As far as I can tell from the internet even the Ciabot Mentin Ginestra is aged mostly in brand-new barriques, which amazes me. Doesn’t taste like it.
We’re tasting '06 Barolo this evening and the Ciabot will be in there, should be interesting.
Did it not seem modern or did it not seem oaky.
To me it seemed oaky at a minimum, but modern as well.
As usual there are a wonderful set of divergent opinions. I don’t think 98 is a particularly good vintage for example, but I will say that Massolino, Roagna and Cavalotto were particularly successful. Though that should not be taken as meaning that I think traditionalists did particularly well. Better than the modernists? I can agree with that.
…not to mention the Mons,within the contesxt of the vintage of course…if you like that sort of wine… ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I was pleasantly surprised by how many of the more modern Barolo are coming along in '98. The Scavino Bric del Fiasc was great at the last tasting. Luigi Pira’s Marenca opened up slowly, but when it did, it was magical. The Clerico Pajana was certainly a modern wine but still enjoyable.
As for the more traditional, Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto is a gorgeous bottle of wine. Giacomo Conterno’s Cascina Francia is in that perfect spot right now; it’s so sad that it can’t be had for a good price. Especially since I’ve heard stories of crazy blowout prices on this bottle in the past.
PS: Thanks for the shout out Ken.
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva is imo the Barbaresco of the vintage. And, if you can find it, not unreasonably priced for a red label.
Giacosa Le Rocche del Falletto is exceptional and the best 1998 barolo I’ve tasted. This week we drank a ’98 Barolo Falletto over several nights – medium bodied, clear beautiful garnet with minimal rim color change. terrific nose of roses. Medium bodied, comes on smoothly but then quickly tannins arise, leading to a notably long fruity finish, but the whole experience is very enjoyable.
Bartolo Mascarello barolo really excels in this vintage, and will drink well over several nights.
G Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste WA86 and IWC(93+) shit happens.
The only Massolino that I’ve tried is the Vigna Rionda Riserva, which was more backward than any ’98 that I’ve tasted – nailed me to the floor. The multiple positive reviews of Cavallotto and Mascarello Monprivato bottlings in this thread make me wish that I had looked for those producers in 1998, but alas…
1998 Barbaresco recommendations – Poderi Colla Roncaglie, Giacosa Asili, Roagna
Greg, you don’t think it’s a particularly good vintage as in it’s not a great vintage, or you think it’s pretty much a mediocre vintage?
Wow. I’m a little surprised to hear you say this. I don’t think it’s a great vintage, and I think 95,96,99 will certainly be better ultimately, but I think it’s clearly superior to 91-93, 97, 2000, etc. Do you have any 98’s you want to send my way? The nice thing is that it’s one of those under the radar vintages that has actually turned out quite nice. I wish the under the radar status were reflected in current prices.
1998 contains very polarizing wines. On one side, lots of experimentation with extraction and barrique ageing vs. old school mascerations and large casks. I can’t believe anyone thinks Clerico CMG doesn’t show oak, I think it’s an oak monster when young, but it’s such a big wine it usually integrates. Whether you like it or not is a different issue. Conterno CF and several Giacosa wines from 1998 are spectacular. A CF the other night was emerging from its shut down shell and was fantastic, but with loads of upside, I’d wait a few more years before seriously diving in. The Giacosa Asili Red Label is disappointing and not worth the tariff. A recent Parusso Bussia Vigna Rocche was quite modern with sweet oak but the fruit was huge, ultimately balancing it out. I think the wine will come into balance, but whether you like it depends on your predilections. The wines are relatively inexpensive, it seems to be a forgotten year (other than Conterno at $160 and Giacosa), so if you find wines you like, you can buy them relatively cheaply now. I think it’s worth investigating.
I think not great is closer to my thoughts. The wines lack the focus and aromatic complexity of the best vintages. It’s by no mean mediocre though.
I would agree with you placement of the vintage within the vintages of the decade, though I would say that qualitatively it’s on par with 2000. I won’t be sending any bottles your way but happy to share them if you anytime!
massolino rionda is very good, the parafada was tooalcoholic when I had it last time (2Y ago at Bovio), corino giachini is also very good and the Granbussia is fabulous, we had it last autumn next to 96 and 97 and several of the tasters preferred 98 as it had more finesse than the other 2.
Well, maybe my memory’s playing tricks with me. The '06 was showing its oak last night, not my cup of tea. Overall the '06s showed well, I thought.
06 seems to be a great vintage in the making. Tough little buggers at times but with power, balance, and elegance. What else did you try?
People actually think '95 is a better vintage than '98?
Wow - to be honest, given what I’ve tried from '95, I don’t even think it’s any better than '93. At least IMO, the only clearly superior vintages to '98 in the decade were '96 & '99, and neither of them can be drunk right now.
Let’s keep the Massolino Rionda Riserva on the down-low. My favorite of the vintage.
Eric, when Binny’s blew out the CF about 8 years ago, that was a marvelous sight. Could be had for ~$35/btl.
Vietti village wine, Rabaja from Castello di Verduno, village wine from Produttori di Barbaresco, Francesco Rinaldi Brunate, the Clerico, Mauro Veglio village wine, Cavalotto Bricco Boschis, Alessandria Monvigliero. I thought a number of the wines were very good, particularly the ones that weren’t showing their alcohol. (A number of very good vintages lately, eg '04, often seem rather alcoholic, which is why I like the best '05s so much.)
Greg, is F. Rinaldi still fully traditional?
Bob,
they are certainly very different vintages. 95 is certainly better than 93, and recent tastings have indicated 95 is coming out of it’s shell (there should be a post from a few months ago here on my group’s 95 tasting, and Eric I think published one earlier this year as well–sorry, i don’t have the links handy at the moment). 95 wins out as the more serious, more traditional, long lived Barolo vintage, although 98 is more charming and shouldn’t be shorted. I don’t know, for me it’s about a toss up.
Oliver,
F Rinaldi is fully traditional, though at times the wines don’t seem so. Fully traditional has assumed new meaning over the past few years. G Conterno is fully traditional, yet those wines also don’t seem as traditional as they once were.
I prefer 95 to 98. I find the wines more complex and better balanced.
Thanks, Greg. The F Rinaldi that we tasted blind inspired a number of new oak notes from good tasters, oddly.