Discussion of house styles at: Paolo Scavino, Azelia, L Pira

WINE TALK
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While my best Nebbiolo experiences have been bottles from Conterno (both G. & A.), Mascarello (both B. & G.), Rinaldi (F. & G.), Cavallotto and Giacosa, I have had a lot of other fantastic bottles, be they from the likes of Produttori or Cortese, or newcomers like Cantina del Pino, or some of the “modernists” like Scavino, Azelia or Luigi Pira.

I know that Scavino currently does malo in barrique, 1/3 new, across the lineup, then goes to Botti. This, to me, results in a light touch on the Barolos that, in my experience and to my tastes, for the 01-04 vintages, is barely noticable, but perhaps a bit much oak on the Langhe Nebbiolo.

Does anyone have detailed info on how they have made the wines over the last, say, 15 years?

How about L Pira and Azelia, specifically over the last 15 years or so as well?

Re: specific wines, the 98 L Pira Margheria was a very nice bottle recently, and the 96 Azelia Brico Fiasco has blown me away a couple of times in the past year, the 96 San Rocco and 98 Bricco Fiasco and San Rocco also being good but not as stunning. From Scavino I’ve had great experiences with the 01’s and 04’s across the board, and the 03 Rocche Annunziata was honestly fantastic.

From all three producers I have had more bottles that I would call beautiful, classic wines and very few bottles where I felt oak or ripeness interfered with purity and aroma.

All comments/thoughts welcomed… I wonder if people think that these producers stack up, if their wines become great, which bottlings they enjoy, if they think they’ve pulled back a little stylistically, etc?

For a further comment – in the premium Barolo (and Barbaresco to include Giacosa!) ranks (roughly over $100, each producer’s premium wine), what do people think of these wines with respect to the others… ie - Monfortino, Monprivato, Granbussia, Rocche della Annunziata, Rocche Falleto & Asili Riservas, Vigna San Giuseppe, and since they don’t have premium cuvees/crus, Bartolo Mascarello’s Barolo, either of G Rinaldi’s crus. Personally I don’t see the value, factoring price vs my tastes, in Gaja, Voerzio or Sandrone so I didn’t include them due to little experience.

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Josh,

I’m thankful for this thread, and pleased to see that I actually have a few of these producers in my cellar awaiting me!

Pira, Scavino, Conterno Rinaldi, and Cavallotto! [good.gif]

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You should get some experience with Voerzio . . . I imagine he would leap to the top tier of producers quickly Josh.

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I’ve had a couple of experiences John, but not enough to form a solid opinion. Basically it comes down to: I can really greatly enjoy a lot of wine in the < $100 range and buy little in the > $100 range. Thus, despite the quality I don’t buy a lot of Giacosa Riserva, Monfortino, Granbussia, etc. Voerzio doesn’t see much experimentation as a result.

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Hey Josh, are you from New Jersey? You sure do ask a lot of questions! [drinkers.gif]

I am a big fan of Scavino. It started with the 89 and 90 vintages. His Fiasc and Cannubi from these vintages are great wines. Lately, the 90s seem a little wimpy compared to the 89s, but that’s true of a lot of Barolos from those vintages. The 90s are great in their own right, but don’t show well next to the more structured 89s.

It was my impression that Scavino used more oak in the mid-90s, but has toned that back down starting in 2001 or maybe 1999.

The general question of whether modern Barolos age as well as traditionally made ones is often hotly debated. In fact, which ones are modern and which are traditional is often hotly debated. Also, what most people call modern started mostly with the 1982 vintage (e.g. Altare). His Vigneto Arborina from 82 is a glorious wine imo. But there are no examples of ‘modern’ Barolo from say 1958 to compare to say Monfortino.

It’s a bit of apples and oranges. Monfortino has been around since 1920 and costs about $300 on release. Bartolo Mascarello’s Barolo and G. Mascarello’s Monprivato generally sell for under $100. These have also been around for a long time too. The first Monprivato was 1970. I think the first Ca d’Morissio (the riserva from Monprivato) was 1993. Giacosa has only labeled a wine Rocche del Falletto since 1997, though it is known that the 96 Falletto Riserva is from the Rocche subplot. Of course, Giacosa made his reputation in Barolo on other vineyards first (e.g. Rionda). Scavino’s Rocche dell’Annunziata is also somewhat recent, maybe 1990? Every Granbussia I have had has been a beautiful wine, but it generally doesn’t wow me like others in that price range.

I am a total Giacosa Ho, so his top wines are always at the top of my list.

Monfortino is always very special. A very different wine from the Giacosas.

For me, the best Monprivatos (from Mascarello and from Brovia before Mascarello bought it all) rank among the very best Barolos. The few young Ca d’Morissios I have tried don’t wow me so much to make them worth the steep upcharge over the regular Monprivato. The regular Monprivato is probably the best bargain in high-end Barolo imo.

I have not been as thrilled with Azelia as with his cousin Scavino, but they are very nice wines.

If you like Azelia and Scavino, you should definitely try Altare. He was the leader of that movement.

I have had less experience with G. Rinaldi, but would put him a notch above F. Rinaldi, whose wines sometime seem too rustic to me.

You should definitely give Sandrone another try. I would rank his wines in the top group.

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Isn’t Ken uber-sexy when he talks Barolo?

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Just trying to stir up some discussion Ken… and I was recently pondering backfilling some 96/98/99 Scavino so I thought I’d see what wisdom I could turn up :slight_smile: Based on what I’ve tasted (a lot from 01-04, only a few bottles from 99 and back) I am a big fan of Scavino as well, and I don’t think the label “modernist” really describes the results.

Do you have thoughts / info about oak usage at Pira or Azelia now vs. 90’s?

On the ~$100+ Barolo question, I guess it would have been fairer to compare Cascina Francia to the others, price wise, and I didn’t even think about Ca d’Morissio - I have never had that wine. For Giacosa I mentioned Rocche and Asili as those are my favorites of their current lineup.

As far as my tastes go, I agree that Monprivato is a tremendous wine, one of my favorite wines regardless of cost, from anywhere. I am a big fan of Monfortino but it’s out of my typical price range. Ditto the Giacosa Riservas.

I like G Rinaldi and F Rinaldi a lot both. Both are a bit more “rustic” but I would say that G Rinaldi is kind of continuing down the same path as always and F Rinaldi has a bit more variation, though the highs are amazing wines at very moderate prices. A bottle of 04 F Rinaldi Cannubio was fantastic, so fresh, detailed, perfumed and mineral. In a week spent in Piedmont last month, 2nd only to 02 Monfortino in how fondly I recall the wines we sampled / drank. I bought a case of the F Rinaldi Cannubio based on that bottle.

Your comment on Granbussia makes me think more about that wine… I’ve never had one that is fully mature, and I wouldn’t pay $200+ for the current releases… what do you think of the value of the 96 and 99 at, say, $140 or so (where they seem to be lately)? I think I would still rather have Monprivato but I guess the real answer is many years away.

I also think that Cavallotto can really overperform, both for the Bricco Boschis and the Vigna San Giuseppe. The 98 San Giuseppe, the 01’s (BB, Vignolo and SG), the 04 Vignolo and BB and the 05 BB have all been fantastic lately.

I’ve never had an Altare wine, guess I should. And re: Sandrone, I’ve yet to be wowed and they are expensive bottles to good but not tremendous, at least for me.

BUT, all that said, I am still hungry for more discussion of Azelia and L Pira, if anyone thinks they merit more discussion :slight_smile:

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I decided to put a few more 96 and 98 Barolo in the queue for drinking after thinking about these wines yesterday, thus:

Anyone for more Pira/Azelia/Scavino commentary?

Paging Rico :slight_smile:

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Perhaps I should change my avatar to Elena Barolo: