Ben and Wendy hosted our group for an “Mature Piedmont and White Truffle” dinner in their lovely Greenwich Village loft last night. They did all the cooking, David procured the truffles, Diane and Suzanne were great as shavers/servers.
We sat down to prosciutto, speck, and pear, with a pair of bubblies
2009 Pierre Peters "Les Chetillons" Champagne
Apparently released before the ‘08. Young but quite friendly, maybe a tad fuller than I expected, noticeable dosage, but bright citrus and mineral notes. I quite enjoy, even if not one for the ages. B+/A-
2002 Bollinger Grande Annee
Full, toasty, nice just not the style I gravitate towards, others liked more. B
Then a perfect sous vide egg with truffles
1956 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo
Darker than expected, still some fruit, perfectly present. Someone said that Jamie W. suggested this might not be 100% Nebbiolo. Whatever they did worked, first drinkable ‘56 (from anywhere) I’ve seen. B-
1964 G. Borgogno Barolo Riserva (original)
Very light color, very floral, a little caramel over red fruit, clear winner of flight to me, B+
1964 Ricardo Ceretto Barolo Riserva
A little volatile and a lot musty at first, but seemed more dank that TCA, but with time it’s clearly corked.
Tajarin ( tagliatelle) with truffles. Ben used 28 egg yolks for one kilo of 00 flour!
1967 Burlotto Barolo
Fully mature, maybe a little past fully mature, but a lovely dowager - elegant, floral, tarry, fine. B+/A-
1967 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco
I didn’t like this at first, sour with tacky tannin remaining, but improves a lot with air, ends up being a pretty nice Barolo. B/B+
1967 Prunotto “ Pora”\ Barbaresco Riserva
Freshest, darkest, fuller plummy fruit, nice length. B+/A-
1970 Barale Barolo
Very dark for older Nebbiolo.Black fruits, a little tobacco, good length I like but not what I expected. B/B+
1970 Ricardo Ceretto Barolo
Sweet fruit, roses, a little tar, moderate finish (I think I liked more than others) B/B+
1970 Produttori del Barbaresco “Pora” Barbaresco Riserva
Corked
There was a great rib roast, with green beans
1971 Firoina Barberesco Reserva
Full, rich lots of gusto here. B+/A-,
1971 Produttori del Barbaresco “ Rabaja” Barbaresco Riserva
Weird showing, this had a chemically edge to it (though I think someone said maple syrup as well)
C
1971 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
A little thin compared to others, but sweet cherry fruit and some autumn leaves, only slightly tired. B
1974 Giovanni Accomasso Barolo
New producer for me, but candidate of my WOTN. Nice red fruit, tar, rose petals, long finish. B+/A-
1985 G. Mascarello “Monprivato” Barolo
Quite ripe (some found roasted, I thought just on verge), rounder and more mature than I’ve expected, maybe not pristine but I didn’t think flawed. B+
1985 Barale “Castellero “ Barolo Riserva
Full;lush but balanced, some tar and smoke. B+/A-
1985 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Served nicely cool, fresh acids, herby. B+
For those that ate dessert homemade vanilla ice cream with truffles
Two dessert wines
2001 Ch. Guiraud Sauternes
Fleshy but with that 2001 acidity to support, orange marmalade and some apricot, firm and long. A-/B+
1993 Monsanto Vin Santo (from 2 375s)
This was weird and chemical to me, like Monsanto meets Dow meets Duport. Syrup, caramel, and a little bug spray with some oxidative notes to boot. Not for me. C-
Lots of very good wines, though I was surprised there wasn’t one or two that made it into wow territory for me. Still, lots of lovely wines, and superb food. Thanks to David for sourcing the truffles in a tough year- these were better than reports, though nose outpaced palate by a bit. Great company, fun night.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
