Still saving old TNs typed on my mobile phone.
28 April 2014
Makes me wonder what happened to Robert, don’t remember having seen him since? Maybe he’s got absolute pitch, guess that would explain everything…
Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 1989
Thanks to René. Slightly more evolved than a recent bottle (off a restaurant wine list!). Red-fruity, soft truffle and meaty herbs. Lightly gingery. Medium tannin, density, length. Nicely round, if not too soft with airing. dp 94-/93(-?)
Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo 1986
Thanks to Oli. Medium-transparent ruby-black. Not too mild this time, black tea tannin without the subtlety of the best, firm and not overly dry fruit, medium weight. Best bottle yet. dp 93-/92(-?)
Gaja Barolo Sperss 1989
Thanks to Röbi. Tarrier as usual with Gaja vintages from the late eighties/early nineties. Jammier black cherry. Longer, more powerful. Grainier tannin, but easily as flavorful as that of the 1986 SSL. A touch alcoholic in context. Minerally. Blood-orangier. Ultimately more simplistic than later vintages (the 1990 here was already a noticeable step up), but increasingly complex and gingery-fresh with airing. Tiny dark chocolate. dp 92-
Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate 1997
Mine. Glossy garnet-ruby colour, deeper, blacker. Hugely concentrated, forceful, asphalt note to sweet but still hard tannin. Very concentrated and sweet fruit, most youthful by far. Big brute of a Nebbiolo. Not elegant, but expressive. Faint touch of green to the absolutely lovely, expressive tannin. Lovely, very we'll-integrated French oak (surprising how well it fits the wine, as Oliver already noted last time I opened a bottle). Great intensity, complexity, spice. Most pristine bottle tonight. Evolving incredibly well in the glass. WOTN if only because the Sperss was a slightly forward/evolved bottle, i.e. not 100% representative of what it should be. dp 95(+)
Gaja Langhe Sperss 1997
Thanks to Christian. A fractionally more evolved (storage, no doubt) and „elegant“ (less primary and weighty) bottle than some. Greatest depth, expression, complexity, minerality and length of all the wines tonight. Touch of charcoal to medium-grained, Assam black tea flavored tannin. As Albino and others have observed so often, very possibly the greatest Gaja vintage ever. dp 96+/97(+?)
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2009
Thanks to Christian, a wine ordered from the wine list. Glossy ruby-black. Very sweet and oaky with marzipan, nutmeg and cinnamon. Reasonably complex and meaty, rather plump if not overripe fruit, warm, rather fat. Prefer the 2006, in contrast to Christian. Oli and I find the 2009 a bit heavy-handed, lacking in focus and differentiation. But still one of the better Sassicaias in recent memory. dp 91(+/-?)
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