2004 Massolino Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda

Community Tasting Notes (46) Avg Score: 93.1 points

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  3/20/2024 - wineamateur Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Barolo 2004 with the Jeroboam Club (Little Shop and Pantry, Bristol): Deep dark ruby, youthful with only limited bricking. Sweet cassis leaps from the glass, then menthol, tomato and beetroot, and a hint of truffle. Very umami. Complex. On the palate it's intense, serious, austere, structured. There's real grip and energy. Very long. A terrific showing tonight, in a perfect place, though perhaps missing some of the 'generosity' of a couple of the other wines we tasted.

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  2/22/2024 - rSyver wrote: 93 Points

  Quite playful from the start, but needs both a bit of time and the correct temperature to show well. From the start this is a bit like diving into rose hips as the dominating scent, a quite correct Barolo so to speak. Get the feeling this is a tad more mature than my previous bottle a year ago, however stands out as quite young. Great balance, good fruit, fine tannins. Saved some for day two, I think the wine lost some fruit and as a result the balance was not as good and the tannins stood more out. Good length.
  
  Overall drinking quite well now, but based on the pace of development and the current state I'll probably not revisit for 2-3 years.

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  10/4/2023 - ricard Likes this wine: 99 Points

  Barely looks old. Some orange tones around the rim. The nose is profound, hypnotic, the quintessence of Barolo, and a textbook example of what ageing does to a great wine. Leather, mace, carob, cocoa, cassia bark, but exceptional sweet fruit (plums, dates, figs) and also attar of roses. It has reached its apogee of harmony. The tannins have softened to pure Persian silk, yet the vivid acidity remains the source of its energy and vibrant life. A triumph and the very idea - and reality - of pleasure in a glass. Transcendental.
  
  Side note: this is the first time I award 99 points to a wine. I've been using (reluctantly - I think it's a ridiculously bad system) the Parker system for over 20 years. I cannot bring myself to accept the reality of perfection, so I doubt I will every award 100 points to a wine. I've tasted near-perfection a few times (hence the 97s and 98s) but this one, even on reflection, remains at the pinnacle. It's not necessarily the wine I've *liked* the most. That is an entirely separate consideration, as I've long had to explain to people who conflate one's subjective experience with what is objectively the case, or people who deny that truth exists (and nonetheless persist in using a rating system). I hesitated on the day, and wondered to what extent I was influenced by the setting (the tasting room at Massolino, with Franco Massolino explaining each wine - surely the most privileged setting, but perhaps also the most intimidating...), but over a month on, I am still thinking about this wine every day.

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  8/18/2023 - AudunG wrote: 94 Points

  Dark and dense color for a Barolo. Aromas of fresh red berries and tar, but a bit muted at the moment. Firm and fruity, with a lot of and tannins on the palate. Very youthful, but promising, and shuold be stored further.

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  7/27/2023 - Michael T. Zoppo Likes this wine:

  This exceeded expectations, and tied for WOTN with the Rinaldi Le Coste. Stylistically similar to the Le Coste with just a bit less mid-palate concentration. Very classic, very elegant. My style of Barolo. Bravo!

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