Father's Day TNs: A trio of Nebbioli

WINE TALK
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I’m getting taken out tonight to a local Italian BYOB by the family, so I thought I would give the reds a little slow-O this afternoon. First up, the

1998 Roagna Barbaresco Paje Normale, which has a lovely nose redolent of roses. Still youthful, with nice cherry fruit on the palate framed by bright acidity and a little lash of tannins on the finish. A touch thin overall, and maybe a little simple right now, but we’ll see if the air fleshes her out prior to din-din.

Then, the 1990 Manzone Barolo Le Gramolere. A real dose of funk & leather on the nose. The slightest hint of maderization when it hits the tongue, followed by very sweet, uber-ripe cherry fruit and a whiff of menthol. This bottle may be slightly off, but we’ll see how it develops later with time.

Finally, the 1990 Elio Altare Barolo Normale. Very precise nose of mentholated, crystalized cherry fruit – this is still a little tight on opening, but a very promising nose. Sweet cherry fruit on the palate - this is more viscous (sp?) than the Manzone, with better acidity focusing the wine’s flavors. I think I’m going to really like this with some nice pasta [cheers.gif]

I’ll report back later after these get a chance to unwind and matched up with some food.

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Just back from dinner (mussels marinara & chicken cacciatore). Lessee, what can I say re: updates. Well, the '98 Roagna is still a baby - it’s certainly enjoyable right now if you want primary flavors/fruit, but if you like your nebbiolo with some secondary nuance to it, I think this wine needs a few more years (maybe as many as five more years).

The other two wines are interesting; I bought a case and a half of each on release, and have enjoyed drinking them side-by-side over the years - they were two wines from that vintage that really never shut down. But at this juncture we may finally have wines going in opposite directions. The Altare tonight was excellent - it really opened up with additional air, and I am sitting here savoring a “nightcap” glass; darker in color than the Roagna, with an expansive nose that features mentholated cherries, and a taste that has upfront cherry fruit framed by acidity that really coats the palate with a nice, persistent finish - in short, utterly delicious, and a wine that should have no difficulty whatsoever in carrying on for another decade or more. Interestingly enough, I’ve noticed that as time marchs on, there seems to be less and less of a qualitative difference between the normale and the Arborina, which certainly speaks well to the quality of Altare’s normale in this vintage.

The Manzone on the other hand, showed more & more of that maderized note as the evening wore on. Again, I will reserve judgement until I try another bottle, as I don’t know if this was just a bad bottle or if the wine has actually started to turn the corner into decline. On the palate, it still shows plenty of sweet, ripe fruit, but that trace of maderization is worrisome.

Still, despite one underperformer, not a bad way to spend “Father’s Day Eve”. [cheers.gif]

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Happy Father’s Day, Bobulus. Nice notes … if I am not mistaken we have tried those 1990s side-by-side together sometime a couple of years ago …

Alex

PS If “Nebbioli” is the plural of “Nebbiolo” then what is the plural for “Gigondas”? [wow.gif]

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Happy father’s day, Bob. I’ve had those wines a number of time, and find variability in both. I think 90 is a vintage with more bottle variation than others.

BTW, I really enjoyed the 97 Altare Barolo normale this weekend. Similar description of the mentholated cherries. At first the nose was more typically restrained La Morra cherry but over time menthol and sweet anise emerged. This wine however is fatter, lower in acid than the 90 and probably is at or very near its peak.

Hope to see you soon. Hard to believe its almost 3 years to the day of that monumental pairing of 78 CRR and Monfo when I first met you and Tom M.

Henry

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Henry Kahn in da house!

Yee HA, another Barolo geek!

[Though he also likes Tuscany quite a bit, but we won’t hold that against him.]

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Me, a barolo geek? I did post a note on Silvia Altare’s facebook page asking her to research the blend in the 1997 Barolo normale… stay tuned… here and there…

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Silvia advises that the 97 was 100 pct La Morra – Castiglione and Serralunga were added later. She also reminds me (which I forgot) that most of the 97 vintage was not released due to cork problems – thus I will hold on to my last bottle for some time…

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Henry, I remember the cork issues, but I had forgotten what vintage that was - we should plan to pair your '97 with my '90 one of these years [wink.gif]

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Hi Bob,

Nice notes, thanks.

I had the Gramolere 1990 recently, very “old” in the nose, but got better during the evening.

A photo for you from the new cellar of Manzone, April 2009. On the photo is Giovanni Mazone.

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Ciao
Birger