A Friday night get together with wines served blind.
2007 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Decanted fully, a couple of hours earlier, which this wine needed. In fact it opened appreciably in the glass over the two hours. All class. A lovely bouquet of black cherries and blackberries with hints of dark florals and spices. Seeming lean and very tight initially. Well balanced and precise. I was guessing this as a '10 Burgundy and had dismissed '07 from my mind, imagining an '07 would be more forward. Lovely satiny texture. An iodine, liquorice and black fruited palate. With air it opened and seemed to put on weight. Finishing long, dry and savoury. Ideally cellar for 5+ years.
2007 Marcarini Barolo Brunate- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A tarry, earthy, balsamico bouquet puts you straight into Barolo. In the mouth, serious Serralunga-like muscle and drive. Richness with major mid palate stuffing and structure. Salinity and minerality. There’s substantial tannin here but with dense, ripe fruit to match. Good acidity. Rounded phenolics. A slightly drying finish. Quite approachable for an '07. With all of the elements in place to be a long term cellar proposition.
2011 Vietti Barbera d’Asti Superiore Nizza La Crena- Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d’Asti Superiore Nizza
Popped and poured. Bright purple colour. My wine had a strong vanilla whiff on bouquet that was not matched by the palate. There was oak on the palate but it was not over-prominent. Dark plums and blackberries on the nose and also on palate. Clean, pure, silky texture. The generous fruit perhaps masking the sleek tannins. The wine seemed to shut down over the two hours. Put away for a minimum of five years.
2008 Luigi Baudana Barolo Cerretta- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A tarry, attractive nose of dark flowers, blackberries and graphite. On palate, a lot of dry extract. On point dryness, line and length. Much darker fruit spectrum than the Marcarini. Seemingly quite ripe, plusher fruit than the Marcarini. My preferred wine of the two. Rich and opulent but with sufficient acidity. Relatively approachable now but could use 5-7 years in the cellar.
2011 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This wine was the star of last night’s tasting of the nine '11 Riservas but tonight I totally failed to pick it, thinking the wine was something like a Cogno Ravera or other more Burgundian Barolo. I didn’t miss the quality of the wine … Dark berries, creosote and lifted aromatics on bouquet. Beautifully precise on palate. Persistent with a fine grained tannic structure. On the reveal, this wine is amazingly approachable at this stage, but would benefit from 5-8 years cellar time, I’d say.
Hey Brian. Yes, see if you can get a couple of '11 Riservas. It’ll be an earlier drinking vintage I’d say, a little better than the '09s. If you can’t get a Rabaja (the star of the lineup IMO) get an Asili or Ovello.
At NZ pricing, as compared with the US where it’s different I understand, I’d pay the extra for '11 Riservas over a '12 Normale.
If you’re looking at Normales (we tasted the '12) I’d rate them in the order '10, '12, then '11. (This is probably what one would expect as there were no Riservas in '10 or '12). The '12 Normale is good, in an early drinking style, but of course the Riservas are a step up.
I’ll give you a call if I’m ever heading down South. Please let me know if you’re ever able to make it up my way.
Not surprisingly, I’d say. My impression is Brunate regularly comes across as the most muscular, powerful Cru in the context of La Morra. Specificaly, in the Marcarini stable, I have often found the contrast between Brunate and La Serra to be quite dramatic in that respect.
I’m glad to see some love for the 07 Marcarini Brunate. I quite liked it when I tasted it at the cantina five years ago and was able to snap some up cheaply back here in the US. But Greg dal Piaz gave me a funny look when I told him I liked it.
I remember tasting a couple of Baudanas at Vajra on the same trip (06, I think) and thinking, “Now these are from Serralunga!”
John, I don’t know what Gregory doesn’t like about Marcarini (or is only the '07?) (but I’d like to know).
I recently served blind a 1985 Brunate to friends who picked the vintage between 1996 and 2000! Granted they’re not subtle or elegant wines but they are powerful, long-lived Baroli.
I visit the winery for the first time in a fortnight and I find that a visit really crystallises my thoughts about a house in the way a bottle or two every six months can’t.
Greg is a big fan of Marcarini Brunate. A vertical back to the 60s that he organized a few years ago really opened my eyes. He just wasn’t keen on the 07s.
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