Dear All
Has anyone seen or might know when reviews of the wines from the 09 vintage in Piemonte from anyone are set to be posted? Asked this question on Tanzers BB but no reply. Galloni has said that the 09’s will be included when he launches but his site is still listing a launch ~10 days from April 30 and nothing so far.
I’ve seen general thoughts on the vintage but as offers are coming thick and fast it would be great to read specifics?
FYI, heard from a reliable source off shore that the Produttori in Barbaresco will release 09 Riserva’s but not in 2010. That bucks the hype that 2010 is the next great year in Piemonte, but maybe not as good a year in Barbaresco as in Barolo? I keep falling into that trap!
Better posted on the main forum (and this has been discussed). I’m probably passing on '09 given how wonderful 08 and 10 are looking to be, and how relatively weak 09 appears.
Remember that the Produttori also declassed the single vineyards in 2006, a vintage I think most if not all consider superior to '05 and '07.
I just started typing up the reviews of the wines I tasted over the past two weeks. Out of some three dozen plus producers visited i found that some very nice wines were produced but the vintage as a whole was the most irregular I’ve tasted. Some issues with ripeness, lots of wines with green tannins, plenty with elevated levels of alcohol.
2009 is stronger than 2010 in Barbaresco, though the 2010s that are on are beautiful wines. Produttori won’t be releasing the 2010 riservas. According to Aldo Vacca the base Barbaresco in 2010 was too light on its own so the riservas were blended back in to it, though the riservas could have stood on their own. 2011 Nebbiolo is incredible.
2009 Mascarello Barolo was ready to go when I tried it at cellar door which was a bit of a shock.
I remember some 09 Barbarescos being quite good on a visit last month- plenty of round, front of the palate fruit forwardness and drinking well, but with a good long structure that didn’t exaggerate any mid-palate hollowness ( Bondonio and B Rocca Rabaja being good examples of this ).
I really liked the 09 Rivella Montestefano, although a group of young winemakers I shared it with last Saturday in Alba found it a bit reduced. I think it is a powerfully elegant and interesting bottle
I am no reviewer, but would echo Greg’s thoughts. Just got back last week from Piemonte and I thought 09 was very irregular, even from producers I really enjoy. Some hot, lacking balance, lacking focus. A couple fine exceptions were there, but on the whole a crap shoot. OTOH the 08s I thought were much more impressive than I had hoped for at many addresses, with beautiful aromatics and balance. A vintage I think I will really enjoy for a very long time. Also, many 10s in Barolo look very promising.
That was an anamoly, deeply covered on this board. Apparently since one of the Crus was unabled to be bottled (I forget the reason), all were declassified by the rules of the consortium.
I’ve liked most 09s so far, and I think it’s much better than 05 for sure.
Galloni said 08 had its issues too, but I’ve had a tough time figuring out where other than Giacosa.
Ian–What was the basis for this, and can you find out which one it was? I thought the reason that Aldo had given was that there wasn’t enough differentiation between the different riservas to warrant bottling them separately. It wasn’t so much of a quality issue, it was that you couldn’t really tell the difference between vineyards. I could have it wrong, but that’s as I remember it.
Greg–are you referring to nebbiolo in general or the Produttori Nebbiolo? (the 2011 Produttori Nebbiolo is in fact very, very good. Aldo has reportedly said it was the best he can remember.)
The 2011 Produttori specifically, I don’t have my notes in front of me but Aldo did mention it was the richest, and most alcoholic Nebbiolo he had ever seen. I was surprised by how well many 2011 Barolo were showing out of botte. I think it’s going to be a surprising vintage.
In regards to the 2006 crus, I was there in 2009 when Aldo was finishing blending the riservas back into the Torre bottling and at the time he said the reason was simply a pragmatic one. There were too many great vintages in the pipeline and he felt the market would have a difficult time absorbing it all so the decision was made to drop the 2006s. He reaffirmed the reasoning during our recent discussion regarding the 2010s.
I’m a newbie so bear with me, but isn’t rich and alcoholic a bad thing? In general. Wines would riper. Mature sooner. Maybe that’s a good thing for Neb? I recently tasted and ripe vrs cooler wine. Ripe Vietti Perbacco 09 vrs the cooler 10. And I definitely notice that the 09 is richer. And I while its not a deal breaker for me, I’m going longer on the 10’s than the 10.
Bryan – By coincidence, I had the 09 Perbacco last night and found it a little lacking in backbone. It’s soft, very fruity, with very ripe (e.g., dark plum) flavors. Very approachable and pleasant, but not as interesting to me as many other vintages.
I told the non-wine-geek friend I was sharing this with that I prefer them a bit more reserved. “And this wine is very chatty?” she asked. Yes, I told her – that about summed it up.
Chatty. That’s a first. As in lots going on I guess. I’m new to Neb so I don’t have much to compare. I basically started in to Neb with the Perbacco 09 based on its reputation and the vintage was what’s on shelf here up until recently (10’s arrive tomorrow actually, but I picked up a magnum of it earlier this week at a tasting done by Luca). The Perbacco is basically a gateway drug to Nebbiolo. And I really like(d) the 09 but didn’t have much to compare it too. And I stocked up. Yes, it’s pleasant and approachable, but I thought was what Perbacco was supposed to be anyway. But after tasting the 10 earlier this week, I realize there is a ripeness difference. And Luca acknowledged the 09 is riper, due in part of the hot temperature spikes of that vintage. There is a bottle aging difference that comes in to play too and the 09 will sing more now than the 10, and the 10 will apparently fill out if you give it a year in the bottle too. But I can see that over the long run I’ll prefer the leaner more structured 10 over the richer 09. And that’s why I asked the question above. Why would the richer 2011 vintage wit rbe such a good thing? I asked myself, am I missing something here about Neb that I need to know. And if so, then maybe I need to rethink whether I go long on the 09 (before its too late) or the 10.
Perhaps I’m just stubborn, but I bought a range of '08 and '09 Giacosa white labels despite being aware of the rumblings that they aren’t up to snuff. I skipped full cases, but I wasn’t willing to forego them altogether based largely on Antonio G’s tasting notes. He’ll probably prove me a fool, but I won’t know for sure until I open them many years from now.