1999 & 2001: Dueling Blind Barolo Vintages

This past Friday night, I joined a group of fellow Barolo junkies for an evening which turned out to be incredible. The idea was to put 2001 Barolo against 1999 (big thanks to Ken V. for the plan and the organizing). So what happens when you take a group of some serious veteran Barolo drinkers and build a lineup from their cellars? You end up with a tasting of epic proportions. And that’s what we had here. We all had some preconceptions about both vintages going into this, and I’m happy to say that a few of those notions were proved otherwise. Below is a tasting of the who’s who of traditional Barolo. Enjoy

Also, the full story with tons of pics is up on my blog at: The V.I.P. Table

Flight 1: This was a wonderful performance from the 2001 Bartolo, a wine that I have always been weary of. Inconsistency in this wine’s history, confirmed in the tasting notes of many other writers, leads me to believe an experience like the one below is in no way guaranteed. I couldn’t call out the producer in this flight, but I was sure I guessed the vintages right from their performances. Imagine my surprise to find the results were the exact opposite of my expectations.

2001 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo – The nose was classic, showing dusty cherry, cedar, crushed fall leaves moist earth and dried spice. On the palate, it was lean on entry with tart cherry and inner floral tones yet grew richer as it coated the senses with noble tannin. The finish was youthful with an acid, tannin tug across the palate, accentuated by lingering notes of dry red fruit, minerals and soil tones. Beautiful. (94 Points)

1999 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo – The nose was dark and inviting with black cherry, cranberry, hints of menthol and dusty, dark earth tones. Tart red berries clenched the palate in a tense, tightly wound expression of Nebbiolo, along with notes of cinnamon and inner floral tones. Tannin held the palate firm on the finish, with tart berry lingering long, yet drying out the senses. (92 points)

Flight 2: For me, the most striking thing about this flight was how completely different the 2001 Ca d’Morissio was from the straight 2001 Monprivato. However, they were both equally enjoyable, for completely different reasons.

2001 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Ca d’Morissio Riserva Monprivato – The 2001 Ca d’Morissio was a dark beast of a wine, with intense crushed raspberry, herbs, wood smoke, raw beef and soil laden minerals. On the palate, it was rich yet with a truly classic feel. Tart cherry and autumnal spices penetrated the senses, yet held firm, restrained—clenched. On the finish, lingering dark-red tart berry fruit and inner floral notes lasted long against its formidable structure. (94 points)

2001 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato – The nose was striking in its expression of bright, ripe red fruit, rosy floral tones, cinnamon and a lifting note of menthol. On the palate, it showed as a classic mid-weight Barolo, with soft yet focused red fruit and mineral tones. Tannin coated the senses throughout the finish, yet that red berry note continued to ring true. It would seem that there are many years of development ahead for this wine. (93 points)

1999 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato – The nose was beautiful, with dark, spiced cherry sauce, dusty minerals and a hint of VA. Yet on the palate, this wine took a downturn for me, as it was tight, ungiving and seeming almost diluted. The finish showed hints of red fruit yet remained unyielding. Maybe this was a bad bottle, yet others at the tasting seemed less bothered by its performance. (N/A)

Flight 3: The 1999 Brunate Le Coste was a game changer within this tasting and really made me stop and think. The taster next to me called this flight as G. Rinaldi only moments before I was about to come to the same conclusion. They were both unique and beautiful wines.

1999 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste – The nose was exotic and dark, inciting excitement over reaching deeper into the glass as ripe black cherry, cinnamon spice, sweet balsamic tones and a hint of mint created a gorgeous bouquet. On the palate, it was dark, ripe, intense, juicy—lovely. Showing dark red fruit, accentuated by exotic spice and dried floral notes with a classic tug of Nebbiolo tannin. The finish was long with dried fruits, yet youthful and restrained. There are many years of development ahead of this wine; I only wish I had some in the cellar. (95 points)

2001 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste – Spiced cherry, licorice and sweet rosey floral notes make up the bouquet of the 2001 Brunate Le Coste. On the palate, it is still tightly wound in its structure, yet showing intense tart black cherry fruit and savory herbs. The finish was tight as a drum, youthful yet satisfying as the fruit clung to the center-palate. (92 points)

Flight 4: I was very happy to be able to call this flight as Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia, although I did mistake the vintages. They were both beautiful, classic wines in need of considerable time in the cellar. I will say, that if you wanted to cellar one wine from this tasting, over the long term, the ’99 Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia would be my pick.

1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia – The nose was dark and enticing with an exotic twist and all the iron, mineral-laden Serralunga character you could ever hope for. A mix of ripe strawberry, brown sugar, orange peel, tea leafs, iron and rich dark soil tones formed the bouquet. On the palate, it was firm yet crystalline focused, showing dried red fruits, dark soil tones, and a hint of grapefruit. Tannin continued to build throughout the finish nearly masking its tightly coiled fruit and permeating notes of dried florals and fall leaves. It was an unbelievably beautiful wine. (96 points)

2001 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia – Even darker and richer than the ’99, the nose on the 2001 Cascina Francia pulled me in, showing red berry, moist black soil, floral rose, rosemary and minerals. On the palate, it was youthfully lean with sour red fruit, yet gained momentum and focus as ripe strawberry developed along with inner floral notes and savory spice. The finish continued to impress with its saturating red fruits, inner floral tones and lingering minerals yet remained clenched in need of more time in the cellar. (94 points)

Flight 5: This flight was a total mystery to me. Giacosa has a way of throwing me for a loop, especially in a blind format. As such, I have stayed with my initial impressions with these tasting notes to avoid any sway the labels may have had after the unveiling.

1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba – The nose was rich and intense with dark red fruits, cinnamon, cedar, and hints of herbs. On the palate, red berry fruit played a sweet and sour act on the senses, while inner floral and tobacco notes completed the experience. Tannin shut down the finish, allowing only a hint of red berry fruit to linger. (93 points)

2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba – The nose was earthy and somewhat vegetal with tart red berry, sweet peas, and parchment. With time the fruit became sweeter and dark, yet a formidable earthiness remained. On the palate, it was lean showing tart red berry and spice, which lingered throughout the finish with stern structural components tugging at the cheeks. (90 points)

Flight 6: I was very happy to correctly guess the first wine as the ’99 Giacosa Le Rocche del Falletto; what I didn’t realize is that the second wine was the exact same thing—ouch! (Originally there were three wines in this flight.) Going back to my notes, they were extremely similar; I’m guessing it was probably differences in conditions of the bottles and time of double-decant, which may explain the slight differences. I went with my first tasting note, as I believe it was the best representation of the wine.

1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba – The nose was all at once intense, yet elegant and truly radiant. A bouquet of dark red fruits, plum, rosy florals, dusty spice and minerals wafted up from the glass without any coaxing. On the palate, it opened with bitter cherry, yet fleshed out turning riper and softer with a savory meatiness, dry spice, saline minerals and inner floral tones. The finish was tight yet focused with red fruit, cinnamon and gorgeous autumnal character. (97 points)

2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba – The nose showed a ripe mix of crushed berries, dry spice, menthol, leather and hints of herbs in a dark, warm and inviting bouquet. On the palate, it started youthfully lean with tart cherry, gaining mass and riper character as it wrapped around the senses. A woody balsamic note lingered long with sweet exotic spice and violet floral tones. The finish was the epitome of dried flowers and fruit with dry spice lingering long. (98 points)

Originally published at: The V.I.P. Table

Love the bags - classy presentation!

I agree, they were really great. I could use a set myself. Those were courtesy of Benjamin Goldberg: “etsy.com (the crafts marketplace)… If you search “wine bags” on the site, you’ll see a bunch of choices.”

Very nicely done. Great reading.

Great stuff. Dream tasting.

Nice - I just saw your TNs on CT - two vintages that I purchased with enthusiasm, so I definitely appreciate the new data points. I may pull out a '99 & '01 Monprivato pairing one of these days to do a mini-replication of what you gents enjoyed this weekend .

Eric, I may have skipped past this in your write-up; do you know how the wines were decanted (in terms of how soon before the tasting)?

I have more than a few of these wines.
It is so nice to have these notes to calibrate drinking windows.
Many thanks!

We opened these between 10-11 am that morning with a double-decant for sediment. The only variation is that some tasters were able to keep their corks pulled most of the day, while others (like me) had to travel with them closed.

Thanks, I think I’ll add a note about decant times to the blog.

I was so happy to be a part of this tasting. I too have a number of these in the cellar and it couldn’t make me happier. I just wish I was buying Giuseppe Rinaldi in 2003.

Thank you for the wonderful notes and format!

Very excited to hear about how well the 1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba performed. Have a couple of these resting.

Eric,

Your notes and photos do justice to the evening, which was really outstanding. Thanks so much!

That morning at 10am, when I opened the wines I was bringing, I tasted each of them. The '99 CF seemed fine, but I was seriously concerned about the '01 Ca and the '99 Le Rocche (remember my concerned email?). They just weren’t giving much on the nose or the palate - frankly I was worried that they were flawed. Fast forward to the evening and they were all rocking!

I, too, wish I had some G. Rinaldi in my cellar.

Ben

Sounds like an excellent tasting and I am excited to have many in my cellar, including the 2001 G. Rinaldi. However, the 2001 Giacosa, non Riserva, does concern me based on your note.

The way this worked was that everyone sent me a list of what Nebbiolo they had in their cellars or had access to at this time. A few of us had deep enough cellars in this area to match with almost anything. I started with the smaller ones and saw this theme of 99 vs 01. Like others here, I bought a lot of these 2 vintages and jumped at the chance to try so many while only sacrificing a couple of my bottles. What no one could have known for sure was how well all the bottles showed. That was a joy. The group was great, the food was excellent, and the wines all showed brilliantly. It will take me a few days to post my notes. I did think better of the 01 Falletto than Eric did.

BTW Tony Kim got this started and organized the venue and food. Let me also give a plug to Antonio Galloni’s Vinous, which is where this whole dinner got started.

I’m really looking forward to your notes Ken. You and I were on total opposite ends of the table, so we talked very little about our opinions on the individual wines.

Eric,

If you’re ever in Boston, check out Troquet. I had the G Rinaldi '90 Brunate Riserva with the pork (three ways) dish that was phenomenal. Gorgeous nose of tea leaves, truffles and tar, and equally lively on the palate with excellent fruit presence and just overall balance.

Eric, Ken, et al: Great job! I really appreciate the notes as these are several of my favorite producers.

Best, Byron

Damn, some big scores on the '99 and '01 Le Rocche.

Great notes and wines. 1999 vs 2001 two great vintages. Generally I think the 2001’s need more time than the 99’s.

In all fairness, that '99 was gorgeous from the second I pop’d the cork that morning. My entire kitchen smelled like the bouquet on the Le Rocche. When it came back around later in the night–it was the same nose with more depth and intensity. What a great wine!!! It’s also funny how we see these things in hindsight–when transposing my notes, I was surprised that I only scored the '99 G. Rinaldi only 95 points. But I have this rule I follow about going with my initial scores.

As for the 2001 Riserva, I was almost sure it was Gaja, and not 100% Nebbiolo. In fact, to learn it was a traditional Barolo–and a Giacosa Red Label at that, was a huge surprise to me. Certainly an insanely beautiful wine.

I agree, but I think part of the problem with 2001, is that many wines on the lower tier will shed their fruit before they shed their tannin. Just my two cents.