WTN: Lots of Nebbiolo

Barolo Collina Rionda 93, B Giacosa
Lightest in color of the initial 3-bottle flight, slightly brown as well. Some mushrooms with the usual tarry undertones, obviously mature fruit to me. Slightly floral with some wet earth as well. Good acids with tannins that are starting to mature, good length with some leathery aftertones, fine balance and obviously (though surprisingly so) caught on top.

Barolo Brunate 89, R Voerzio
Medium deep color with hints of mahogany. Deep nose, very fruity. Very young to taste with pronounced aniseed/liquorice and some flowers, also raspberry and monumental tannins. Good concentration and outstanding length. Caught ten years too early but still amazing.
Barolo Brunate 90, Bricco Rocce
Dense color with some brown. Quite warm nose with tars and strawberries, delicate. But quite light in the mouth, lacks a little stuffing and consequently also lacking slightly in the finish. Some dried, pruney fruits on both nose and taste. Drinks as well as it ever will now I guess.
Barolo Bussia 89, A Conterno
Beautiful nose, sweet, red berries with some vanilla and minerals. Dense with good, red color, “bricky”. Monumental tannins, reminds me slightly of the taste of Bird Cherries (prunus padus) with some strawberries as well on the finish. Primary, tight and well structured with well integrated tannins. The big boys in Barolo from the 89 vintage obviously isn’t ready for prime time yet. Hope they will achieve a proper balance with additional time.

Barolo Faletto de Serralunga 88, Giacosa
Very light in color. Some liquorice and mushrooms on the nose, but also dried meat. Good balance and mature tannins but nothing to write home about.

Barolo Mentin Ginestra 85, Dom Clerico
Obviously caught on peak. Brigt red with only slight browning. Earthy, slightly tarry, still quite primary on the nose. Mature tannins, glorious fruit and fine balance, raspberry acidic with hints of liquorice/salty sweets on the finish. Ultrafine balance. Though some hints of butterscotch prevents this from being unconditionally superb.

Barbaresco 85, Contratto
Brownish and clear. Good tannins hear, but obviously slightly underfruited compared to the preceding Clerico. Also more liquoricey sweets here. Slightly square and rough tannins too, and I would have preferred more fruit on the finish. Contratto hasn’t quite hit the balance in this wine.

Barolo 85, Monchiero
Some mushrooms. Light colour and slightly brown. Some dried fruits and liquorice on the nose. Sweet spices. Very mature tannins that are well melted into the fruit of the wine, good length and seductive balance, slight liquorice on the finish as well. Very good (indeed).

Barbaresco Montefico 78, Produttori
Nice red color. Lots of primary fruit here, red berries, strawberries as well as raspberries. Notes of minerals and aniseed, really excellent acidity. Great fruit and very transparent. Cherries and fruit stones on the finish. Really excellent. I consistently find Montefico among Produttoris 2 or 3 greatest crus.

Barolo Marcenasco 78, Ratti
Slightly red, pure and transparent color. Really intense fruit on the nose, sweet and seductive. Excellent acids, fresh and long aftertaste. Slightly easier and less intense than the Montefico, but still very good wine.

Barolo 71, Fratelli Barale
Bad cork. Good color but slightly dusty nose, some wax on the nose, still some strawberries and fine acids, but probably a damaged bottle.

Barolo Monfortino 74, G Conterno
Intensely red. Also intense, strawberry dominated nose. Quite primary still, transparent fruit. Raspberries in the mouth, some truffles. Amazingly well balanced length with sour cherries and hints of acidic green apples on the finish. Terrific.

Barbaresco 67, Gaja
Light and translucent red. Raspberry, prunes and some rhubarb on the nose. Not much tannins left, but nicely acidic and fresh, slightly light on the taste and though good not to the level of the Montefico 78. But light and elegant with a really nice sweet and sour touch to the finish.

Barolo 64, Pio Cesare
Incredibly light, even for a Nebbiolo as old as this. Fudge and figs on the nose. Have tasted bottles of this with more fruit left than in this bottle. Still some sweet fruits to taste though. Slightly woody and alcoholic finish.

Barolo 64, Serafina
Bad cork. Dark and rich color though with good density. Dark mahogany. Pronounced coffee on the nose though. Acidic and fresh to taste, with wet forest floor aromas. Good length, some earthiness. Excellent fruit on the finish, with hints of dried, tropical fruits. Could have done with less coffee on the nose though.

Barolo 58, Fontanafredda
Light, brown color, though still darker than the Pio Cesare. Have had fruitier bottles of this though. Truffles on the nose, hints of figs, but also some dried meat, but not offputtingly so. Dries figs on the finish as well. Still decent fruit on the finish. And neither of the two 58 Fontanafreddas I’ve had could stand up to a glorious Fontanafredda 1943 I had in Piemonte in 2005.

You see this ? that's what envy looks like!

Seriously, sounds great fun and have recently acquired a bottle of 1956 Fontanafredda from Italy (along with a handful of slightly younger wines) so will crack it sometime over the next year. It was a toss-up between that and the 58 and I suspect I should have got both!

Lovely notes, Odd. Great to see a post from you. Don't be a stranger!

Thanks for the notes.

Monchiero: I have not tasted the '85, but have had three from the 70's. Two were very good, with the '74 a bit too tired.

I also like Montefico from Produttori, although perhaps the Montestefano better. I have had two bottles of'78 from Produttori, both were great wines with lots of life. But none was the Montefico.

I have had the '78 Marcenasco from Ratti once. It's 6-7 years ago now. It was fine. Ratti's Barolos are fresher and less tannic than the norm.

The '64 Barolo I guess is from Enrico Serafino. I have had this wine twice and still have 4 bottles remaining. Serafino was a large producer from outside Langhe. The wines mediocre, but the '64 Barolo is a strangely nice effort from them and my bottles keeps tasteing very young (from good provenance).

Don't be a stranger!

Would like not to be. I taste quite a lot of wine. But loads of work and activities, and the need to write a lot of notes bilingually, means that it's only he really big (and unusual) occasions that are subjected to this treatment. Also, I'm past the stage where I like to take tasting notes on social occasions.