TN: 2004 Piedmont...the avocado of the wine world? (2004 Marcarini Barolo La Serra)

  • 2004 Marcarini Barolo La Serra - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (6/17/2021)
    2004 low/mid range Piedmont is like the avocado of the wine world - not ready, not ready, not ready, not ready…NOW!!! Well, this particular wine was ready, though perhaps slightly on the end of its secondary phase, starting to gain tertiary notes. The hue scared me a bit, as it is quite bricked overall, but it is quite lovely. Still some of that amazing 2004 floral and tar component on the nose, the palate is very dusty, but still has an energetic mouthfeel with good acidity. The fruit is where it shows its secondary/early tertiary characteristics, however, in starting to dry out and perhaps prune a bit. Wonderful with rich foods, I’d consume these in the near future. I have wanted to check in on my 2004s and this one definitely is ready.

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Thanks, Todd, I’ve got three of these and was thinking of checking on them.

Avocado? Not a fruit I’d associate with Barolo, but…
I had one recently, but not sure if it was Brunate or Serra, and it was excellent and drinking well. Everything you could want from Barolo for a $40 price tag.

Interesting. I had both this and the Brunate in late 2019 and found them both to be showing quite young with some development, but no overt signs of age. For context, though I can enjoy them at almost any age, I like Barolo best on the cusp of full maturity, with some exuberant fruit still left, but tannins relaxing their grip.

This describes my nebbiolo preferences pretty well, and also seems to re-affirm what OP said: It went from your 2019 “quite young” to the edge of old, brown, mushy avocado pretty quickly. I like Barolo/Barbaresco at almost any stage of its ascent, so I probably drink too many of them too young, but I’ve had enough truly dead bottles from longer term Neb collectors that I won’t be losing a lot of sleep over it. That kind of blink-or-you-will-miss-it peak seems Burgundian to me.

I’m pretty skeptical that this wine fell off precipitously between 2019 and now. I just didn’t get any sense of that potential, and it has never happened to other vintages of the wine for me, let alone one as strong as 2004. I’m not doubting Todd’s experience, and I’ve been wrong before, but I’m highly doubtful that’s where this wine is across the board.

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That’s a fair comment Sarah. I’m drinking a 1996 Einuadi nei Cannubi Barolo tonight. The first 2-3 bottles advanced to the point of feeling OTH. A recent run have been excellent and still with potential to spare, whilst tonight’s bottle over-mature, yet still enjoyable. Frustrating, but a salutary lesson in being wary of reading too much into a single bottle.

Please note the avocado reference has NOTHING to do with its flavor or aroma profile - only the situation wherein an avocado seems never ready, then suddenly it’s ready and perhaps over-ripe by the time you figure it out. That’s what I feel like is happening with low/mid range Piedmont in 2004, and, to some extent, quite a bit of 2005 Bordeaux lately

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I like them the same way, and most aren’t near ready at 15 years for my taste. I’m not worried with bricking in Nebbiolo, but if it’s getting brown, then that indicates a storage issue. Todd’s comment about “prune” notes made me wonder if his bottle had seen poor storage at some point, but since I have three I stood one up today and will pop it in a couple of weeks.

I like the avocado reference.

It’s the best wine metaphor I’ve seen in a long time.

I love Barolo, but it can be really maddening (a) trying to figure out the right time to open one, (b) trying to figure out how long to decant, and (c) remembering to stand up days or weeks ahead because of the sediment. Such a demanding guest. But the highs are very high.

My experience with '04 Barolo & Barbaresco is that the better wines are very youthful today and set up for the long haul. It’s not a waste to open them today, but we’re probably 5-10 years out from the early end of peak. Any '04 that is on the back end of peak today is (a) probably not a very good wine, (b) not well stored, (c) or just random bad luck. I suspect the '04 Serra experience is a combination of (a) and (c) but I’ve never had it myself to have a first hand view. Galloni’s gave it 91 pts and his review suggests it to be an early drinker by 2004 standards. Yields were high in '04 so if not managed correctly the wines maybe don’t have the concentration to age.

I’ve never thought of Marcarini as “low range” Barolo given the history and holdings. I have always been very fond of their La Serra (as well as Brunate).

But in any case my recollection is they were a bit overzealous with replanting in the mid-to-late 90s so it’s possible that has had an effect on the 2004. Not sure. Still it’s hard to square Sarah’s experience with Todd’s even if Barolo is fickle.

Agreed.

I find color a poor indicator of development in Nebbiolo. It seems to go brick red and precipitate out in a way that could spell doom for a different variety, but is inconsequential in Nebbiolo.

While we’re on the topic of avocados, here’s a trick: rather than a squish test that will leave a bruise, first try to remove the stem nub. If it releases easily, its likely ripe and you can move on with a squish confirmation. If the stem doesn’t want to release, its not ready.

Yes, I think Marcarini is underappreciated, and you don’t seem them much in the NY area these days. They used to be on many shelves.

The Brunate, in particular, can be very special. Elegant, traditional Barolo. I don’t know where Marcarini’s Brunate vines lie on the La Morra/Barolo border, but the style is very much La Morra-ish.

The La Serra never seems to have the same depth as the Brunate. I can’t say I’ve ever had one that was really top tier.

I’ve been buying/drinking Marcarini for 12 vintages or so, don’t have the depth of experience some folks do… but my preferences between the two are evolving- I love the rustic charm of the Brunate, but the Serra with age can have a delicacy and floral nose that is out of the world.

I’ve had 2 04 la Serras over the last 24 months, and thought both were excellent bottles of wine. One in 19 would likely make my top ten wines for the year (if I paid attention to things like that)… sounds to me like you had an off bottle. I have a 04 Brunate stood up, though unclear if I’ll get to it before the fall. I’d happily backfill more 04 Serra if I found them.

Best Hemingwayesque wine note I’ve seen in quite awhile….

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It never ceases to amaze me how many conclusions are drawn from a single bottle . . . . so many uncontrolled variables: provenance/history in distribution, cellar temperature and its variation, cork quality (HUGE factor!), taster preference, and so on.

Some people like primary flavors, others like a mix of varietal character and bottle ages, while others still prefer fully tertiary wines that are converging on non-varietal, aged character. One person’s aldehydic prune character is another’s mature, dried marasca–it’s really all about one’s level of sensitivity to different compounds and preferences.

It’s like sitting through a meeting heavy on senior management where a narrow set of data has been cherry picked, and there is imperative to reach a decision even when the information at hand doesn’t lend itself to any concrete conclusion.

In any case, I picked up several of the '16 La Serra recently and am excited to try one in a few years, another around 10-15 years, and the last who knows when. Evidently Marcarini has created a La Morra commune level wine as of 2015, which should benefit the Crus. La Serra’s more floral and ethereal style sounds quite appealing to me, but I’ll find out over a decade or so how that plays out.

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Sheez, even Avery got that one.

I don’t think you can ever drink a Barolo “too late.” [cheers.gif]

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