Osso Bucco and Barbaresco

Tonight’s dinner was a large veal shank slice, cooked in the style of an old Spice Islands Cookbook recipe (from the 60s) for Chicken Marsala. I browned the shank, added rich veal stock, garlic, onion, oregano, and basil; simmered for a couple hours and added tomatoes; then after another hour added a package of artichoke hearts; no Marsala with the veal. After another hour and a half it was ready to serve. It was served over a brown rice pilaff, cooked in chicken stock with garlic and chervil; we shared the large shank. It was very tasty with a 1996 A.A Falletto di Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco -cork saturated about a cm; fill just below the capsule; medium garnet in color initially, but darkening with time; rich nose and flavors of spicy, complex dark red fruit; balanced mid-palate with good acidity to work with the tomatoes and artichoke hearts; some dusty tannins on the finish initially, but moderated with the meal to a rich complex, fruity finish. We ate inside tonight because of the gusty winds present. No dessert tonight, since the meal was quite filling.

sounds delicious! Cheers!

I’m even sick of my own fawning over your meals, Dick, but you keep throwing them out there!

I would have thought the '96 Giacosa (baller!) Barbaresco would be young, but apparently the richness of the Osso Bucco was quite the match, and as Veronica said, it does sound so delicious. It’s rare to see you post a no-dessert meal, so it must have been quite fulfilling.

Todd I’ve found the lesser 96’s finally starting to unwind. I am not long on anything pre 96, but speaking to the 96-01 vintages, I’d say:

Lesser 96’s are very slowly starting to be really enjoyable. Better wines from better producers are still woefully young. This is a high(er) acidity vintage and the wines will be very long lived, serve with food now. A 96 A Conterno Bussia Soprana about 8 months ago was still quite tight and almost shrill but beyond that some Produttori Riservas, a Marchesi di Gresy Gaiun Martinenga, the Azelia San Rocco and particularly Bricco Fiasco and F Rinaldi Cannubio and Brunate have all shown well in the past year or so.

97’s are as irregular as ever, the good wines are still in great shape, the out of balance or out of whack wines are still just that, many lesser wines are fading IMO.

98’s are drinking great across the board. Perhaps not yet time to enjoy your Monfortino, Rocche Annunziata or G Rinaldi… but by and large 98’s are in a great place and providing enjoyment at all levels, and should continue to do so for 5-20 years depending on the wine.

99’s have perhaps the most potential (slightly better balance and freshness for my tastes than the 01s). Hold

Lesser 00’s are drinking quite well. This is a bit bigger / riper vintage and should drink before 99/01 and before the many 96’s

01 is a ripe enough year that more wines provide enjoyment now (as opposed to some of the more closed 96s & 99s), but there is no doubt that even the lesser wines are still 3-5 yrs from entering their window and the better wines will need signifigantly longer.

Josh - MANY thanks!

(we need a ‘favorite posts’ command…)

Todd,

I know you’ve recently been bitten by the Barolo / Barbaresco bug. Since you’re just getting started I would recommend giving 97 a general pass. I’d suggest seeking out moderately priced 96’s, 98’s, 99’s and 01’s from better producers. 00’s can be quite good as well but I prefer any of the other vintages mentioned unless there is a compelling price.

For current enjoyment balanced with availability and pricing I think that 98 is a great vintage to seek out.

Josh

Luckily for me, most of what I have outside the '04’s is '98 and '99…

Have you developed any stylistic / producer preferences yet? For my money the two best deals going in 04 are Cavallotto and Franceso Rinaldi. The F Rinaldi Cannubio is a straight up stunning wine and if you look around it can be had for $45 (ditto the Cavallotto Bricco Boschis).

I have not had enough to decide on stylistic/producer preferences yet…I look forward to figuring that out.