Our dinner group enjoyed another fine evening out, this time on the extended outdoor sidewalk/ street side patio of one of our local Italian favs, Olio e Limone. It was the perfect restaurant for our annual white truffle dinner as one of our members opts for a HUGE fresh truffle which had just arrived from Italy.
Our wine theme included the usual champagne and white Burgundy with an appropriate additional request for Barolo and Barbaresco. The star of the show had to be the Tuber Magnatum Pico which weighed in at 3 oz. We all agreed, it was the best white truffle we’d ever had on any occasion.
We also had a few wines that reached star status starting off with:
2008 LAURENT- PERRIER BRUT MILLESIME- a couple of my champagne buddies around the globe have been encouraging me to try out the 08 L-P claiming it is more ready than most of the big boys that have been way too tight and ungiving early on such as the 08 Cristal and Taittinger Comtes; so, I bought some and this is the first bottle from the stash and it exuded elegance par excellence; of all of the lovely notes it sang, I kept coming back to its profound elegance; yes, it had really nice bright acidity with lemon zest, lime, apple and pear fruit, a tactilely pleasing creamy mousse and a palate cleansing finish, but the operative word here is ELEGANCE.
2002 VERGY LA ROCHE MACON-VERGESSON- the hallmark of this wine was its mouthfeel and impeccable balance; following its golden yellow color came a mild aroma of flint, suggestive of a Chablis, followed by honeyed and buttery lemon, lime, golden delicious apple and minerals; its creamy texture carried all of the goodies to the back end where it finished on a high and long note; this is a sensational, mature wine ready to give up its treasures.
2015 LUCIEN LE MOINE CORTON GRAND CRU BLANC- an unexpected hit of pine is the first note that comes out of the bouquet, then comes some green apple and pear fruit, both of which continue on to be joined by a streak of vanilla and coffee bean once tasted; it’s medium bodied and textured with everything coming together at the end; this was truly a wonderful wine.
1964 PIO CESARE- I bought about 12 “older” Barolo last year and have been working my way through some of them with trepidation as the first couple were over the hill and out; so with a much younger and supposedly more reliable backup setting next to this bottle, I decanted it to first taste it for viability and if good to go, to minimize the sediment content; it passed the nose and taste test quite nicely and I sealed it up after ~ 10 minutes of aeration and put it in the wine carrier with full confidence it would be appreciated; the color was a paled medium to dark red; the nose had earthy, umami, coffee and mild black currant notes as did the taste profile, but the amazing thing was it expanded and actually got better with time and about an hour later, it was and even richer, fuller and fruitier when I had anticipated it would go in the opposite direction; It morphed from being a very good wine to something high up on the totem pole, so much so, it was the WOTN.
1973 CANTINE LANZAVECCHIA BAROLO RIVERVA- the nose and taste on this bottle pretty much confirmed it had reached its apogee having some oxidization effects going on; however, it had lots of redeeming qualities with a mature prune and dried dark fruit nose and more distinct dried and somewhat sweetened black currant, blackberry and plum in the taste; it had good feel and length and actually improved with time mindful of the 64` before it.
2004 BROVIA “CA` MIA” BAROLO- it had a dark, youthful and vibrant ruby color; this bottle was heavily influenced by oak with loads of coconut, cedar, talc and sandalwood accenting the serious dark fruit profile; there’s sweet black cherry in spades with a touch of blackberry and more coconut; it’s got so much energy that can only tamed with maturation; it has depth and complexity and is structured for the long haul.
2008 ALDO CONTERNO ROMIRASCO BAROLO- here`s a big boy with so much going on and needing so much more time to integrate and come together, but here we are, airing it out and enjoying all of its current gifts with a bow to its anticipated great future; it’s full bodied, deeply concentrated and builds up a crescendo for a grand, climatic finish; the black currant fruit, blackberry and blueberry fruit is accented by spices and mint chocolate all the way through.
2013 CAVALOTTO RISERVA VIGNOLO BAROLO- this undergoes ML in cement tanks in the Spring after harvest and is cask aged for 48-60 months in Slavonian Oak, bottled 7/2519; the nose and taste profile is redolent of ripe red and dark fruit with red cherry/ berry and blackberry most evident; the mouthfeel was the hallmark for me as it was super soft, silky and smooth; this is very approachable now with nice balance and seemingly integrated tannins; as with all of these “young” Barolo, decant, decant, decant.
2014 MAURO MOILINO BAROLO- the nose is laden with super ripe black currant notes more than anything else, but on the palate it’s the super ripe sweet black cherry fruit that stands out along with some accents of licorice, vanilla and wood spice; it’s big and bold and still a youngster that needs to get through its current adolescent stage and deliver the goods that are ensured by its huge backbone.
This was such a good evening and the 5 of us delighted in sharing fun and positive conversation, mostly about the food and wines that graced out table.
Cheers,
Blake
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