dinner at Duomo. Tasted blind. Drank in Conterno Sensory.
Appearance is clear, pale intensity, ruby colour. Legs.
Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aroms of classic red cherries, elegant red plums, licorice, puff of chalky minerality and earth. Developing.
On the palate, dry, lovely high acidity, high alcohol (14.5%), fine grippy high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sour red cherries, darker red cherries, red plums, red licorice, spices, nice toast oak layer with a bit of vanillin. Long finish.
Very good quality. Young but approachable. Definitely only upside as it integrates more over the next 5+ years.
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2/4/2024 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 94 Points
La Festa del Barolo Masterclass (The Pool, NYC): Beautifully balanced wine, with dark red berry fruit, sweet spices, dark red floral tones, hint of balsamic. This one also has something wild about it that's hard to describe. On the palate, medium plus in body with fantastic inner sweetness, with dark fruit and exotic floral and spice notes. Concentrated, but beautifully finessed. This should be great with age, and there's nothing obviously modern about it.
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2/3/2024 - cct wrote: 93 Points
Festa dal Barolo 2019 Masterclass (The Pool, Manhattan): Festa dal Barolo Masterclass
Cooler fruited and perfumed. Rose and violet, red fruited with lovely clarity. I really like Rob's exotic and concentrated description of it. It's powerful, yet graceful and pretty with some savory herbal notes that add to the floral and fruit perfume. Firm fine and a little bitter tannic back end. I do like the turn in the producers style of late. 93
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2/3/2024 - kenv Likes this wine: 95 Points
Vinous 2019 Barolo Masterclass (The Pool Restaurant, NYC): [A blend of grapes from Baudana (Serralunga d'Alba), Villero (Castiglione Falletto), Vignane (Barolo), Merli (Novello), and Le Coste di Monforte. The last one is new in 2019.]
Gorgeous nose of red and black fruit. Smooth and rich on a long finish. Tannins just peeking out here on the finish. Lovely.
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2/3/2024 - drwine2001 wrote:
2019 Barolo Masterclass at La Festa del Barolo (The Pool, New York): Medium to lighter ruby. Very perfumed wintergreen. Medium weight, earthy feel, and to me, lower acidity than most of the other wines. Again, dominated by soil and substantial, austere tannins. A bit of tart cherry appeared with vigorous swirling, but mostly I was left scratching my head and asking myself “Where’s the fruit??”. When a gent several chairs down said after the tasting that “Sandrone killed it”, I found it hard to believe that the pours came from the same bottle (they did). Maybe he’s right and the real issue is that I have a very poor excuse for a palate.
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11/24/2023 - jtsejersen@gmail.com Likes this wine: 90 Points
A little disappointed by this wine. The nose and taste is very tight and closed, and it's hard for me to dissect and distinguish the different layers of complexity. That being said I can clearly sense "something" big underneath "the hood" and hopefully this wine will open up over the next decade or so. Maybe it needs time and maybe I need experience to "see through" the youthness of this wine. But for now it's a pass and the price taken into consideration this wine (at the moment) does not deliver.
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9/12/2023 - ylkim30 wrote:
The tannin quality is much, much better than the 2017 version of this wine; rather refined and finely grained in comparison. Dark red fruit on the palate with a hint of herbs and mineral complexity. My one issue is that the wine feels a little soft and plush for my taste; I typically like Nebbiolo to be a little more tense, hard, and austere texturally, especially young.
I spoke to Barbara Sandrone and she confirmed that maceration times for the Le Vigne and Aleste (Cannubi Boschis) were relatively short at 12 days, which may be why the wine felt a little soft. On the other hand, they use 500 liter tonneaux for elevage (there may be some new oak in the mix, I'm not sure), which may explain why I didn't pick up any strong oakiness on the wine.
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9/7/2023 - Lenbo wrote:
Left on Jeff’s boat
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