2000 Barolos, etc

Saturday afternoon I was in Scarsdale, and stopped by Zachys for some sale 2000 Bordeaux. While there, took advantage of a tasting of Neil Empson’s Piedmont portfolio. I actually was in a hurry, and tasted/spit pretty fast. Between that and the difficulties of tasting barrel samples of big wines, read with even more skepticism than normal.

2002 Einaudi “Vigna Tec” Dolcetto di Dogliani (16.99) Dark fruit, moderate tannins, clean tasting. B

2001 Monti Barbera d’Alba (31.44) I’ve never heard of this producer, but a nice smooth (though nicely acidic) and spicy modern Barbera. B/B+ But $32?

2002 Conterno Fantino “Vignota” Barbera d’Alba (21.24) Earthy, but muted fruit.B/B-

2001 Bongiovanni “Faletto” Rosso del Langhe (31.44) Oaksoup, a blend of nebbiolo and barbera. C+

2001 Conterno Fantino Monpra (42.49) Also oaky, but at least there’s some offsetting acidity and fruit. B/B-

2001 Ca Rome Barbaresco (46.75) Nice lighter Barbaresco, clean and elegant. B+

2001 Ca Rome “Maria di Brun” Barbaresco (55.25) Bigger, more apparent oak, but good fruit and long finish. B+

2000 Marcarini “Brunate” Barolo (46.75) Very good, ripe fruit, tobacco, and lots of tannins. B+/A-

2000 Marcarini “La Serra” Barolo (46.75) Surprisingly, this seems bigger than the Brunate (not what I expect). Big tannic wine, needs lots of time, but great fruit, violets, and tar underneath, seems very good. A-

2000 Einaudi Barolo Nice balanced medium-bodied Barolo. B/B+

2000 Einaudi “Cannubi” Barolo More oaky/modern,.spicy, big. B+ 2000 Bongiovanni Pernanno Barolo (59.50) Modern at least as far as oak, but still has very hard tannins. B?

2000 Rome “Rapet” Barolo Definitely modern, but really quite nice with ripe red fruit and flowery nose. B+/A-

2000 Conterno Fantino “Sori Ginestra” Barolo Closed, big. Not showing much.

2000 Monti “Bussia” Barolo (93.50) Dense and monolithic. Modern but will probably age well. B+

2003 Marcarini Moscato d’Asti (10.19) Sweet and easy, just the thing to wash away the tannin buildup. B

The La Serra was the one I was tempted by. In general I've been able to get Marcarinis for less than $40. Will that happen with these? Between WS hype and exchange rate, maybe not. But I hold off and just get the Bdx I came for.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

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Dale Williams
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Last year I was invited to an exclusive wine tasting where 8 aged barolos were sampled. I believe the oldest was from the late 60's and the youngest was 1984. As I said before, I dont know much about wines of the world but the oldest wines were just about undrinkable. They were extremely oxidized and smelled like acidic acid. The color must have dropped from them years ago. While the company I was with was raving about how exciting and flavorful they were I kept my mouth shut and was thinking to myself 'if a winery outside of the Piedmont region and didnt have a reputation they would have to dump this stuff down the drain'. The younger wines were fairly good big reds. I recently drank a '97 barolo (not sure of the winery) but, to my tastes, it was better than any of the aged wines.

Reply to
Vincent Vega

Last Friday I had the pleasure of tasting a 1958 Spanna Villana which shocked everyone at the table with it's mature blend of succulent fruit and cedar and tobacco nuances. This was not an old tired wine at all. A pleasure to drink with Gino Angelini's wonderful lasagne and skate salad. The 93 Orenallia and 85 Mascarello wasn't too bad either :-))...

Reply to
FITZ

: Saturday afternoon I was in Scarsdale, and stopped by Zachys for some sale 2000 : Bordeaux. While there, took advantage of a tasting of Neil Empson’s Piedmont : portfolio. I actually was in a hurry, and tasted/spit pretty fast. Between that : and the difficulties of tasting barrel samples of big wines, read with even : more skepticism than normal.

Thanks Dale! I was going to ask if you were going to this and to post notes if you did.

Mark S

Reply to
<mjsverei

Hi Dale,

Beginning March I was in the Alba region and I had the pleasure to meet up with Manuel Marchetti of Marcarini. I tasted his Barolo La Serra and Brunate of the 2000 vintage aswell. The Brunate was more closed than the La Serra. I usually experience this with his Barolo's. I had exactly the same sensation with the 1998 and 1999 vintage. The Brunate is somewhat difficult to handle, but therefor more interesting. The La Serra is more aproachable, masses of fruit and a long finish!

I also tasted the Barolo 2000 at Bartolo Mascarello. To my opinion; this is a big wine! The best Barolo from this winery since 1995

Next to that I was invited by Chiara Boschis at her home, and I she gave me some of her Canubbi 2000. Very modern Barolo. Normally I stick to traditional Barolo's, but this Barolo is really outstanding. Maybe Chiara's charme did the trick ;-) but I will defintately look for this wine for putting into my cellar.

Ciao, Gio

Reply to
Gio

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