Good Classically Styled Barolo/Barbaresco for $250 or less

Hello,

I’ve tried doing some searches but haven’t come up with anything. I am going to a wine dinner soon and would like to bring a nice aged Barolo or Barbaresco that is classically styled in the $250 range (or less of course). Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

1989 and 1990 Prunottos are very good, as are any good vintage Produttori, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990. Ceretto’s wines from 82, 89 & 90 are very good, as are 1978 and 1971 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Monfalletto. Chambers often has these wines available.

Tom

2001 Cavallotto if you can find it. Wont disappoint.

your issue may be with the timing of the dinner. if you have to order, aged nebbiolo ideally needs a couple weeks standing after shipping for sediment to settle.

If time is not an issue, check out Chambers St Wines. awesome selection of high quality, good provenance italian wine wth age.

Hi Tim,

The great thing with your price point is that it essentially covers the spectrum of traditional producers outside of a precious few.

As to your question, if you have time to source, you can get plenty of Giacosa white labels with age on them. That should do the trick and as Kent noted, you can get tons of Cavallotto. I would also throw in Vrovia with some age as well if you can source.

Brovia?

What’s your definition of aged? Preferences vary. You can drink 2004 or 2001 with pleasure, or 2007 or 2008, but also 1978 and 1974 and on back, depending on what you like.

+1

Produttori’s are always a good bet.

Would 2 weeks be enough time?

I am buying this more for the guests than for me, so I was assuming that the hardcore wine geeks would want something with a bit more age such as a 74 or 78 as you mentioned. As for me personally, I really don’t have enough experience as I’ve never had an unfortified wine that is that old.

Si. 'Twas an Iphone typo

I have 3-4 bottles of the Cavallotto Bricco Boschis Riserva, but have not (to date) opened one. Any thoughts as to where it is in terms of current drinkability? Should I give them another 5-8 years, or consume now?

If you don’t mind young, the 2013 Castello di Verduno Rabaja is one of the best young barbaresco’s I’ve had. And at $50, you can bring two!

Assuming you can receiv shipments from NY, l would suggest calling Chambers Street wines. They have a bunch that fit your bill and are true experts in Nebbiolo

Depends on where you live probably. if you can’t make it into NY and visit the shop in person, I’d say probably not for the 74s and 78s you are discussing. the earliest you’d get them shipped from Chambers is probably Tuesday, you’d get them at earliest probably Thursday (if you live East coast) and that only gives you about a week (assuming you were talking about Friday after next) which is probably not ideal for a 40 year old nebbiolo.

Where do you live? If you are within driving limits of a major wine hub like NYC, Chicago, LA, etc, your better bet is to drive into the city to get something this weekend.

@Tim

Lots of good advice here. My only additional thought is to not look back too far. My experience with buying older (say, pre 1990) Piedmont wines has led to a lot of frustration. My bottle failure rate for these (cooked, oxidized, corked, or just dead) is above 25%. So buying these wines can be very risky. And most wines of the type discussed here from the 1996-2001 period are drinking very well, showing development and giving a lot of pleasure.

The only reason to roll the dice on older wine is if your wine geek friends truly are obsessed with extremely aged wine. If so, maybe buy two $125 bottles and open them both. Insurance … and if they’re both good that’s fun, too.

I live in Atlanta, 2 weeks factored in delivery time. So ideally I would have 2 weeks upon receipt of the wine. Thanks for your response, I’m going to e-mail Chambers, and will probably consider a younger wine based on everyone’s recommendations.

I emailed Chambers street and they recommended “’90 & the ’82 Fontannafreddas…and 5 days to stand upright and settle should be plenty” any thoughts?

John,

I last tasted the Cavallotto Bricco Boschis Riserva in 2016. I thought that it drank well, but needed a few more years to get to its true peak of tastiness. That having been said, I think that 20+ years is good for barolo/barbaresco in good years. Accordingly, given that you have a few bottles, you might try one now, see if it is in your wheelhouse – barolo wise – and then drink the others accordingly. BTW, I don’t plan to drink anymore of mine for at least 3 to 5 years.