WTN: Dinner with Oliver

Invited Oliver over for dinner on Friday night (needless to say, I would not even fear the Dannans if they brought along a bottle of Giacosa). Prepared Acquacotta, Malfatti and vanilla ice cream. Yum!
Typed these notes while listening to Hérold-Lanchbery’s “La Fille Mal Gardée” from 1962 late at night, and our own Ernest Ansermet’s 1961 recording of De Falla’s “Three Cornered Hat”, finishing the remainder of the port. My kind of nightcap.

Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili 2000
Thanks to Oliver. Medium raspberry-ruby-black. Fresher, racier, drier and more austere, and less low-acid than the Rocche from the same vintage (my favourite 2000 so far – but then, the euphoria surrounding the vintage has always been a mystery to me). Strong juicy green licorice stick. Marzipan with a touch of charcoal, but not per se an oaky wine. Blood and blonde orange, raspberry, Burgundian rose-hip-tinged, ethereal Amarena and black cherry. Soft finesse note of walnut. Faint pebbly minerality. Closing down in the decanter at first, then again rounder and milder after a couple of hours. Quite well-structured for the vintage, but I do not agree with Giacosa that this may be his best Asili yet (granted, it is more Burgundian and light on its feet than the 1996 – but then, that has been one of my favourite Piedmont Nebbiolo vintages ever right from the start). The Asili may be ageworthier and possibly the more serious wine in this vintage, but it is the Rocche’s terroir expression that I like better, so it is really a toss-up in a vintage whose characteristics would not tempt me to buy much to keep beyond the mid-term anyhow. Rating: 93+/94(+?)

Taylor's Vintage Port 1994
From half bottle. Had not tasted this in one and a half years, but should have known better: the most shut down showing ever. Plummy ruby-black, almost opaque, almost to the rim. Thick and quite glyceric and viscous, rich violety dark-chocolatey plum. Full body, very long on the finish. Oliver, who had never had it before, finds it supremely balanced and harmonious, but too closed down to judge fairly at this stage. I continue to find it 1970-like, and if it lacks the classic austerity of vintages like e.g. 1963, I will out myself and admit that I do not care how long a wine keeps as long as it has a wide drinking window during which it smells and tastes near-perfect. Opens up most impressive sweetness and yet more length on the finish with airing. This should find back to its form (and virtual perfection) in time. 24 hours later: Albino is right, one should decant this and the 1994 Fonseca a day in advance if one insists on sampling a bottle. More fresh green licorice stick, plum juice density and sweetness, more oily-viscous as well as complex, richer and longer on the finish, more powerfully tannic. More like the 1994 Taylor I know and love. Really a bit deceptive at this stage. Rating: 97+

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

Taylor's Vintage Port 1994
From half bottle. Had not tasted this in one and a half years, but should have known better: the most shut down showing ever.

I had this a couple of weeks ago with identical results, my friend. I probably never told you about that, did I?

Was this the first one you took from your personal stash? (Knowing that you have your personal Port Maecenas )

Greetings / Fredrik L

Taylor's Vintage Port 1994
From half bottle. Had not tasted this in one and a half years, but should have known better: the most shut down showing ever.

I had this a couple of weeks ago with identical results, my friend. I probably never told you about that, did I?

Was this the first one you took from your personal stash? (Knowing that you have your personal Port Maecenas )

Greetings / Fredrik L

As a matter of fact, it may have been. It's cool to have friends who'll open at least a bottle each of the 1994 Fonseca and Taylor every year since release, I'll admit that.

I tend to be very (too?) patient with my own wines, even though I did offer Oliver to open a half bottle of the Fonseca along with the Taylor. Seeing the state the latter is in right now, he refused!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili 2000. Rating: 93+/94(+?)

Great notes, David, thanks.
I like great Giacosa's although I clearly prefer great burgundies in the same price range to it. (e.g. Roty)
Actually I have two issues with Giacosa:
- excessive prices of recent vintages (from 2000 on)
- recent style changes made Giacosa wines more similar to other Piedmont wines, hence less unique and .. dispensable.
What is your opinion on that?
Cheers,
Dieter

Great notes, David, thanks.

Thanks for the encouragement!

I like great Giacosa's although I clearly prefer great burgundies in the same price range to it. (e.g. Roty)

I love Roty's wines, but to us, they're an allocation problem of the first order: one has to buy a ridiculous amount of lesser wines in order to get a bottle or two of the Charmes-Chambertin TVV or the Mazis-Chambertin, and even buying a bottle of Fontenys without buying half a case of generic Burgundy is out of the question. And then, as you say, the prices are no less elevated at all. Giacosa Riserva is limited but less of a problem (usually a six-pack per customer, sometimes allocations are handled more severely than that, sometimes less).

Actually I have two issues with Giacosa:
- excessive prices of recent vintages (from 2000 on)
- recent style changes made Giacosa wines more similar to other Piedmont wines, hence less unique and .. dispensable.
What is your opinion on that?

1. Excessive per se or in relation to other truly great wines elsewhere? I'm also miffed I cannot afford certain wines anymore, but compared to any Bordeaux 1er Cru (none of which I find by definition "better" than Giacosa Riserva) or wines I really care about, such as Chave Hermitage... Or, for that matter, the other top handful greatest Piedmont bottlings, Monfortino in particular, followed by Gaja's and Roberto Voerzio single vineyard crus - it was kind of obvious Giacosa would "catch up" (his wines were the least expensive in this quartet until recently - or would you say justifiably so?).

2. I love the classic, old, tough Giacosas, but then, I grew up with and have always loved austere classics from the Piedmont and elsewhere. Fact is, Giacosas wines have become more Burgundian in style, not less. One would think that should appeal to you judging from your initial statement, no? The wines from his different vineyards or parcels (albeit not all of them the same he owned back then) have not become more uniform; most importantly, they appear to age along more individual lines, according to and expressing their differences in terroir. I wish those "similar" other Piedmontese wines existed - I'd be glad to buy them, especially if as good as and at a lower price than Giacosa's.

Having said that, I won't say I prefer the new over the old style - it appears, however, from what Bruno says himself, that the old couldn't be made anymore today because the grape material he gets is simply too different.
In other words, it's a) true Giacosa's wines drink well at an earlier stage and that in some vintages in modern era (that is, other than 1996 - assuming we agree the "modern era" for Giacosa started roughly with or after the 1993 vintage, the "classic" era no doubt ended sometime after the 1990 vintage); and b) global warming has given us vintages like 1997 and 2000 (vintages that tend to level out differences of - if not cook out and mask any notion of - terroir), which some wine critics have hyped out of all proportion, and that I can only hope do not form the (only) basis of your criticism. As much of a fan as I may be, I bought no Giacosa in either of those two vintages. His wines, as you've implied, have become too expensive not choose with care (some of his 2001s are worth looking at, whereas I have friends who could kick themselves on a daily basis for having missed buying some of his 1996 Riservas).

Let's see what the 2004s are like (although I'm already afraid I may not be able to afford them, let alone in quantity). Oliver's certainly told me good things about those.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

I love Roty's wines, but to us, they're an allocation problem of the first order: one has to buy a ridiculous amount of lesser wines ..

I'm pleased to read that you like Roty wines, too.
I only buy Roty's "lesser wines" (as you call it), I wouldn't underestimate these in great vintages ('02, '05), they offer good pleasure and value and are .. available!

..but compared to any Bordeaux 1er Cru ..

Bordeaux' prices are no measure to my wine buying strategy. I would pay max. USD 100 for a Giacosa being of the calibre as you've described it.

..Giacosas wines have become more Burgundian in style ..

You're perfectly right in saying Giacosa's wines have become more Burgundian in style. But that's absolutely not what I'm looking for in a wine from Piedmont. I buy Piedmont wines for being Piedmontese in style.

I only buy Roty's "lesser wines" (as you call it), I wouldn't underestimate these in great vintages ('02, '05), they offer good pleasure and value and are .. available!

Obviously I like those "lesser" bottlings from a quality/price ratio perspective, the problem is that in terms of terroir, the Pressoniers or Marsannay (which are the ones we can of have to buy in quantity in order to get Fontenys, Charmes and Mazis in particular), as well-made as they may be, aren't nearly as captivating. Thus one ends up buying the PCs and GCs one can get along with those "lesser" bottlings, and the total amounts to, well, a shocking amount of money per yearly allocation...

Bordeaux' prices are no measure to my wine buying strategy.

No one's I guess. The point was/is, Giacosa to me smells and tastes as good as any fine wine on the planet, so it's understandable they've become a collectible in their own right, as sad as that may be.

I would pay max. USD 100 for a Giacosa being of the calibre as you've described it.

The 2000 Asili Riserva in particular (a wine I'd be glad to drink again, but not too said if I won't) or any modern Giacosa Riserva? Let me put it this way: if you meant to say you'd be unwilling to pay more than a hundred dollars for a 1996 Falletto Riserva, too, I'll have to assume you'd be unwilling to pay so much for any bottle of Piedmontese Nebbiolo (or, for that matter, any bottle of wine).

You're perfectly right in saying Giacosa's wines have become more Burgundian in style. But that's absolutely not what I'm looking for in a wine from Piedmont. I buy Piedmont wines for being Piedmontese in style.

It seems highly debatable to me what makes a Nebbiolo-based wine more or less "Piedmontese" if the winemaking process is tailored so the variety is allowed to express itself: to treat Nebbiolo like Pinot Noir (I come from a Burgundy-drinking background or family, thus have always thought of Nebbiolo as the Piedmontese equivalent to Pinot Noir - that shows, among other, in the fact that I use the same type of stem for either), i.e. bring out its finesse and subtlety (and terroir!) by cutting down on maceration time etc., is that wrong just because finesseful, subtly fruity Nebbiolo used to traditionally be the exception? I mean, who are we to decide that only stern, austere Nebbiolo (the kind that my friend Albino says "inevitably dries out with bottle age until there's nothing but tannin left") is stylistically "right" and all other "wrong"? If we were discussing a winemaking practice here that inherently masks Nebbiolo's characteristics/expression (such as over-oaking it), I'd agree with you. Since we're discussing a winemaking practice that is on the one hand a necessity given the climate change (Giacosa insists today's grape material cannot be macerated/fermented for as long anymore), and that on the other hand is meant to bring out other, possibly more characteristics, I can't - that seems to me entirely a matter of stylistic preference, and as I explained earlier, I don't really have one: I like a variety of styles provided they're not getting into a grape variety's and/or terroir expression's way.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti