Hello All,
Tidying up the cellar a bit, I found out that I have a small flight of 2009 Barolo. Long story short I’ll be opening them tomorrow night with friends, and I wonder if you have any advice on when to open them? I know some people are big fans of oxygen and double-decanting on Barolos, that’s generally not my approach, but If you have any experience with these specific wines or this vintage, I’ll be happy to ear. Here is the list:
Cappellano - Otin Fiorin Pié Franco Michet
Giacomo Conterno - Cascina Francia
Giuseppe Rinaldi - Brunate
I might add a Brezza Sarmassa and/or a Bartolo Mascarello 2008.
Thank you ![]()
Double decant the 2009s for as long as you can. 4-6 hours would be great.
08 is built more for the long haul. If you don’t really need to open those, I would hold them. I have had a several 08s recently and thought they were tasty and open enough but they’re not showing a whole lot of development.
As for the 09s, as long as there will be opportunity to let them unfurl a little in the glass, I would just open and pour. I imagine others will suggest otherwise. I don’t mind if they’re a little tight on opening as I enjoy the evolution. A brief decant wouldn’t hurt but I don’t think extended air is really necessary. Haven’t had an 09 in years but it was always a pretty open, fleshy vintage and I doubt these are anywhere close to reaching that old Barolo stage where they counterintuitively freshen up with extended air time.
Thank you for both advice, for reference, we just open the bottles at the beginning of diner.
Giuseppe Rinaldi - Brunate 2009: super elegant, plenty of fresh fruit, subtle tannin, a lovely wine, ready to drink.
Cappellano - Otin Fiorin Pié Franco Michet: very tight powdery tannin on a delicate, a drier aromatic profile (whole bunch style if I compare to Burgundy). Maybe should/could have decanted this one.
Giacomo Conterno - Cascina Francia 2009: An aromatic bomb, super ripe, blackcurrant style, jammy. Opening up, heady hints of white flowers (lily of the valley) big bold tannin but nothing problematic, great with the meat.
Brezza Sarmassa 2009: not a surprise but a notch down compared to the other ones, It’s maybe more integrated, more classic, tannins are already polished, the aroma is a bit evolved, good wine but no emotion there.
Thanks for the clear and useful TNs! And thanks for including comments about decanting. It’s not so bad when some Barolo vintages require only 15 years to show well. Very interesting horizontal tasting – I’m surprised that you didn’t use the term “ripe” more often. ![]()
Actually yes “ripe” really wasn’t what we had in mind except for the Conterno. Maybe the producer sample is a bit peculiar, but also 2009 is supposed to be quite irregular in it’s ripening pattern.