Months of Nebbiolo Notes

Been crazy backed up on posting any notes. Been jotting stuff down at home and just now trying to catch up. Note as I’m looking at these pictures, the color of the wine definitely looks darker in most pictures than it actually is, for what its worth.

Will start with a few wines from Bartolo Mascarello:

1958 Cantina Mascarello Barolo Riserva Canubbi - this wine is a revelation. A sensation! That’s my Walt Frazier imitation. I should say this bottle, not this wine is. Because I’ve had a lot of variation on these, but sound bottles are incredible. Nice ruby color, an explosion of beautiful tertiary notes on the nose. Incredible finish. A truly profound wine.

1961 Cantina Mascarello Barolo - another sensation. The most intoxicating aroma of liquid umami that only comes from Nebbiolo this old (maybe starting in great bottles to show at about 40 years old). Brininess. Great finish. Another really special wine.

1974 Cantina Mascarello Barolo - I’ve had this twice with consistent notes. I haven’t found much charm in this wine either time. Clean, nice mature red fruit, but nothing that really sets it apart.

1971 Massolino Barolo - I’m told by some of my friends, that the Vigna Rionda on the label here is actually the name of the winery, and not the vineyard for this wine. Though it is all Serralunga fruit apparently. Outstanding wine. Deep rich aromatics with an ethereal quality. A bargain and delicious.

A pair of astonishing wines from Vietti:

1970 Vietti Barolo Briacca di Castiglione Falletto - first off, what a fantastic label. Second, what a fantastic wine. Fully mature, incredibly delicious. Aromas of dried red fruit and tea leaves. So savory in the best way. Joyful.

1982 Vietti Barolo Riserva Villero - on the other hand, this was far from mature. Magnificent, powerful yet balanced. Still quite primary and feeling this will last a long time.

Will work on getting the next batch out shortly.

Cheers!

Thanks for sharing the TN’s, Daniel. Some very interesting wines there.

They wouldn’t, of course, hold a candle to a good Calif Nebb!!!

I love old Nebbs like this for their ethereal/soaring bouquets. They can be so magical. You can sit there and
smell them for hours.
Alas…those tannins can hang on so long, though.

Tom

Ha! I did try a nice California Nebbiolo when I was out there in April from Idlewild…but they’ve got a long way to go! But nice to see that going on in CA.

And you are correct, I could smell old Nebbiolo for hours.

Thanks for the notes, bud. You are a hitter! I hope you are aging as well as these wines (it’s been a while, amiright).

It’s nice to have concrete examples of older wines showing beautifully rather than the pure conjecture on some of the active threads these days.

Thanks Ben! Amanda’s aging well! Not sure about me

Next little batch, some Cappellano and an Altare:

1952 Cappellano Barolo - my version of “orange wine”. Pouring out was almost clear, but as it settled in the decanter it had this magical orange glow. The nose still had so much going on. Incredibly sweet. Tannins gone, soft subtle finish. Elegant and pretty. Cappellano is amazing, the wines when stored well, will last forever.


The next two wines were served to me by my wife completely blind.

First wine - my guess - 2008 traditional producer of Nebbiolo - answer 2004 Cappellano Barolo Pie Franco - not surprising that I would have thought the wine was younger given the structure and tannic backbone of the Serralunga Michet clone wine. I’ve had poor luck with the 04 Rupestris, but this wine was stunning. Clearly a wine for the ages, and will probably last as long as the 52 above. Power, balance, fantastic.

Second wine - my guess - 99-01 Gaja. Answer 1996 Elio Altare Barolo Arborina - not a bad guess as I went more modern. For those that say you can’t detect Nebbiolo in Altare wines, this was 100% blind and it was clearly Nebbiolo. No question, more “polished” and for a 96 was in its optimal drinking window. This was a very good wine, but it wasn’t the Pie Franco.

Wow
Great notes on great wines. Thanks
Some of the vintages are often under the radar, like 1970.

Great notes, Daniel! Wish I could find the types of “bargain” 1971 barolo that you found in the Massolino.
If you had only one bottle of Vietti 1982 Riserva Villero, how long would you hold?
Keep on posting!
Regards,
Peter

Thanks, in my opinion 1970 is a top notch vintage, drinking incredibly well right now. A great alternative to 1971s.

At least 10 more! Probably more.

Not to disagree with Dan, but in the interests of providing Peter with another data point on that '82 Vietti Villero, when Antonio did his vertical of the Vietti Villero, he considered the '82 ready/mature (and in his experience, also somewhat irregular). Given that the wine is now 35 years old, I would say to open it whenever you feel like it - drink or hold.

Thanks, Daniel and Bob!
Peter

Definitely another good data point. To be completely open, Antonio definitely likes to drink Nebbiolo younger than I do. That being said, you won’t feel bad drinking the 82 Vietti now!

The ups and downs of Giuseppe Rinaldi - a good bottle of a wine made by Battista Rinaldi can be earth shattering, life changing stuff. It is also probably the hardest thing in the world to find. So sometimes against my better judgement, I buy it when it comes around from sources outside my comfort zone.

First three wines all cooked/spoiled. All sourced in the US. 1958 Barolo Riserva, 1964 Barolo and 1971 Barolo. As an aside, I’ve had the 71 and when its on, its incredible:



Next two wines in absolutely perfect condition, sourced from trusted sources in Italy. I had previously posted on Vinous the 67, but here again.

1967 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo - just absolute perfection. 50 years old, but just flat out beautiful. The ethereal notes that come only from the best nebbiolo. Dried tea leaves, dried red fruit, brininess, umami. Elegant on the palate with perfect acidity and a nice long finish. Just dreamy.

1982 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo - another stunning 82 and again much life ahead of it. This wine reminded me of an older version of the 2004 Giacosa Asili Riserva, which I’ll get around to posting on later. A wine with such sweetness and balance and sexiness. Knockout.

Cheers!

Great notes again!!
Regarding bottles from the 60’s and 70’s, I have never been let down by my sources in Piemonte, allthough their storage conditions are not especially cool (probably above 20 degrees (C) all summer)

Getting to the next batch. I’ve posted of my love affair with old Gaja before. I’ll reiterate this with a handful of old Gaja notes. I would put their old wines up there with any of the greats from this era. Will start with some Barbaresco.

1961 Gaja Barbaresco “Black Label” - INCREDIBLE. One of the best Gaja wines I’ve ever had, and I really adore Gaja. Per one of Antonio’s notes, this was the Infernot wine before they put that on the label. Perfectly mature, headspinning nose. Seamless on the palate, with picture perfect texture and acidity. Up there with the 71 Gaja wines for my all time favorites. By the way, adding a photo where you can see my fingers through the glass because it better conveys color than the photo with the bottle.


If you asked me the greatest vintage of Gaja, I’d have a number of contenders - 78, 89, 97, 70, but for me, the number one would be 1971. Normale, Sori Tildin and Sori San Lorenzo are out of this world.

1971 Gaja Barbaresco - stunning normale. picture perfect Gaja acidity balanced with dried red fruits. great wine.

1971 Gaja Barbaresco Sori Tildin - take the normale up a notch and this is what you have. Absolutely amazing nose, briny qualities, smells like autumn Perfect palate. Right there with the legendary 71 Sori San Lorenzo in my mind. Incredible.

1970 Gaja Barbaresco Sori Tildin - speaking of Sori Tildin, a few others, starting with the 1970. 71 gets a lot of credit and rightfully so, but don’t forget 1970. The wines from this vintage are in a real sweet spot right now, drinking exceptionally well, and the 1970 Gaja is right in line. Maybe missing a bit of the “next level” component of the 71, this wine still hits on all cylinders and is perfectly mature and balanced. Excellent.

1974 Gaja Barbaresco Sori Tildin - had a lot of power but not quite the complexity of the 70 and 71. Solid wine but definitely more primary still. Not sure it will reach those heights.

1978 Gaja Barbaresco Costa Russi - this is a great wine. Gaja’s 78s deliver such great pleasure. powerful yet sweet red fruit. Still pretty tannic, as many 78s are. Excellent.

Going back in time for the last two Barbaresco wines

1967 Gaja Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo - first off, one of the all time greatest wine labels. Unfortunately while the wine was sound, it just wasn’t singing. Felt a bit flat on this day…alas…

1961 Gaja Barbaresco - like the black label, this wine is fabulous. Utterly intoxicating on the nose. Savory, umami flavors. Just wonderful.

A few bottles of Barolo for good measure. I’ll note that I think (with no scientific evidence) that I have a higher rate of success with old Gaja than almost any other wine of this era. Not sure why, maybe they used higher quality corks? Maybe just luck. I will note that at some point the corks got REALLY long, so long that you need an extra long Durand to get them out. I forget exactly which vintage that change occurred, but definitely most of the wines of the 80s. Anyhow, I digress:

1961 Gaja Barolo - despite my comment above, this one was a DUD. Partially oxidized. You could feel this would be a very good wine, but no getting around the flaw.

1989 Gaja Barolo Sperss - this wine is stunning. always. powerful, sexy, but balanced with beautiful acidity. Gorgeous red fruit. Still so young and lively. A joy to drink every time.

That’s it for now. Cheers!

Wow! Thatsa lotta old Gaja! Very envious.

Wow - some great old nebbiolo.

I had this one standing up so after seeing the positive note from the Vietti tasting the other day on the Vinous board, I opened this up.

1974 Vietti Barbaresco Masseria - you guys were pretty spot on with the positivity on this wine, outstanding. Super fresh, outstanding acidity and a monster finish made for a really wonderful wine. Beautiful red fruit. Long life ahead. Very nice.

Also, no picture, but another recent Cappellano note:

1970 Cappellano Barolo - this is one of the best Cappellano wines I can remember. Had this three times in the last year and always stands out. A wine that smells like autumn to me. Leaves and forest, amazing complex nose. Always stunning. Beautiful on the palate. Just great.