I know this might be too vague a question, but I’m curious what people who’ve drank some of these wines think of the vintages.
Should one be more enjoyable young? How are the tannins relative to each other? I’m sure there are examples all over the map, but I’m curious if anyone can point to trends.
04 is my first real vintage buying heavily in barolo, planning to at least keep pace with 05 though am wondering if this strategy makes sense versus focusing on one over the other.
Are many of the '05 Barolo released? It seems that during Tre Bicchieri the '04’s were fresh off the boat, so to speak, and that was not quite a year ago.
The 05’s have been available for a little while now but a lot are just getting to market. The 04’s are a sort of no-brainer, most everything is good. And despite some reviews not as high for 05 I have found the ones I have tasted to be extremely good. And some 05’s are off the hook.
And beyond that-- 06, 07 and 08 look to be very good from what I read and hear. So take on multiple jobs to fill up your cellars. It is a good time to be a Barolo fan…
The 05 Barolos are just coming on the market, so probably only those folks who went over there can compare them. From what I’ve read, 05 is a very good year, while 04 was a great year. Also 06-08 may all be better than the 05s, so I’m not rushing out to buy the 05s (except Giacosa, of course).
I tasted a lot of 2005s in barrel, and while likable, nothing struck me as great, and I do not think that the wines are comparable to the 2004s. If you do have dollars to spare, rather than spending them on 2005s, you might find better choices between 1998 and 2001, many of which are still available, in fact some are being dumped.
Greg dal Piaz, who many of you know, and whose palate tracks mine much of the time, says that 2004 is more approachable and more consistent but that the best of the 05s will be better and (if I recall his remarks) longer lived. The 04s do seem pretty approachable, as a rule.
With the other good vintages in the pipeline, and sales obviously slow, I don’t know that there’s any reason to go berserk over the 04s and 05s. There are still good 96s, 99s and 01s on the market, too, if you look around.
04 is perhaps a touch riper / rounder / lusher. 05 might be a hair more variable and the wines a hair more linear and in need of age. But it’s splitting hairs, good producers knocked it out of the park in both years. 06 is like 04 (and 01) in that it is a great year but undeniably one where wines are a touch riper. I don’t think 07 or particularly 08 will reach the levels of 01/04/05/06, but it’s far too early to say much concrete. Keep in mind that just like in Burgundy, improving viticultural practices have moderated the bad years and a lot of years that previously would have been poor or very spotty at best can now produce lot of solid wines, if not classics.
A simple attempt to bump an older thread, maybe work in some thoughts about the early looks at 06-08?
Or maybe another related question, other than tasting the wines, where are you Piedmont heads gathering information about the vintages? I don’t subscribe to WA, and have in general found it difficult to find information about the region, certainly harder than with Burgundy where so many skilled bloggers exist.
2006 Barolo has been a pleasant surprise for me, in that, the ones I have tried have been extremely drinkable. No hard tannins. Limited astringency and overall a joy to drink. Plenty of fruit. Good structure. Nice aromatics. And there seems to be plenty of serious upside as well.
My sample of producers are ones that I carry (and most would be considered somewhat modern, though not all): Vietti, Luigi Pira, Seghesio, Corino, both Renato and Giuliano.
Plan on working with other 2006 from Elio Grasso, Borgogno, Conterno, Rinaldi and a few others as they enter the SoCal market.
Back to the 04 vs. 05 debate: I think the 05’s are a better “restaurant” wine. Slightly less structured and more of a classic vintage to drink earlier than the “more of everything” 04 vintage. Of course, this is still very general as some producers may have made better 05 than 04. Bottom line, as always, taste as mush as you can.
I’ve had the '05 Brovia and it’s excellent, good concentration and fresh acidity but firm fine tannins you’d expect from traditional Barolo from Serralunga.
I worked the market with Luisa Rocca (Bruno Rocca) back in October and her opinion was that the '06 was very much like the '04 & '01 while the '07 was a riper vintage more in line with '00 or '97. Tasting the two Rabajas and '06 Marie Adeleide I could see her point. I asked her about more recent vintages and she said '08 was a bit below the '04-'07 run but not much. She said they were very happy with '09 and the just completed '10 harvest. We didn’t have any '05s left to show so that vintage didn’t come up in conversation.
These days, I think Antonio is the best source for information about recent vintages in Piedmont. That’s primary reason that I still subscribe to the WA.
Greg dal Piaz has some nice write-ups on Snooth, but I find it hard to find them after the fact. There’s something about the navigation on that site that doesn’t work for me. Maybe Greg can post some links here?
The 05’s seem quite accessible and generous with decent but not huge structures. The 04’s are dense, ripe, luscious and chewy. The rich, sweet fruit is hiding some serious underlying structures. Both are good vintages in their own way.
I have had no hesitation buying many 05s…many jewels to be had.
Had a taste of the 05 Bartolo last night…one of the better 05s IMO.
06 is my last Nebbiolo vintage with the exception of some 07 Barbaresco,and Ken knows which ones…
I recently had 05 Bartolo, Cascina Francia, Monprivato and Giacosa Santo Stefano all next to each other. The Monprivato and Santo Stefano were excellent. The Bartolo could have been excellent but was spoiled by Brett to a degree that compressed the palate and dried out the finish. The Cascina Francia was a big disappointment, quite overripe with gritty tannin and bitterness on top of the raisin character.
I’ve had the same wines,own the same wines,and except for the Monprivato and SS,my experiences were nothing like yours,especially with the Bartolo.The 05 CF,had on release ,I would think would be in slumber by now and Not open for business.
Bill, The CF was a head scratcher for me as I recall it being brilliant out of cask. Obviously gritty tannins, raisined fruit are not part of being closed. I hope just an off bottle as I own some.
The Bartolo was undeniably bretty, though there can obviously be bottle variation. For what it is worth two other winemakers and Barolo drinkers shared these wines with me and we all faulted the CF and Bartolo for the same reasons. I own some Bartolo in 05 too