Flight 1 (king salmon and mustard greens)
1971 Ceretto "Montefico" Barbaresco
You could tell this was healthy by the pure maroon translucent colour, and the nose and palate were even better; a nuanced wine with floral notes, cherry, tar and earth, a smooth mid palate and a lingering finish. Brilliant mature barbaresco *****
1971 Pio Cesare Barolo
Completely shot, replaced by…
1978 Pio Cesare Barolo Riserva
This was a bigger wine with a darker colour and had a delicatessen nose of cured meats and bacon and slight pruniness. It opened up well and was a solid wine with burly tannins, but not particularly elegant. Still, most enjoyable. ****
1974 Produttori del Barbaresco "Moccagatta" Barbaresco
The lack of any discernible nose on pouring suggested this might be flawed, but it settled down and began to open with hints of barnyard, tobacco and brett. Food absolutely transformed this wine which was otherwise tough to drink on its own. *** on its own **** with food.
Flight 2 (great duck breast, with farro, black radishes, cherry sauce)
1990 Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia Soprana
Much younger colour, cherry with dollops of somewhat confected fruit, round and delicious – divided opinions between those who thought it needed more time and those who thought it had crested. I thought it was a delicious wine for quaffing but not profound; the 1996 is much better. ****
1979 Cappellano Barolo
Nice pure orangey colour and exciting nose of herbs, earth and citrus zest. On the palate it was lean but not thin, serious and structured, fine poise and equilibrium, long languid finish. A wine from the master. *****
1982 Ceretto "Bricco Rocche Brunate" Barolo
This had a cloudy brown colour but wasn’t flawed. Very extrovert nose and a lot going on with gamey/live animal nuances, it opened and improved. Excellent mature Barolo. *****
Flight 3 (Venison with coriander, with butternut squash puree, Brussels sprouts, and "huckleberry port jus")
1998 Giacosa Falletto Barbaresco
Low key sensuous and sexual, silky and diaphanous, this is slowly cranking up and will be a beauty in ten years. Wine of the flight. ***(**)
1998 Giacosa Barbaresco (normale)
Good ingredients but marred by Brett, which became increasingly hard to ignore and blighted the drinking experience. **(*)
1999 Giacosa "Santo Stefano" Barbaresco
This had quite a lot of VA which didn’t really blow off. Underneath is a profound wine – an iron fist in a velvet glove, which still won’t be ready to drink in 2020. **(***)
Flight 4 (short ribs with polenta and spinach)
1999 Bussia Soprana Barolo
The name of the grower was nowhere to be found – no mention of Conterno anywhere and the label was very different. Quite young and oaky, but will turn into a nice wine when it grows up. ***(*)
1996 Giuseppe Mascarello "Bricco" Barolo
This is a brooding wine showing very little right now, but will probably has a lot of potential. **(***?)
1997 Sandrone "Cannubi" Barolo
An overtly modern style; tasted blind it would be impossible to tell which country, which hemisphere, which grape; I would have guessed it is Ornellaia. Ostensibly very different from any other wine last night; ripe, slutty and low in acidity; silky and seamless; easy and fun to drink but not particularly cerebral. Not in the same league as the 1996. ***
As usual we voted for our top three wines, three points for our favourite, two for the second and one for our third. This was the result:
Ceretto Montefico 16
Cappellano 10
Giacosa Rabaja 4
Ceretto Bricco Rocche 3
Giacosa Santo Stefano 2
I think this voting was an accurate reflection of the relative merits of the wines. I could think of worse ways to sopend a Monday night, thanks to Jacques Levy and Dale Williams in particular, who's write up I used as a template for my notes.
This had a cloudy brown colour but wasn’t flawed. Very extrovert nose and a lot going on with gamey/live animal nuances, it opened and improved. Excellent mature Barolo. *****
Flight 3 (Venison with coriander, with butternut squash puree, Brussels sprouts, and "huckleberry port jus")
1998 Giacosa Falletto Barbaresco
Low key sensuous and sexual, silky and diaphanous, this is slowly cranking up and will be a beauty in ten years. Wine of the flight. ***(**)
1998 Giacosa Barbaresco (normale)
Good ingredients but marred by Brett, which became increasingly hard to ignore and blighted the drinking experience. **(*)
1999 Giacosa "Santo Stefano" Barbaresco
This had quite a lot of VA which didn’t really blow off. Underneath is a profound wine – an iron fist in a velvet glove, which still won’t be ready to drink in 2020. **(***)
Flight 4 (short ribs with polenta and spinach)
1999 Bussia Soprana Barolo
The name of the grower was nowhere to be found – no mention of Conterno anywhere and the label was very different. Quite young and oaky, but will turn into a nice wine when it grows up. ***(*)
1996 Giuseppe Mascarello "Bricco" Barolo
This is a brooding wine showing very little right now, but will probably has a lot of potential. **(***?)
1997 Sandrone "Cannubi" Barolo
An overtly modern style; tasted blind it would be impossible to tell which country, which hemisphere, which grape; I would have guessed it is Ornellaia. Ostensibly very different from any other wine last night; ripe, slutty and low in acidity; silky and seamless; easy and fun to drink but not particularly cerebral. Not in the same league as the 1996. ***
As usual we voted for our top three wines, three points for our favourite, two for the second and one for our third. This was the result:
Ceretto Montefico 16
Cappellano 10
Giacosa Rabaja 4
Ceretto Bricco Rocche 3
Giacosa Santo Stefano 2
I think this voting was an accurate reflection of the relative merits of the wines. I could think of worse ways to sopend a Monday night, thanks to Jacques Levy and Dale Williams in particular, who's write up I used as a template for my notes.
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