Sunday TNs: Mo' Barolo

I’m trying a new recipe tonight – short ribs cut “Flanken” style, done at 350 in onions and barbaresco - should be ready in about an hour or so, but the kitchen does smell nice right now.

At any rate, what better choice to pair up with beef basically steamed/braised in nebbiolo than some wine from the same grape? Just pulled the corks on two bottles, the first of which is a:

1990 Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra
Color is a translucent red, fading to brick around the rim. Nose is slightly reticent upon opening, featuring hints of mentholated cherry fruit. Sweet, crisp, “taut” fruit on the palate, mainly cherries - man, is this wine drinking nicely right now. We’ll see how the nose comes around over dinner. BTW, I apparently paid $29.99 a bottle for this wine when I bought it on release, at least according to the price tag on the bottle [welldone.gif]

And behind door #2:

1989 Parusso Barolo Mariondino
Color similar to the Clerico, perhaps a shade darker red at the core. This nose is also reticent, with something that hints at a vaguely medicinal scent, and basically a little splotch of tar in there too. Not as sweet on entry as the Clerico - cool fruit & structure here, although the wine strikes me as less tannic on the finish than the Clerico. I will report back with further updates after these have a chance to unwind & interact with my new “culinary creation”. According to the price tag, this set me back $24.99 a bottle. [wink.gif]

Post-dinner (and about 2 hours after uncorking the wines) I’d say I have a slight preference for the Parusso, but both wines are quite nice, and echoing the comment I made after having four other '89’s last weekend, I’d say that if you have them tucked away, right now is an excellent time to be checking out the '89 vintage in Piemonte.

My goodness.

Excellent notes.

Do you drink any OTHER wines???

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Bob, when did Clerico go modern? Was it around 1990 or later?

Paul, my recollection is that by '90 he was in the modernist camp - I know he was in that whole group of folks like Scavino and Altare that were imported by DeGrazia at the time, and I think at that point in time DeGrazia had no winemakers in his portfolio that would be deemed traditionalist. I have had his '82 CMG in the past and that struck me as quite traditional, so I’m guessing he made the “migration” sometime between '82 & '90.

Frank, I do drink other stuff, but lately it’s seemed like a good time to do a status check on the '89’s, so that has been where the TN focus has been. I did have a 2006 Nigl Riesling Kremsleiten the other night with salmon, but I was too lazy to post a note (it was drinking well, though).

Nice notes. For some reason, I find foods cooked in Nebbiolo have a singular character, and have never been quite as happy with a brasato al barolo if made with dolcetto, barbera, merlot, etc. A few years ago I got some $8 Barbaresco from PC, I was much happier with the recipe. Now we use Nebbiolo d’Alba.