On the 20th of June I had a few mates over for a relaxed afternoon of Barolo and food. We started at roughly 1pm. I should probably start with my wine preparation as I do believe that had a positive benefit on the day.
I opened the 2012s and the 1970 at ~2:30pm on Friday before the event. I would have probably opened them midday but wasn’t able to due to work. These wines have been standing up in my cellar for a little over a month now, so sediment settling was sorted. The two 2012s were decanted via a sterling silver decanting funnel which gently funnels the wine to the side wall of the wide bowled decanters I used. The 1970 was treated the same way except I don’t have a third wide bowled decanter so I instead decanted that into a smaller decanter.
When pouring these wines into the decanter I find most people stop once they see the first hint of sediment. I’m a bit more cautious than that, I stop once I see a fine white cloud start to enter the bottle neck. I don’t believe this is sedimentary precipitation but instead I suspect it’s an artifact of fining. That’s an assumption though, I could easily be wrong. Anyway, as soon as I see white cloud creep into the neck (I decant with my phone flashlight under the neck so I can see what’s going on) I stop pouring.
Once all three wines were in decanter I covered them with a paper towel each and just left them in the cellar. The next morning around 9am I moved them out of the cellar and into my house so they could have a chance to come up to serving temperature. My mates were late, so we didn’t start until a little after 1pm. But by the time we got to the Barolo we were very close to a day of them being in the decanter as of course we started with the…
2019 Raveneau 1er Butteaux - Good lord, what a great wine. Despite having a number of years of bottle age this is fresh, tight, primary, and yet just laser-like in focus. There’s fine mineral detail and the mid palate has both good complexity and weight without being over the top. There’s also a hint of malo-ey roundness that helps the wine fan out on the back palate to provide excellent length. Honestly, I adore Chablis like this. One can never have enough Raveneau imho.
2012 Roberto Conterno Francia - I decided we should look at this next as I wholly expected the Conterno to be prettier/more elegant when compared to the G. Rinaldi despite it being the Tre Tine I was opening. Thankfully I was right. From my notes on the day - Absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. Bright, elegant, and pretty red fruited nose. Super clean for a Barolo and yet still deep and full of complexity without being broad shouldered or brutish in the slightest. Goudron as well, but just a hint. Palate was phenomenal. Basically a mirror of the nose. Clean, mountains of fresh red fruits, bright, high acid, fine copious yet somewhat resolved tannins, and a wonderful combination of length and elegance. Just absolute top shelf traditionalist Barolo through and through. It’s probably worth mentioning that Roberto did not make Monfortino in 2012 so all the juice that would have been classified as Monfortino ended up in this instead.
2012 Guiseppe Rinaldi Tre Tine - The third vintage of the three sisters (thanks EU!). On pour this wasn’t as pretty as the Conterno. Hints of medicinal notes and a touch of volatility initially. It then moved towards mushroom and meaty/sauvage notes on the nose. But with some time in glass it really opened and prettied up. All of the initial aromatics gave way to beautiful fresh red fruits on nose and palate. I found it a bit more structured than the Conterno as well. Elegant, long, and expansive on the back palate. Another gorgeous wine.
1970 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo - This wine was excellent and borderline constantly evolved during us tasting. Initially it seemed a little reserved and not too expressive. Next time I put my nose in the glass I got hit with freshly shaved white truffle. From there I got a touch of caramelised/toffeed aromas. The palate was just incredible. Older wines like this (when sound) show a concentrated vinous sucrosity that I find super engaging. Every sip induced an uncontrollable mouth watering response. As one can imagine the tannins were mostly resolved here. If you get a chance to pick up a F. Rinaldi from a good vintage from the 70s or before I highly recommend them. Personally I’ve had the best success rate with this producer for aged Barolo when taking price into context. Sure, it’s no 1961 Monfortino or 1978 Bartolo, but for the money they’re exceptionally compelling.
2004 Paolo Scavino Bricco Ambrogio - My mate brought this, and I was thankful that I didn’t immediately scream “MODERNIST” and kick him out the house when he pulled it out. He more than made up for it with his 48 and 120 month aged Parmigiano Reggiano contributions though. Anyway, onto the wine. Nose was somewhat indicative of the quality fruit that went into this bottling and 2004 was a stunning vintage for Barolo. But everything just seemed somewhat muted and simultaneously attenuated in all the wrong ways. Color was super dark when compared to the prior 3 offerings and sadly my mate wasn’t able to decant and it was chock full of suspended sediment. If it was properly decanted that would have been resolved, but I can’t help but feel that the oak imparted on this wine really brings everything down. I was really disappointed in this one, although unsurprised.
2007 Mirafiore Barolo - Corked, horribly so.
2010 Mirafiore Barolo - This was a welcome change to the Scavino given the Mirafiore’s traditionalist pedigree. Being honest though, it didn’t even begin to approach the highs of the first three Barolo we looked at on the day. Not bad, and if I looked at it stand alone I’d probably find it more compelling but in the company it kept on the day it was a bit foursquare at best.
The last two wines were locally sourced quaffers, there were 4 of us drinking in total on the day and by that point I wasn’t going to open anything of note. Thankfully I’ve finally learned this lesson. A great day all around!