TN: 1982 piedmont Retrospective

WINE TALK
1

1982 PIEDMONT RETROSPECTIVE - Fausto, Brooklyn (2/1/2019)

Several good friends joined for dinner at Fausto in Brooklyn to take a look back at a selection of 1982 Barolo and Barbaresco. All the wines were double decanted for sediment ahead of time. Eight of us shared the wines over several hours and had a chance to g back and visit all of them after the meal.
Barbaresco
Served with aracini and pork meatball starters.

A fully mature nose, with soy, decaying leaves, cherries, iron, and dried rose petals on the nose. Fully mature, and then some. There is good acidity, but is fading. The palate is thinning and has a caramel end note. I suspect this is not a perfectly stored bottle. Still very enjoyable, but much less good than a bottle two years ago. (89 pts.)

A much deeper and fresher nose than the Gaja. Cooler nebbiolo fruit, darker, with tar, balsamic notes, and roses. This has structure, yet poise, with great texture. Structured yet supple and with sap and density. This has power and grace with clarity and depth. Outstanding showing and at mid peak. One of the most youthful seeming wines tonight. (94 pts.)

More floral and balsamic than the Montefico. There is lovely mature nebbiolo fruit, less dark than the Montefico. Savory and soil notes complement the fruit and florals with some olive and meatiness and savory notes. This is more savory than fruit and tar driven Montefico. There is sap and breath to the palate. Outstanding showing. (93 pts.)

Clear and pure perfumed nose. Darker profiled nebbiolo fruit. Very perfumed with menthol more than florals. Broad yet deep with breadth and a sense of seriousness. Some chewy Paje tannins on the back end. Very long. Another of the most youthful wines of the night. Outstanding showing. (94 pts.)

First Barolo flight
Served with a mix of family style pasta dishes that had terrific flavor, the pasta cooked very well, and all adding to rather than distracting from the wines.

That said, this was overall a tough flight. The Cavallotto was not a great bottle, the Marchesi di Barolo was likely never a very good wine, and the F. Rinaldi had some of the dirty barrel aromas that some older F Rinaldi wines can have. The Bartolo was lovely. A graceful wine with palate impact without weight, but is on the back end of peak.

Soy and autumnal the nose. Dark tar and porcinis. A little F Rinaldi dirty barrel feel to it.

Soy and undergrowth on the nose. Some VA. Savory and meaty, with olives, nettle, and some underlying fruit. There is reasonable balance and lift. Surprisingly mid weighted fo this bottling. Fully mature, with a nice tactile fell to it with the acid and minerality I seem to get in some Castiglione bottlings. (89 pts.)

A beautifully mature nose. Florals, as much violet as rose, porcini, a little heme, meatiness. This has a gracefulness and mid weighted subtle power delivered without weight. A harmonious, wine of balance and understated depth and grace.A great mix of savory and fruit. There was a clarity and freshness drinking this, like drinking mineral water. Fully resolved, but it should hold for a good while. I can’t think of a reason to wait though. A wine of cohesion, where nothing stands out, it just is. Lovely. 95 (95 pts.)

Dark fruited and foursquare. Thin in the midpalate, with acid that seems out of balance and chewy tannins. Varietally correct, forgettable bottle of wine.

Second barolo flight
These wines showed very well. There was debate regarding the relative greatness of the Colina Rionda and the Falletto Riserva. Both were terrific. All four wines showed really well. The Monfortino was for sure the most impressive wine fo the flight, but I always seem to be more impressed by than enamored with Monfortino, at least when int he presence of Giacosa’s harmony and graceful touch. A fantastic flight. he pork shank, which I thought at first may have been a Brontosaurus shank stolen from Barney Rubble, was fantastic and great complement to the fuller bodied last flight. It was deeply flavorful and so tender that it demanded only a spoon and a hearty appetite to enjoy. A wonderful complement to the flight.

A fantastic nose. Savory, meaty, tar, and spice. Highly perfumed across fruit, florals, and savory notes. There was a sweetness and sap to fruit that Giacosa seems to be able to conjure from nebbiolo. Cherry, roses, balsamic notes not he palate with a breadth and depth combined with precision and tension. Richness and power coupled with grace, balance, and most of all harmony. An effortlessly fantastic showing. A complete wine that well outperformed expectations. Wow (98 pts.)

Where the Falletto comes right at you with more an overt presence, this comes at you sideways and flirts. Roses, balsam, Serralunga perfume, white truffle, and beautiful cherry fruit on the nose. Midwieighted on the palate, yet with great breadth and persistence. Expansive, and with a sweetness to the fruit. There is a pushing you over with a feather kind of weightless impact to this wine that is impressive. A more feline and subtle expression of Serralunga. Beautiful, floral and perfumed on the palate. At peak and unlikely to improve. (97 pts.)

More savory than the Giacosa wines. Olive, nettle, ferrous, balsamic, and meaty on the nose. A darker and more savory expression of nebbiolo. There is soy, some undergrowth, and moss, with dark profiled tarry fruit. Structured and at peak, and while I doubt it will fade, soon, I also doubt it will improve. Likely suffering from the company with which it was served. Outstanding nonetheless. (95 pts.)

A deeper and more complicated nose and palate here. Deeper cherry fruit, with more sap and density. In spite of its impressive scale, it has great balance and a sense of lift. Forceful and powerful, yet poised and cohesive. Sappy and dense, yet with an ease to carrying its weight. An impressive wine that demands you attention. Toward the back end, black olives add to the tar and dark deep fruits. The most youthful wine of the night. Very impressive, terrific in fact, but less lovable than the Giacosa wines. (97 pts.)

Overall this was a great, mellow evening with outstanding wine and better company. Most of the wines showed well, but with the exception of the Monfortino and Produttori Paje (both bottles from a source with a very cold cellar); the wines, while many were drinking very well, they are unlikely to improve further, and many were starting to fade a little from previous glory. That is no dig against the wines. they are 36 years old. Not to mention that with nebbiolo, having an outstanding vintage that reaches its apogee before 30 years is a good thing.

Another take home message, that seems to happen every time I drink older Produttori. These wines are among the great wines of Piedmont. One would have a very hard time to find another producer that offers better quality, ageworthy wines at a very fair price.

The food at Fausto was outstanding. I am sure KV will post pictures and better commentary at some point in the future. The pasta dishes were flavorful, had great texture, and complemented the wines well. The pork shank was cooked beautifully with smart seasoning that added to, yet stood aside, and let the wine speak. Further substantiation that the marriage of braised pork and nebbiolo is a gift to mankind. Overall it was great night.

Thanks for reading
Posted from CellarTracker