WTN: Nebbiolo night in Midtown East

Ian and Maureen were in town from London, and a nice group (friends old and new) gathered at Piccolo Fiore near the UN. Nice small room, seemed a little warm at first, ended up ok.

2010 Savart L'Annee Extra Brut Champagne
A little hard to take at first, the combination of low dosage and young made it too austere for me, but with some air this was quite good. B+/B

On the Nebbiolos

1964 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Pretty pale color. Perfumed, still good cherry fruit, tar and violets. Lovely and long. At end of night nose was still gorgeous but with a little volatility, palate not quite as long but still holding on. A-

1971 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Nice, but a bit clunkier, less precise, possibly vintage difference but I think the sediment hurt this a bit. B/B+

1986 Giacosa “Santo Stefano” Barbaresco
I had double decanted this (and the ‘64) that afternoon, though funky but not corked, but by dinner time it was reeking of TCA

1995 Sandrone “Cannubi Boschis: Barolo
Not a splintery Sandrone, but the wood and extraction give a somewhat generic character. Red fruit and a little tar, but also coffee, vanilly oak, blueberry. B-

1997 Giacosa Barbaresco
This was simultaneously one of my favorite tipples of the night and an example how crazy the hype over ‘97 Piedmont was. Nice fruit, some tar and dried roses, but fully mature and maybe even beginning downslope. Fun to drink now, but drink up. B++ for drinking today

2000 Manzone “Gramolere” Barolo
Darker fruits, citrus zest, anise. Tannic but a little flat, and fruit has a pruney edge, not sure it’s going to last long enough to conquer the tannins. B-

2000 Aldo Conterno “Cicala “ Barolo
Tasty, ready, more approachable tannins than the Manzone, drinking well now. B+

2001 Spinetta “Campe” Barolo
Low acidity on palate, plenty of volatile acidity on nose. Somewhat roasted red fruit, some spice. B-/C+

2001 Cappellano”Pie Rupestris” Barolo
Young but quite drinkable, fuller styled, red berries, cherries, and spice. Lovely and should get better. A-/B+

2001 Giacosa “Rabaja” Barbaresco Riserva
There’s a wall of acid and tannin here, but you can see this has tons of potential, Black and red cherry, earth, tar, herbs. B+/B for drinking now, A/A- potential

Nice lineup. Justin had brought along a bottle of Scholtz Hermanos Malaga. Unknown age but there’s a stamp or something where it was sold 60 years ago, he thinks the solera might date back to 19th century. Thick, brown, this is like a PX on steroids mixed with fig paste. Very interesting, fun to try.

Nice night, nice group


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.

[David M. Bueker]

Delicious!

Thanks for the notes Dale and good to see you after four years! I was expecting to see your notes at 8am the next day! Anyway here are my notes. My scores are more relative than absolute..

******+***

Dinner last night at what used to be Fabio Piccole Fiore and is now just Piccole Fiore, because Fabio left to set up Fabios. Very sadly Fabio died of pancreatic cancer in January. Tiziano was very emotional about losing his friend before he even turned 50.

Last night there were seven of us: Ramon who organised the event, Alex, Dale, Jean-Christophe, Justin, MEK and yours truly.

Starter:

Champagne L'Annee extra brut 2010

Painfully young, but good potential

Flight one:

Produttori del Barbaresco 1964

A pure translucent hue reflected the fastidious attention to detail of the owner Dale standing this up for two plus weeks, and an ethereal wine to die for, gently perfumed, feminine and elegant. 95

Produttori del Barbaresco 1971

More volatile bovril celery salt notes on the nose, this had hints of Indian spices and a marvellous honeyed texture. It started to fall away after 90 minutes. 92

Flight two:

Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano 1986

Sadly corked.

Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis 1995

After the two older wines this wine tasted blocky, clunky, gloopy, awkward and a bit one dimensional and anodyne. Not a bad wine but a modern inexpressive one. Just to show how the square peg of modern techniques does not always fit into the round hole of the Nebbiolo grape. It is not clear where this is headed. 88

Giacosa Barbaresco 1997

Faded blood-orange, a bit cloudy, oxidative note, salty/celery salt one associates with old barolos, and a bit of dustiness could lead to the false impression that this has had it, but it is a svelte wine underneath with a silky texture and herby and spicey notes and a fine finish. 93

Flight three:

Manzone Barolo Gramolere 2000

Another wine that tasted a bit anodyne and curmudgeonly at the same time as residual tannins dominated its modest fruit. Pleasant enough with food but underwhelming. 87

Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala 2000

A delicious and gorgeous, complex, nicely resolved wine. Lush and fully mature, recognisable barolo traits. 94

Flight four:

La Spinetta Barolo Versu Vigneto Campe 2001

This was ostensibly a voluptuous exuberant wine, but it soon became apparent that this was somewhat unbalanced, with overripe fruit and low acidity. 87

Cappellano Barolo Pie Rupestris 2001

Still dense and brooding, concentrated and powerful, this is a really great wine in the making, which came on very strong at the end as it opened majestically even slightly outshining its illustrious Giacosa Riserva flight mate. 96

Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja Riserva 2001

Elegant and refined, fine acidity, silky, pure and classy, with bright red fruits, mineral notes and the finesse and gravitas of a great Grand Cru red burgundy. 95

Dessert: Malaga Dessert - could be over 100 years old

Cross between a Pedro Ximenez and a Madiera this had the texture of motor oil and the appearance of crude oil. A fascinating wine.

Great to see you Ian, it had been too long.
Our tastes were pretty aligned, if different by small degrees.
Usually with Bordeaux we have at least one good disagreement!

Indeed Dale! Hopefully will be back next fall, and if you ever come to London you can stay here.

I think you would have enjoyed our super seconds dinner on Saturday despite the noisy bustling environs. I think you would have also enjoyed the Haut-Bailly vertical we did here last night.