WTN: cheap Barolo from unknown producer

Recently I've had good showings on old Barolos from "second tier" producers. But what about Barolo from a good-but-not-great vintage from a 3rd (or 4th) tier producer?

Yesterday I had a couple errands in the city, when to Chambers St to pick up a mixed case I had waiting, and to briefly say hello to Oswaldo who was in town overnight (and who very generously gave me a bottle of Scholium Project!). While I parked by hydrant, CSW staff threw my wine in van, and I had a sec to chat with Oswaldo. He was looking in the sale bin, and said "hey, they've got 1982 Barolo in here for $25." Hey, great store, good looking bottle, who's going to let a little detail like not knowing the producer stop me? So I bought a bottle (even got the case discount), and I think Oswaldo bought another.

I stopped by house about noon and left wines on counter. Normally I believe in 24 hours upright if possible, but when it came time for dinner (duck breast in a red wine/demiglace sauce over salad) I gave Betsy the choice of older Barolo or younger Burg, she said Barolo, and I opened the 1982 Tenuta Montanello (Monchiero) Barolo. Good cork, clean label (probably recent),. Yeah, a bit murky, more time to rest after travel would have been wise. A bit of brown/orange to the color, but nice Nebbiolo nose of cherries, violets and tar, with some citrus zest. On the palate however it seemed a bit tired, meager red fruit with the acids sticking out a bit. However, never count out Nebbiolo. Hey, second pour has more vigor and fruit, and third is a slight improvement over that. A small glass about 10 (I think opened around

7) is best of all- there's nothing profound or complex here, but a solid mature midweight with cherries, roses, a bit of forest floor and tar. Still an edge of tiredness, but fun, and well worth my $22.50 plus tax. There's a good glass plus left, we'll see if it survived the night. B

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. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Reply to
DaleW
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You'd better open that bottle of Scholium before deciding whether Oswaldo was doing you any favors or not ;-)

Nice story, Dale! There are quite a few people I know who feel that Jamie at CSW is one of the true experts on Italian wines in NYC, so I'd never bet against his judgment. While Astor or PJ might have greater variety of Italians, CSW's selection is, in my limited experience, uniformly high quality.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Nice when that happens. Let us know your impressions of the Scholium. I haven't had one yet that I've enjoyed but they are interesting.

Reply to
Bi!!

The whites that I've had were oxidized and skunky, the reds dirty and funky.....

Reply to
Bi!!

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