Giacosa, Voerzio, Hudelot-Noellat

[Dan_Rosenheck]

I’ve been traveling and haven’t had time to post notes until now, but here are my thoughts on another great evening with fellow Berserkers from earlier this month.

NEBBIOLO & PINOT - Bar Corvo, Brooklyn (8/16/2014)

Random Tuesday night, laid-back venue, sick wines.

• 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Gallina di Neive - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
  Comes alive and gains weight with a bit of air. Red sour cherry, earth, nice acidic bite, iron/iodine character. Exceedingly tannic. Good stuffing, but not fully revealing itself yet. Others preferred this. (91 pts.)

• 2000 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  Unabashedly modernist, yet unmistakably Nebbiolo. Dark mulberry color. Super-concentrated and dense without any undue extraction. Licorice, plummy fruit with a better edge, nutmeg, and earth. Grippy tannins give it impressive staying power. The texture started to fall apart after ~90 minutes of air, but right up my alley until then. (92 pts.)

• 2001 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
  Quite nice. Extraordinarily potent, focused raspberry fruit–probably the purest helping of raspberries I’ve ever had in a wine glass. Very refreshing acidity and a zesty, Pop Rocks texture. A little spice and florals. Impressive flavor:weight ratio. Sexy and polished enough to delight non-Burgophiles like me; alongside the typicity and class that Pinot hounds look for. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[Dan_Rosenheck]

Cross-posting Corey’s notes from the other thread:

@Corey Miller

• 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Gallina di Neive - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (8/6/2014)
  Pretty red neb fruit on the fruit with a strong menthol character, turning darker and earthier with air. Still quite structured with lots of acid and tannin, but there’s enough concentration to balance it out here. This goes from very good to oustanding with some braised lamb, which cuts the structure and allows the purity of the fruit to shine through. Drinking quite well now with lots of air, but those that like their Nebbiolo more tertiary and resolved should probably wait a little longer. (92 pts.)
• 2000 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (8/6/2014)
  At first, shows the dark side of nebbiolo, but still distinctly nebbiolo, with black fruit and lots of tar. The black fruit is rich and concentrated and a touch glossy, but there’s a lot of unintegrated gritty oak tannin that clamps down hard in the midpalate and dries out the back end. With air the nose gets riper and sweeter and less distinctively nebbiolo, and it develops an odd, strong coconut suntan lotion note. Since gritty oak tannin is a personal pet peeve, this wine did nothing for me. Others less sensitive enjoyed it. I preferred the 1990 Giacosa alongside by miles. (87 pts.)
• 2001 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru (8/6/2014)
  Gorgeously pure, perfectly ripe raspberry fruit from the word go, the kind of pure red fruit you only get in pinot. There are some subtle hints of dark clovey spice and with air, and in a bigger glass, it shows a little darker and more herbal and meaty. Medium-bodied, round and light and airy with superfine tannins that provide just enough grip on the back end, you hardly feel this is there until it’s gone, where the length is excellent.

A companion describes this as a modern burg, and he’s right in that it’s clean as a whistle and a little slick texturally (it’s not traditional in the Gouges or Lafarge sense), but whatever oak this saw is invisible and this is relatively unextracted as far as grand crus are concerned. Not a ton of structure here, I don’t see this as needing much more bottle age, although presumably it will get more tertiary and continue to drink well for many years. (93 pts.)

Besides the six hours of air, which I’m sure helped, for me having the right food made a huge difference for the Giacosa. There’s still a lot of structure there and you really need the meat to smooth it out a bit and let it shine.

[Dan_Rosenheck]

And cross-posting Brady’s notes as well:

@Brady Daniels

The Giacosa started a little slowly, but as it warmed, it showed the classic nebb characteristics (tar, violets, etc), slightly on the tertiary side (mushroom, tobacco), all while retaining noticeable mixed fruit. Some prefer older, more tertiary wines, others like more fruit driven versions. For me, this was in the sweet spot.

The Voerzio was noticeably darker, yet was also clearly nebb, but much more dominated by the tar, and, increasingly with time, wood tannins.

For me the last two nights either demonstrated the superiority of traditionally styled wines, or maybe the benefits of an additional ten to fifteen years of bottle-age.

[Markus_S]

If you like raspberries, try a caignan from France: like fresh-squeezed raspberry juice.

[Frank_Drew]

Carignan?