The great nebbiolo is responsible for some of the greatest and most long lived wines in Italy.
Instead of restricting the tasting to Barolo/Barbaresco/Langhe we choosed to allow other wines than from Piemonte such as the ones coming from Valtellina (Lombardia) where nebbiolo is known as Chiavennasca (cooler place and wines are usually lighter with even more acidity).
Interestingly, no wines from the eastern part of Piemonte were present in the tasting. Here, known as spanna, nebbiolo is usally blended with some bonarda and/or vespolina. Of course, the most famous DOCs over here are Ghemme, Bramaterra and Gattinara (DOCG)
Tricky to work with, nebbiolo in Piemonte is always the first grape to bud and the last to ripen. Even though it is in Piemonte, its native home, that, at least in my opinion, it achieves its true greatness, nebbiolo still represents less than 5% of the region total production. It says a lot of about the efforts to limit the terroirs and places where nebbiolo is allowed to be grown. Talking about terroir, the grape has shown its best on calcareous marls, which with no surprise, is found in the Barolo and Barbaresco delimitations.
Because no evenings should start without a good Champagne, a Billecart Rose was due and fully did his job. Elegant, lively, med body, red berries with a touch of orange. Hint of nuttiness, great acidity, the wine is dancing. Beautiful rose.
Then, before the nebbiolo serie, 2 wines were tasted double blind.
Wine #1: very aromatic, showing some nice honey, fresh butter, quince notes along a touch of cedar. Also some oxidation notes. My guess was a 2002 Savennieres....well nice try but it was a 1996 Lopez de Heredia, Gravonia (110% Viura).
Wine #2: Tight, very tight with bright dark fruits with hint of cherry and garrigue notes. Even time in the decanter did not open it up. Did not have to guess the wine since it was mine: 2006 Tempier Bandol. A little too supple and less advanced at the same stage than his 2005 little brother.
Now on to the show!
Flight 1
2008 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo
Quite plummy with some ripe strawberry and a touch of raspberry.
Very fruit forward, some heat with med tannins.
Not bad but pretty boring.
Never would have guessed nebbiolo.
2006 Rainoldi Valtellina Rosso di Valtellina
Very strange nose, almost yeasty (good call Gabor!). Very soft and velvety, prunes and red fruits with a bitter finish.
Taste somewhat manipulated.
I really did not like this wine.
2004 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis
Classic nose with coffee, leather, cherry and hint of vanilla. Nice fruit with also some blackberry pie notes. Huge tannic structure.
Powerful with a little heat on the finish. Good acidity.
Nice and definitely built to age.
Flight 2
2001 Stefano Farina Barolo
Very ripe nose showing some alcohol. Minty, cherry, leather.
Tannins are fairly agressive and this wine does not show any structure.
Also quite some heat on the finish. Lacks coherence.
2000 Giuseppe Contratto Barolo Tenuta Secolo Cerequio
Darker than most of the other wines from the tasting.
Oaky nose (which somewhat improves with air), polished and extracted but balanced.
Shows nice fruit behind the oak.
Still, for me, the oak is too much. Maybe in 10 years...
2005 De Forville Barbaresco
Nice earthy and smoky notes. Nice red fruits, touch of vanilla with high acidity.
Again cherry and strawberry on the palate, light with tannins which are a little dry.
An interesting and good wine.
Flight 3
1995 Sottimano Barbaresco Pajore Vigna Lunetta
Very very weird...the infamous Club Barolo (thanks to a cocaine like nose).
Vegetal, geraniums,eggplant with huge tannins.
Could not drink it. Flavors were to off putting.
Off bottle?
2005 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Ripe and sweet, red/blue fruits. Maybe a touch of VA. Not much going on, really forward.
I was shocked when it was revealed. Now I know this is youg but it lacks (at least this bottle did) structure to go the long way and is made in an early, accesible, ripe, supple style. This is not bad but...
Overall a pretty weak tasting. Poor showing for the majority of wines.
Also, it looks like a lot of producers try to round out the fierce tannins and high acidity of the grape, The results are wines with none or little sense of place.
During this tasting, a lot of times I told myself that, double blind, I would have not guessed nebbiolo. A sign of the times (or maybe I just suck at blind tasting!!!)?
Well we were not ready to stop here so a 1998 Quintarelli Amarone was opened. Boy ! What a great nose. Complex, powerful, aromatic but at the same time it was showing an ultimate elegance. Floral notes along licorice, raisins, dark/blue fruits. Also showing some ultra ripe strawberry. Everything blends perfectly.On the palate, this is pure velvet. 16.5%?? Well no way you can tell as this is insanely balanced. Finish lasts over a minute. A beautiful wine to enjoy on its own...or with some great cigars.
Talking about cigars, late into the night, an amazing Padrón 80 years anniversary and a very good Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 were a perfect match with the Quintarelli.
i was overall disappointed by the tasting. i expected more expression out of these wines then they were giving that night. I will say that i thought for the best wine for dining was the 2005 the deforville (one of my favorite producers) barbaresco was very good as a food pair.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit i was most dissapointed by the sweet fruit on the 2005 produttori. I expected more from this traditional co-op. I have half a case of the 2001's in my cellar and in general believe that they are good barbaresco but not great. i would rather drink the Deforvilles, especially their single cru Vigneto Loreto, which sells for around $40.
The Rainoldi Valtellina was the worst Valtellina i have ever had. The fruit was just a mass of blobness.
I actually thought that at least 3-4 of the wines were exciting and positively textbook. They were not mind blowing (except the Contratto) but good in regards to aroma, palate and overall balance. I think Barolos and Barbarescos are a classic example of "vin du garde", you won't get much out of them unless they have a couple of years under their belt. Just like with the Burgundy GC's and PC's you are not doing justice to these wines by opening them prematurely.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to say that all "vin du garde" :Bordeaux, Bandol, big CDP, Brunello, etc... are shy or completely different when young. You definitely get a lot more out of the above listed wines when opened before they are ready to drink. Again, this is just my take on the tasting. At the end of the day, everyone's taste is different and wine taste is highly subjective.
Here are my notes on the wines:
2008 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo
Cherry, herbs and light licorice on the nose.
Quite assertive tannins on the palate but then again this was the first nebbiolo of the night.
2006 Rainoldi Valtellina Rosso di Valtellina
Very odd yeasty nose with slight bread notes. The palate starts of with an all too soft attack and barely detectable cherry notes. Some tobacco on the finish with even less fruit.
2004 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis
Sweet dark cherry, tobacco and slight flower notes. The palate is dominated by the mouth puckering tannins (which I am not surprised about) and some cherry and bitter chocolate flavors on the finish. Even though this wine wasn't enjoyable at first (this changed after 2 hours), I still believe that it has incredible potential and behaves exactly as real Barolo should at this age.
2001 Stefano Farina Barolo
Lot of vanilla extract on the nose followed by some strawberry jam and rose notes. Smooth palate with monolithic cherry flavors. If nothing else, Farina is a good value.
2000 Giuseppe Contratto Barolo Tenuta Secolo Cerequio
Very perfumy nose with strong lavender as well as wild strawberry. Soft palate and good length with strawberry and dark cherry flavors. Probably the nicest if not the most typical Barolo of the night.
2005 De Forville Barbaresco
Believe it or not but the nose of this wine reminded me of nosing an iodine smelling single malt scotch while sitting in a thermal bath reeking of sulfur. My brain was still so dazed about the nose that I didn't have enough braincells left to form an opinion on the palate... or maybe I was just too lazy.