2016 Giacosa Fratelli Barbaresco Basarin Vigna Gianmaté

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 90.9 points

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  10/24/2023 - Fractalage wrote:

  Left 2/3 of the open bottle to slow-ox on my counter for three full days.
  
  6oz pour direct from bottle revealed to my nose creme brulee, smoke, black smoldering volcanic earth with burnt vanilla.
  
  On the palate it had excellent texture with quality written all over it. It was on par with most of the top tier Bordeaux and Napa. That disjunct vanilla and charr had very well evened out, but was still there, but it didn't bother me as much. I still argue that it did nothing for making this wine better, but distracted enormously, yet I'm sure this will be very appealing to the Parker Palates that proliferate the population.
  
  After about 10 minutes the nose closed up. This is typical good Nebbiolo. These things stay tight in the open bottle for many days, then when decanted, at least this is my experience, they close down for a bit, then open back up. When they open back up depends on the wine.
  
  After another 30 minutes there was very faint nose of earth, tart and charr.
  Palate was soft with dusty Nebbiolo tannins that built to a crunch and held stars of a lengthy finish. Quality indeed. On the finish the oak was obviously there but did not bother me so much now. I would like to know of the cooperage.
  
  With each swig the depth of the crunchy tannins built and left a good thick coating on my mouth that held burnt tart with traces of vanilla Madeleines.
  
  Again, if you like this sort of wine, with the oak and all, then this is a good one.
  At this stage, compared to all of the Napa and Bordeaux I've tasted, I would have to say that price for price at $60 is about $100 underpriced. Yep, when you go to Napa you'll get lots of new oak of quality wine such as this for over $100. Skip Napa. Go here. This is better than the majority of Napa, which is in my back yard, and though my notes here don't reflect it, I've tasted all of the big boys and most of the obscure from the 16 AVA. (I prefer Calistoga.)
  
  1 hour after decant the nose came roaring back with copious vanilla, again turning me off to the wine. Diving in, swimming through the vanilla I looked around to see cherry, volcano, embers, some bourbon notes.
  
  Palate held dusts like from grandmother's attic, some astringent medicinal qualities like rubbing alcohol, (I swirled it too much!) it was flatter, and was fading fast.
  
  My recommendation for this wine at this stage is to open the bottle pour out 1 glass, let the bottle slow-ox for 3 days, decant and drink after 30 minutes trying not to oxidize too much.

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  10/21/2023 - Fractalage Does not like this wine:

  Had 4 of these left out of 5, purchased at auction from K&L a few years back.
  
  Initial pour of about 8oz into Riedel Burgundy hand blown crystal revealed, to my dismay, vanilla, which I HATE in wine of any kind. I hate this new oak so much that I curse the idiot that decided to take excellent Nebbiolo and taint it with new oak tannins.
  
  Their website is so proud of their soils that they explain some important characteristics:
  https://www.giacosa.it/en/vineyards/vigna-gianmate/
  Yet, then they douse all of that history and terroir with new oak? Insane!
  
  So on with the review.
  
  I keep going back to the pour with my nose, yet to have tasted it, to smell some meats, earths and that blasted oak.
  As the air started to penetrate the juice it turned a touch nail-polish-ish.
  Then I took a swig:
  Tight, tannic, not ready, young, dark, astringent, black like the barrels had a good deal of charr. The poor fruit, I'm thinking, that it had to be submitted to this torture of sorts from barrels with a good deal of burnt sides for years. Jeez. This winemaker will suffer. Makes me sad. All my mind and questioning keeps coming back to the same question, "Why?".
  
  WHY!?
  
  Nebbiolo is sacred. Nebbiolo is given for health benefits.
  
  I can't even drink this anymore.
  Can I cook with it?
  at $60 a bottle, I'm torn.
  I don't even think a wine novice would like this.
  I've got $10 bottles that put this to shame.
  
  My bad for buying this at auction.
  My total bad for not researching properly.
  
  Do you like vanilla in your Nebbiolo?
  Then this is the wine for you.
  
  If you are indeed a vanilla lover, then just carry a nice bottle of extract with you everywhere you go and add it to all of your beverages. It might actually be cheaper than paying for crap such as this.
  
  As I keep going back to tasting this, I'm just disgusted and appalled at how the charr and vanilla taint the grapes. Can't get through that junk.
  
  3 more bottles left.
  What should I do?
  Ethically I should just pour down the drain. Right?
  Or I can put up for auction, and let the vanilla lover have at it.
  
  The winery is even proud of the vanilla in their wine. Look at their own tasting notes:
  https://www.giacosa.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/giacosa-barbaresco-basarin-v-gianmate-eng.pdf
  
  Caveat emptor!
  
  What's bizarre to me is that on their site they make no mention of the wine makers. No mention of the people involved in the wine making. Why?
  Is this a corporate endeavor?
  Up to 600K bottles a year now, might make this so.
  Every other website for quality wine touts the winemaker. This one doesn't.
  Message to winery: Your new oak shames the grape. Your new oak on this sacred Nebbiolo and fantastic terroir only destroys what it could be.
  My honest suggestion is to repent and go back to old school with large Botti. We consumers are getting wiser. We consumers are demanding authenticity to terroir. And you know what? You are offending the Gods of Wine. In my experience Bacchus would spit this out. Dionysus would send a curse. Enke would choke! Thus, my sincere recommendation would be to repent. Let the grapes speak. Use only neutral vessels in contact with the juices.
  
  As my nose keeps going back to my glass, I'm appalled.
  Disgusted.
  Saddened.
  2016 was such a good year.
  The terroir is so amazing.
  Such a shame!

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  7/16/2023 - rjm_va Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Excellent

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  8/17/2022 - dthompson Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Spectacular. With artisanal sausage at our summer house in Canada. Decanted 1 hour. What a surprise. Very full bodied with delightful aroma and typical nebbiolo flavor. An outstanding wine. I actually prefer barbaresco to barolo when they are this good. Wow.

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  3/18/2022 - pccasey Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Very enjoyable.

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