WTN: white truffle dinner with 11 Barolos

Monday was our annual white truffle and Nebbiolo dinner at Ben and Wendy?s. 9 members of our Bordeaux grew were joined by a Piedmont fanatic from a bit upstate. We started with a comparison of 5 potato chips from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm , each from a different potato variety

2007 Raveneau Montmains Chablis 1er Bright, young, flinty and fresh. B+/A-

2010 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee Champagne Quite good, chalky, orange peel and apple, apple turnover from oven. Good acidity, long., A-

We went to table where menu was Soft-scrambled eggs w/ white truffles Tajarin w/ butter and white truffles Braised beef shanks (including marrow) with polenta and green beans Homemade vanilla ice cream w/ white truffles

Flight 1

1989 Aldo Conterno Bussia Soprano Barolo Fresh ripe berry fruit, a little tar and some ferric notes, tea leaves. Lovely and ready. A- . 1989 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo A couple of us felt there was a little spritz/prickliness, even though it had been decanted for many hours. But it didn?t detract for me, though this was still a bit in a shell, you could feel and taste the great wine underneath. Red fruit, Christmas tree, firm tannins, tangy acids. A-

1999 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Very young, smoke and anise, needs time. B+/B for now, could be as great as the ?89.

Flight 2

1989 G. Mascarello Monprivato Barolo Quite firmly wrapped in structure, but deep. B+ tonight

1999 G. Mascarello Monprivato Barolo This took a while to open up in glass, but I liked, perfumed with herbs and smoke. B+/A-

1999 Vietti Rocche Barolo I didn?t love this (to be fair, it was carried to tasting and only decanted then), seems a little disjointed, acid and tannin distract, some mocha and vanilla over quiet fruit, B-

Flight 3

1989 B Giacosa Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba Barolo Riserva A legend living up to rep. Black cherries, smoke, tar, floral notes, balanced and long. Sweet. A- 1999 B. Giacosa Le Rocche di Falletto Barolo Not a Riserva but stunning. Rich fruit, anise, coffee, tar, so long. Squeaks into first place in strong competition. A-/A

1999 G. Conterno Cascina Francia Barolo A great wine that is a bit overshadowed by the Giacosas. On its own would be a wow wine- beautiful fruit, balance, with structure for age. B+/A-

Flight 4

1999 Sandrone Cannubi Boschis Barolo Sweet fruit but not overripe, macerated cherry with some exotic sandalwood. B+

2009 Voerzio Cerequio Barolo Accidental wine- he thought he had grabbed and opened the 1999. Mocha and kirsch, really not at moment what I want. B-

But once Bill looked at cork and realized he brought up and opened wrong wine, he decided to bring a 1990 Ch. d?Yquem. Sweet (in both senses)!! Dark color but excellent bottle- vanilla, apricot, honeycomb. A-/B+ Great night. Ben and Wendy were fantastic hosts, lovely truffles, all the food was outstanding, company and wines as well.

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.

Reply to
DaleW
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Dale, Of the many TN you've posted here, few have inspired as much envy in me as this one. I'm late to the game, but have a new-found love for the aromatics of mature Nebbiolo. Add to that the allure of white truffle and I'm over the moon. Thanks for sharing these notes: vicarious is as close as I'm ever likely to get to a Giacosa Riserva, so I'm happy to get this sniff.

Cheers! Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

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