In fact, it worked extremely well. While I was the only person to know how these truly smelled and tasted during the aeration time, I can safely say that the wines were unequivocally better (and showed off the terroir) by the time we drank them as opposed to the pop n pour I gave at 7am. I also had the “benefit” of leaving work early (because of injury) and then tasting them after 8 hours of double decanting. I can safely say that every single wine was better with extended air.
While this isn’t empirical evidence, it is a very satisfactory data point along the road.
What did I generally learn from this and my experience with the 99 Barolos? That there is very little empirical evidence to any one side and anyone who claims otherwise only truly wants people to believe that theirs is the only way. There is no one way and we just have to give into the beguiling beauty that is truly Nebbiolo.
Pat, I submit to you that this is a red herring in the larger discussion, and is NOT a argument for pop and pour 7 years after the vintage. It is a compelling argument for popping and pouring the wine in question. This is a base Barolo from a so-so modernist producer, and from an early-drinking vintage. This is more akin to a Nebbiolo bottling than Barolo, and having had Grasso wines in the past, this was no doubt pop and pour upon release and at all times since. Your “tannic brute” here was, to my mind, not an indication that the wine had decades of development ahead of it, nor an indication of your “wall of tannin” phenomenon. I think this speaks to the quality and style of winemaking, and this may have been more of a “gather ye rosebuds while ye may” wine. There are many Nebbiolo and base Barolo bottlings out there that a restaurant-friendly pop-and-pour wines that are not going to reward cellaring, while I think that your theory and mine are both based upon the age-worthy wines that people reading this are collecting…
Matt, the ideas here apply equally to Barolo and Barbaresco. Both are 100% Nebbiolo wines, and while they come from different microclimates, there is no real distinction to be drawn between them. The notion persists that Barolo is the king of wines (and wine of kings, no less) and Barbaresco the queen of wines, and that Barolo is invariably more age-worthy, but this is ignorance that even Nebbiolo newbie Kerin O’ Keefe perpetuated in her recent book. I can show you 1967 Produttori single-vineyard Reserve Speciale that have yet to peak and are more age-worthy than the Monfortino and Giacosa Collina Rionda Riserva Speciale from the same vintage. It is just that Barolo is three times as large as Barbaresco and has been at it longer, so it is quantatively much easier to find excellent, famous-name, age-worthy Barolo, having little or nothing to do with soil and location in a larger geographical sense, although much to do with the specific terroirs involved in both zones. There are enough differences, particularly relative to rain and hail, which are highly localized in the Piemonte, to cause one zone or the other to have the better vintage sometimes, but that has nothing to do with age-worthiness…
+2, with the caveat that I hope that you are doing this to, as you suggested, get a sense of the vintage and to guide future purchasing decisions. Open wines and enjoyable drinking is not likely in the cards. I would suggest that you consider doing this over two or even three nights if possible (at least for the host, if not all participants), with night one being the most important for your purposes, but with the virtual certainty that the extended air time may hold some surprises for you. I think that the corollary to the Burton Wall Of Tannin Theory is that some, but surely not all, young Nebbioli will break through the wall with extended aeration (but usually days, not a few extra hours)…
But the big questions are always whether the wines will shut down, and when. If the 2010 big guns never shut down, then I would cast my vote for 2010 being radically overhyped. (I am not worried about that.) gary, one other factor: if you are tasting normale Baroli, you are tasting something more akin to Nebbiolo bottlings than to Monfortino, where early drinkability is often a given and not the yardstick by which more serious Baroli are to be measured…
Bill, lots of good points to follow up on. First, I agree that the Grasso wine in question did not show any signs that it had decades ahead of it. I also agree that, based on my experience (which is limited) S. Grasso normale drinks well young. I’ve never had one with any significant age and haven’t had one I’d suggest should be consumed with significant age.
I think we (or maybe just I) have conflated a couple of different issues that your post brings to light. If I may, I shall attempt to draw out where our agreements lie and where there may (or may not) be disagreement. We both seem to agree that there is an early window in which most (but not all) nebbiolo can be opened shortly after release to get a sense of its potential. The window is short and variable by wine. Within this window, decanting typically causes the wine to shut down revealing only the tannin and acid backbone.
Despite this window’s existence, we both also agree that this is far from the optimal time to drink these wines and we should instead let them age gracefully for decades (specific to the producer, bottling, and vintage). It is only with this age that the wine realizes its full potential. Aged nebbiolo requires air, but the amount is specific to the wine, or maybe even the individual bottle. While the aged bottles I’ve had did not require a time measured in days, I suspect that is due to the specific wines I’ve consumed (proerly aged, but middle tier). While I continue to experiment on this front, all signs point to your extended aeration methodology as being appropriate.
Now, here is where things get less clear. There are some Barolo/Barbaresco out there that taste and smell best with little to no air despite being in the juvenile stage (to err on inclusion, let’s say 5-15 years post vintage). From my experience, many of these wines likely fall into the modern camp. Examples I can think of from personal experience off the top of my head 2007 S. Grasso Barolo, 2005 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco, 2006 Fiorenzo Nada Langhe Seifile, 2005 Andrea Oberto Barolo, 2001 Cogno Barolo Ravera. To be certain, none of these are in the top echelon of producers, and in fact, I’ve been drinking most of them because I don’t want to devote cellar space to them anymore. What I’m describing may be restricted to middle tier and lower producers and not relevant to those drinking the top tiers of nebbiolo; I’m not certain of this though because I simply won’t waste those wines to find out. It is also fair to say that my specific examples are mostly from early drinking vintages. My point, however, is that when decanted, these wines lost all of their aromatic complexity and revealed only the dreaded ‘wall’ (with maybe some fennel). In fairness, I didn’t follow any of these wines beyond the next day, but there was nothing of interest happening at that point. It is in this age bracket with this tier of wines that I restrict this decanting analysis. I don’t have evidence to extrapolate beyond this, nor do I think one should.
One interesting note that you made is the 99 G. Conterno TN in another thread. I find it interesting that the wine was more interesting upon opening than it was after several hours in the decanter. You have cautioned that the wine is simply too young and I agree. However, if one did, the question remains on whether to drink it immediately or decant it for a day+?
Pat, there was some confusion about where and when the 99 Cascina Francia was singing. I talked more about it with my friend(who brought it) and he said it wasn’t at it’s best right away. He said he felt it was in a tremendous spot with about 4 hours in the decanter and he then put it back in the bottle.
Pat, you have summarized pretty well everything that both of us, and others, have said. I would add two things. The first is that longer aeration of older wines is going at the expense of aromatics in some wines, but, interestingly enough, not in others, and indeed, some old Nebbioli will only blossom aromatically with extended aeration. Yet another thing to add to the unpredictable feature list. However, if one has aromatics on the front end but the wine is not drinkable, sacrificing some (rarely all, or even most) aromatics for a tasty wine is not much of a price to pay. The second point is that you may want to try riding past the “wall”, regardless of the quality tier of your wine. There are surely going to be wines that never get any better. In some cases, it will be because there was not much there to begin with, and pop and pour (more or less) was, in retrospect, your only option on that wine. In other cases, it will be because you have opened a completely closed wine that is not improved by extended aeration. Nothing to do about that, except let time pass before opening another bottle. In the last case, it could be that the wine changes character and gives pleasure on day three. No formula available here, either, but I do think that, with enough experience, one begins to get some sense of which of those three possibilities one is dealing with.
I see Keith’s clarification on the 1999 CF, but for my money, I think that it is always better to try and get it to give up something. If it does not, you have learned to leave that wine in the cellar. I generally believe that a hint and a tease from drinking such a wine shortly after opening is not reason enough to drink the bottle quickly and never know what it might have done. That differs from your theory, where you can be 100% confident that your young Nebbiolo is not going to blossom into perfect maturity with additional aeration…
Thanks for all the tips. I will suggest a pop and pour plan to all participants. We hold these events in restaurants. I will see if I can take home a few bottles which are not empty to assess their outcome the following nights.
I have had better luck with young barolo by just pouring into two 375’s and letting it sit for a couple of days, or maybe more. At the least, I don’t think I’ve ever had one just shut down doing it this way, and on some the difference is notable, and always has been an improvement over just pouring.
I have to admit I like the sound of that . Assuming it’s usage hasn’t already been patented by either Klapp or the good Professor, I may start using that from time-to-time .
I think that it should be spoken and written as Pat Burton’s “Wall of Tannin”. Gives it that Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” ring (for those old enough to remember Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” being recorded in an echo chamber)…
Gentlemen. I’m having lunch next week and plan to bring a '90 Conterno ‘Cascina Francia’. What do you think I should do, best guess? Pop and pour? 4-6 hour aeration? 16-20 hour aeration? Thoughts?
Not a snowball’s chance in hell of pop and pour. Open the night before, with at least 6 hours before bed to check the wine’s progress. If it is ready to drink by bedtime, cork it, keep in a cool spot and then double-decant just before heading to the restaurant. (It is not going to decline in a cool, corked bottle overnight.) If it is not ready the first night, cork it and then open it again the next morning. If you sense that it is going to need a lot more air, decant first thing in the morning and leave in the decanter until it pleases you, then bottle, cork and go. My guess is against an always-open 16-20-hour aeration for that bottle.
All of that said, given that it is a 1990, I am guessing that it may get where you want it to be before bedtime, but one never knows. Most modernist 1990s will not need more than 6 hours to blossom, and maybe less. If somebody has had the wine in question lately, knowing how much air time that person gave it may be helpful. (I say MAY be helpful, because some of us are fine with chewing bits of the wall of tannin while drinking our wines!)
Another option is to say screw it, throw up your hands in disgust, sell all of your Nebbiolo and take a bottle of The Prisoner to lunch…
Funny! I took my ex-in-laws out to dinner a couple of months back. ex-mom-in-law ordered a glass of “the prisoner”, said it was their favorite.
Thanks for the advice, I think I’ll uncork before going to bed, check in the morning and go from there. I need to ‘double decant’ and get the wine back in the bottle about 6 hours before lunch as it’s a working morning pre-lunch…
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