?
Brovia’s cuvee for 2014. They blended all of their single vineyards together to make the Unio. Personally, it was fairly disappointing when I baby killed it a few months back
Ah, right!
Many gold trivia stars for that. I wonder how many other people remembered that bottling!
Yeah I was referring to your note… I would guess this would be good in a couple years bc of the pedigree but who knows… can anyone compare 12 to 14? I heard the rain in Barolo made Concentration difficult to achieve?
It’s on my short list of buy candidates at PJ’s cost sale
I love Brovia, so bought some Unio, but have yet to open one (and bought less than I normally do).
When is PJ’s cost sale?
If anyone has 2011 Cappellano, that’s drinking fabulously right now, though they’ll also keep. It’s a winner either way.
both are pretty and feminine vintages, but I feel you can buy more widely and with more confidence on 12. While 12 isn’t a concentrated vintage by any means, it has more concentration than the bulk of 14s that I’ve tried. Personally, I really adore 12 and will be happy to keep buying them up to drink over the next 10-15 years
I’ve had great luck with 2011’s but the last one I opened the tannin really started to show through. 2000’s have been ready as I’ve tasted a few recently. Some 2013’s are still getting rave reviews…but I wonder how much of that is hope vs. experience. Anything from Ellio Grasso is going to need time, someone mentioned the 08’s and I think that those are shut down hard for the vintage with the more traditional producers…
If you can still find them: 2000, 2005, 2007, some 2009s, lesser 2010 (more like Barbaresco), some 2013 Laghe Rosso.
I know this might be off topic but thoughts on 1999 vintage of Barolo and its accessibility?
I had a 13 Vajra Albe a few days ago and it was both accessible and bright red fruited. I must admit I was a bit surprised, I was expecting a tannic beast.
That’s made to be approachable young. Not sure what they do differently – presumably shorter maceration among other things.
Cheers John, I wasn’t aware it was made for early drinking.
Speaking of the 2008s and Elio Grasso specifically, I opened a 2008 E. Grasso Gavarini Chiniera last night. Same deal as when I tasted it last about a year ago, it is gorgeously perfumed as many of the 08s are but remains quite tight on the palate. It is tannic but the tannins are elegant enough that it is quite drinkable and very enjoyable at this stage given the aromatics. If you have only a handful of bottles I would certainly wait another 5+ years to drink, but if you have many, I think it is worth checking in.
I stand by my comment yesterday that many of the 08s are quite enjoyable at this stage, even from classic producers. It depends on what you are looking for, obviously. If you want tertiary complexity, then no way. If you enjoy the youthful fruit, then you will find a beautiful perfume to many of these wines. In addition to the E. Grasso, the 2008 Bartolo Mascarello and Vajra BdV are outrageous IMO based on experience in past year.
Someone asked about 1999 - I think it depends but many of the wines are quite drinkable. Giacosa Rocche del Falletto is very nice, lacks tertiary complexity but is worth drinking now to catch the intense black fruit and the tannins are very smooth. 99 Vajra BdV is very much in the drinking window, very elegant wine as always. 99 Conterno Francia IMO needs more time, I find the Conterno Francia are very slow to show their cards - the 01 is showing nothing at this stage based on my experience for example.
A 2008 Rivetto Barolo Serralunga D’Alba we drank a couple of months back was open for business, and delicious!
I will hold off on the grasso for now. Anyone have any opinions on how soon runcot is drinkable versus casa mate and chinera?
I loved the 12 of this.
How would 07 compare to 09? I see a few bottles of that Rivetto for reasonable prices.
fyi, the runcot is unabashedly modern. They do the Casa Mate and Chinera as traditional, but the Runcot is extremely oaky
Except that a number of vintages of the Case Mate and Chinera in this decade have had marked new oak scents. I posted notes on them from blind tastings.