I’ve been taking deliveries into my cellar this week, including lots of old Barolos including Borgogno - where all my bottle have been original red caps (not the library release black-caps).
There was a 6-pack of 1955 Borgogno Barolo Riserva that has puzzled me:
All the caps are blue
There is no stamp in the glass above the year
There seem 3 different types of bottle (shown clearly in the different widths and depths of the punts)
Has anyone seen these blue-cap Borgogno’s before, or the differing bottle types? It seems very odd to me…
Thanks for your help!
(attached a photo of one bottle, and 3 punts from the same case)
Thanks Ken - I haven’t either, and I have tonnes of this wine back to the 40s. The blue foil could well be a protector added since there has been some minor leakage, and I’ve experienced different bottles in original wines from the period (they used what they had!) but it just seemed strange to have so many at once.
I will pop one tomorrow before the Leoville Las Cases dinner in London - either a damp squib or a legendary bottling… will slow-ox it for 6-8hrs in cautious optimism!
BTW: love your website. Let me know if you need photos of any bottles - I have hundreds of old Barolos back to the 30s from lots of producers, inc some of the special Bartolo labels you are missing.
I’ll email you a bunch of photos when I get the chance next week. In the meantime I popped one of my 55 Borgogno ‘blue-tops’. It seems genuine, although a very smokey wine. My quick CT note just now re-pasted below:
From an original release blue top (!) from my cellar which had some minor leakage so I popped to check. Loads of initial VA - this needed 5hrs in a decanter. I cannot stress this enough… Do NOT pop and pour this wine. Nice deep brown-burgundy colour and 3mm meniscus rim. Behind the initial VA was a lovely mixture of spices which remained but with air the wine was then marked by a 45sec finish of wood smoke and fennel. Intensive rose and tar on the nose, OK mid-palate that falls off a bit (maybe even more air needed) but great sour cherry persistancy in the mouth. Still that lingering smoke was amazing with rich tomato-based food… Almost like there was a bit of Laphroaig mixed in! 94+pts… The best sip was the last, this may be even better next time. No hurry to drink, this has more than 10yrs left.
Edit: as an experiment, after 5hrs in a decanter I ran some through an oxidation bubble machine to simulate a further 2hrs in a glass. The previously disappointing mid-palate became fantastic! This needs even more air than I thought… Try SEVEN hours in a decanter next time.
If available, it would be interesting to see the cork on this bottle. Also, I wonder if it was reconditioned. You refer to the black-topped capsules as “library releases” but I try to avoid that terminology because I don’t think it fully describes what the color of the capsule represent. I think of a library release as something held back by the producer and released later in time. Thus, library release could in fact describe some of the red-topped capsules if such have been held back and later released. What the black-topped capsules really seem to represent is that the wines have not only be reconditioned but decanted for sediment. They may well also be “library releases” but I think that fact pales in comparison to the significance of the reconditioning. I think better descriptors would be “original release” for the red-topped capsules and “reconditioned” for the black-topped capsules. As to what is signified by a blue capsule, given that older releases I have seen (e.g., 1947 and 1952) seem to have red-capsuled tops, my guess – and it is purely a guess – is that blue capsules represent reconditioning or recorking, whether by the producer or a third party. That is why I think the appearance of the cork might be enlightening. I can’t tell from the tasting note provided whether the wine has been reconditioned; it sounds like to me like it could go either way.
Good point, I’d be interested to see the cork too. This is a fun little mystery! All of my old Borgogno has the red capsules. Also the raised seal in the bottles.
All mine are original releases too - I don’t like the reconditioned bottles much (black top). Have attached photos - there was nothing under the blue foil top and the cork seemed old, but not the usual Borgogno one… No markings and shorter than expected (have also attached a recent '71 red-top cork photo for comparison).
A bit of a mystery. There was sediment and the amount of VA consistent with this wine. Will pop soon another bottle of this wine with larger punt…
Seems Maureen is around tomorrow where I’ll be having a pre-dinner drink tomorrow. If she has a second will ask her if she’s seen this before.
Regardless - I’m happy with the wine, having tasted it and given what I paid (the merchant assures me it came from a good Italian supplier). Love these old Borgogno’s and just want to understand his strange bottling.
Joe Dulworth has some of these wines. In fact he is taking a 1947 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva to our weekend at the lake which starts tomorrow. A small group of us get together each year somewhere for great food, outstanding wine, and good company. I have never seen a blue cap on any of his but you could reach out to him.
I’ve had a few hundred (I know, I have a problem…) red cap Borgognoss - including multiple cases of 47 without any blue caps. And then 6 appear, with unusual corks and different bottle sizes. It’s a fun mystery… Am almost tempted to open another one tomorrow, perhaps the bottle with larger punt.
