1995 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée LV- USA, California, Sonoma County
This is chardonnay of a much bigger and opulent style. Heavier and rich on the palate, with a bit of cloying sweetness, though at the same time, there seems to be paradoxically quite a lot of acidity. Very spicy, there’s almost something slightly gewurztraminer-like to this wine. The finish is a touch alcoholic. Certainly not my preferred style of chardonnay, but not a bad example of a large-scaled one either. (85 pts.)
2002 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Vintage- France, Champagne
Ex-Premier Cru. How’s that for a unicorn? This is a broadly scaled and very large-sized bottle of champagne. The nose actually reminds me a little bit of the smell when I am making bread. The palate is quite chalky, and there’s a lot of thick, yeasty richness here. Not my preferred style of champagne, but if it’s served a touch colder than average, that gives it just enough lift. (90 pts.)
1999 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Liesse d’Harbonville- France, Champagne
There’s such a stark difference on this next to the 2002 Pol Roger. This is a much leaner and more acidic champagne, and despite the fact that this sees a bit heavier oak treatment, there’s a lovely freshness and minerality to this it. Very linear, with some white fruit showing. The oak (and what I presume is a slight bit of dosage) serve to round out this lovely champagne. (93 pts.)
1971 Fontanafredda Barolo- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
(Pop and pour.) Give this lots of time and air! A good bottle will flesh out and any stinkiness on the nose will blow off (as with this bottle). After all the bottle stink blows off, you’re left with a lovely, if a bit simple, wine, showing some nice red fruits and a hint of earth. There’s a faint floral component as well, if you look for it. On the palate, this is showing a bit too much acid, and truth be told, it’s a tad past its prime. It’s fully resolved, and should be drank sooner rather than later. (88 pts.)
1971 Cantina Terre Del Barolo Barolo- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
(Pop and pour.) This was a really odd bottle next to the 1971 Fontanafredda. I found it to show almost some elements of those modern winemakers (although this is clearly before that stage). A touch of coffee and a touch of brown spice on the nose, followed by really densely extracted red fruit. This had a really surprising amount of modernist polish to it. To what that may be attributed, I have no idea. But it was a somewhat befuddling bottle. (85 pts.)
1974 Marcarini Barolo La Serra- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
(Decanted 7 hours before dinner.) This is a beautiful example of aged Barolo. There’s a touch of black tea on the nose, as well as plenty of earth. The palate is very light, and shows some fresh red fruit still, though the fruit is probably a bit more prominent on the nose than the palate. This shows its age, but why wouldn’t it? It’s over 40 years old. A very elegant and lovely bottle. (90 pts.)
1990 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco #8191. Next to the 1988 Roagna Crichët Pajé, this came off a little bit as a wallflower. This was in very good shape though, and showed some really nice red fruit and earth tones. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but a very solid bottle of Barbaresco. There’s a really nice red cherry acidity to this wine, and I’ve no doubt that bottles well-kept can stay on this plateau for much longer. (90 pts.)
1988 Roagna Barbaresco Crichët Pajé- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
One of the candidates for wine of the night. This was simply a brilliant showing for this wine. Serious, deep, and dark aromas on the nose that you can lose yourself in. The palate has immense earthy richness to it, with some tart black fruit. It’s a bit monolithic, perhaps, but in a good way. You can’t help but be impressed by this wine. As a side note, for whatever reason, this bottle is not a real DOCG Barbaresco, but is bottled as Vino da Tavola. Odd… (93 pts.)
1980 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Vigna Cicala- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Bottle 2010. (Double decanted four hours before dinner.) The nose on this is quite muted, but it does show a hint of black tea, along with some really nice florals. The fruit seems to be taking a backseat here today. The palate is fully resolved, with some of those tea elements showing alongside a nice touch of acidity. Quite balanced and understated, but delicious all the same. I’ve heard stories of off bottles of Aldo Conterno in the mid-90s, but this is either from a different regime or we lucked out tonight. (90 pts.)
1996 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Bricco Rocche- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
I wanted to like this wine more, but there was just too much chocolate on the nose and palate that distracted me from the other good things here. Seriously, apart from the oak (which, granted, isn’t too prominent), this would have been a fantastic bottle. The fruit was powerful and fresh, and there’s plenty of stuffing here. But it’s all marred by this streak of oak, like some cheap graffiti on a building (I fully admit to being a huge anti-oak partisan when it comes to Piedmont). (83 pts.)
1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco #6514. This was a little bit ornery when I double-decanted it 12 hours before dinner, but it was clear there were good things about to happen. A bit high-toned at first, with some light red fruit tones and lovely florals promised a very elegant wine. At dinnertime, this had not really come out of its shell. It still showed quite muted on the nose, but the palate had a lovely crystalline quality to the red fruit. This was a really clean example of nebbiolo, marred by nothing, and it looks like this wine simply needs a lot more time for its full splendour to unfurl. (93 pts.)
Great notes Adrian, thanks for sharing. I’m continuously impressed at how youthful Barolo and Barbaresco show. On Tuesday I had a glass of 1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello that had been open for a day and was still incredibly young and tannic on the palate.
Interesting notes on the Montefico, at least to me. I’ve never had a bottle from that vineyard but I plan to remedy that in a month or so when I look at a 1971 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Montefico I scored at an auction recently. I’ve already got the bottle standing as it’s got heaps of sediment.
I wonder if the Roagna was labeled as a VdT because back in '88 they hadn’t been “legally” allowed to designate Crichet as a separate section of the Paje vineyard?
Pure guesswork on my part, but Italian DOCG rules can be very quirky like that.
1995 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée LV- USA, California, Sonoma County
Nose comes across in an oxidative style with waxy fruit and drying melons. In the mouth it’s less oxidative with round, ripe, tropical fruit. Low-ish acid so it starts to feel heavy on the backend. Nice spice component. (87 pts.)
2002 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Vintage- France, Champagne
Full nose is lively with big white fruit, yeast and biscuit. Opulent palate with rich, round fruits riding a core of zingy acidity. Fat and fleshy but still fresh. Love the interplay of sweet white fruit and yeastiness. (92 pts.)
1999 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Liesse d’Harbonville- France, Champagne
A revealing contrast in styles tasting this side-by-side with the '02 Pol Roger Brut, with the Ployez-Jqcquemart showing much more acid zip and crisp fruits. The aromatics show a nice combo of depth and power – largely staying in the white fruit and citrus spectrum, with just a trace of biscuit. On the palate the acidity is so bright and pronounced, that the wine just dances across the palate. A finely chiseled bubbly. (94 pts.)
1971 Barolo
1971 Fontanafredda Barolo- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Pop n’ pour with a short slow ox. Fairly closed/funky/muted initially and I suspect this would have benefited from a nice long decant. With time and swirling the dark cherry, florals and earth tones come out to play. Palate starts sour/acidic but the fruit and weight build with time. Still has fine, gritty tannin in the finish. I actually this wine can keep aging. This bottle was solid but no more. (88 pts.)
1971 Cantina Terre Del Barolo Barolo- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Another pop n’ pour that I suspect would have benefited from a decant. Quiet on the nose but there is clean, dense fruit in the aromatic with a trace of florals. Moderate pick up in intensity with time in the glass. Palate has sweet cherries and tar. There is good clean, dense fruit. Polished on the palate with moderate acids and fairly suave, resolved tannin. Another solid but not especially remarkable bottle. (88 pts.)
1974 Barolo
1974 Marcarini Barolo La Serra- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Decanted for ~7 hours. Full nose is clean and fresh with red cherry, roses, black tea and a tar/diesel note. On the palate this is quite fresh, clean and polished. Still has some lightly grippy tannin in the finish. In a more feminine and elegant style. At 40+ years this still has a youthful edge. Not the most complex, but quite enjoyable. (92 pts.)
Barbaresco
1990 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Full, rich nose has a certain ‘yum’ factor with youthful ripe black cherry, spice and stemmy herbs. Palate is concentrated with black cherry. Tannins are still quite gritty, though the fruit does a good job of masking their bite. Still quite un-evolved. I would guess this has upside from here. Tough side-by-side comparison with a sensational Roagna Barbaresco Crichët Pajé. (91 pts.)
1988 Roagna Barbaresco Crichët Pajé- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This is simply a sensational Barbaresco that I reckon is drinking at an absolute pinnacle. Beautiful nose is both full and subtle with an array of layered flavors that keep revealing them themselves – dried black cherry, tar, roses and cracked spice, to name a few. In the mouth, gorgeous black cherry fruit is married with tar and spice notes. Excellent interplay of lithe fruit and grippy tannin. Crazy long and lingering. Bravo. (97 pts.)
A late-arriving Barolo
1980 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Vigna Cicala- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Double decanted ~3 hours before dinner. This is a sneaky good Barolo. Nose is full of dense black cherry with some tar and spice. Palate brings a good dose of spice with earth and tar following. Excellent fruit density – tannins are either resolved or totally cloaked in the fruit. Seems to have more upside. Quite nice. (91 pts.)
1996 Piedmont
1996 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Bricco Rocche- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Decanted for ~90 minutes. This is a big boy and most certainly in the mid-90s modernist style (extraction, french oak). Full, powerful nose opens with a healthy dose of dark chocolate, vanilla bean and brown spice that is then followed by more classic Nebbiolo notes of primary black cherry and tar. The palate is similarly styled with rich concentrated black cherry, tar and spice with a healthy kiss of french oak. The fruit is so powerful it actually stands up well to the oak. The oak notes do recede a bit with time in the glass. None the less, one can only wonder how much better this wine could have been with more restrained wood treatment? (91 pts.)
1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Wow, full powerful, generous, lifted nose! Aromas of pure dried black cherry and tar are still primary, but yet precise and beguiling. Palate is medium-to-full bodied with concentrated earthy black cherry fruit that meets grippy tannin for an overall smooth impression. The balance here is just so deft – Giacosa is in its own league. Great tonight, but will be even better in a decade or two. (95 pts.)
I wonder if the Roagna was labeled as a VdT because back in '88 they hadn’t been “legally” allowed to designate Crichet as a separate section of the Paje vineyard?
Pure guesswork on my part, but Italian DOCG rules can be very quirky like that.
Thanks for the nice write up Adrian. I’ve had some outstanding showings with older Marcarini and Produttori wines. Sound bottles can deliverer tremendous pleasure and often seem to be blended with a drop or two from the fountain of youth.
