We need two vintages of the century every decade in Piedmont to keep up with the hype in Cali, Bordeaux and Burgundy. Fair is fair. I ran this little tasting in hopes of searching out another of the secrets of the vintage. And came away with more doubts than answers. Sometimes wine will do that, but that is what makes it special. But I really had to put the results out for others to see. In about two weeks I will do it again. We will see what the wines have to say.
Gary, that is really the only point that I am trying to make. The Piemonte, viewed in larger context, should be beyond that sort of hype. Too much outstanding wine over a run that is closing in on 20 years now, and only one certifiable off-vintage, 2002. Arguably the strongest run in the history of fine wine. While people stock up on 2010s, they need to QUICKLY look at what is still out there with some age on it, and also to look forward to the vintages following 2010. There are no 2002s to be found there, either…
Gary, do I understand correctly that you’ve had 6 or so bottles of the 2010 Perbacco “at/near Barolo quality”, and then one poorly showing bottle? You’re not chalking this up to bottle variation (or taster/environmental variation), but rather as a sign that 2010 Perbacco perhaps should be questioned either on the basis of vintage or blend?
I had a “quartino” (250ml) of this at a local restaurant last weekend - don’t know how long the bottle was opened. Not much to go on, but I liked it better than previous vintages at this stage (especially 07 and 09 which I found to be heavy, plodding, lacking energy), and was considering grabbing a few for daily drinking.
Yes. I have had at least six bottles and thought that they were really good to great. Maybe the wine was off. Maybe I was off. And I am not going to question the wine after one lesser bottle. Just kind of reporting what I find. If I only talk about the good ones it is kind of stacking the deck.
I do think I’ll go in on some of the Perbaccos - after all, one of the all-time QPRs and I’m reading your reports as mostly quite positive! (I should disclaim that I was in a very wine receptive mood on the day I tasted it!)
I drank a bottle over 2 days. It was quite good on the first day but did not hold up as well as I would have liked to day 2. Still, fine for everyday, short termed drinking.
I had the 2010 Perbacco with dinner last night and it was great. Definitely can see the “baby” Barolo moniker being used here. At first it was a bit tight, but after a half hour or so it was singing. Lovely aromatics with nice balance and structure. Went great with my Tenderloin with fois gras and truffle jus on spaghetti squash.
Good to see some other notes. Wanted to open another bottle tonight, but it was a Sangiovese evening.
Had a few drops of the 2010 Vajra Nebbiolo last night.Lovely bright and spicy nose and it should be a good mid term ager.A baby Bricco delle Viole.
I really liked their 2010, but we have moved to the 2011 Nebbiolo on Vajra. It would have been nice to have them in the tasting group.
Just bought a few of the 11s and will try one soon.
Good, but the 2010 was better. Looking forward to the 2010 Barolo Albe.
So I ran through the wine again tonight. This time they were from a Coravin. Much closer spread on all the wines. And I added the 2009 Produttori del Barbaresco. All the wine showed in top form. The Vietti was back to the usual high levels that I have had in other bottles. The Brovia was very light colored and elegant. With minimal tannins. The Paitin was tight and still the best wine of the Nebbiolo. But not by much. Beautiful fruit and structure on this thing. The Produttori had a much more expressive nose with violets and cherry. Firm tannins that are not excessive and blend nicely into the package. Interesting tasting out of the Coravin. I will probably open the bottles and finish them this weekend.
I’ve been drinking a good amount of 2011 Dolcetto over the last year (Bartolo d’Alba, Vajra Coste & Fossati, Roagna d’Alba, Marcarini Boschi di Berri), and have absolutely loved them, even though I wasn’t generally expecting great things from the '11 vintage. Haven’t tried any Barbera from '11.
2011 Damilano Barbara d’ Alba < $20 pretty good stuff for not a lot of $. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}