I love the '64 vintage. It is indeed great, but it is also my birth year. Objectively, I have to say that '67 is also a great vintage. Most '67s that I have had have been magical!
67 Oddero had many times has always been waaay above its paygrade!Another great year for Cappellano as well.
67 is closer to me. 68, the sucky year.
Together with the 1970 Monprivato, the 1964 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo is the best wine I ever had.
I have to say though that I had some wonderful wines from 1990 (Giuseppe RInaldi, Giacosas, Conterno Cascina Francia…) - even though the vintage as a whole might be less convincing to some.
Sadly, 1973 (birthyear) is nowhere near the average of above average vintages - but I still bought a Giuseppe Rinaldi and a Giacomo Conterno Riserva. Maybe I’ll have some positive surprises.
Give this one up, John. “Tartufo bianco” plural=“tartufi biancHI”. A fantastic car, “una macchina fantastica” plural=“le macchine fantasticHE”. (Even Google Translate can get these right.) You are, well, flatly wrong. No dialect, no dog drank your Nebbiolo, it is the Italian “National” language used correctly, and with precision. (If it seems pretentious in the English context, complain to Dante Alighieri for popularizing the language in the first place.) The “c” demands the “hi” to get the right sound. The “l” in “Barolo” does not. Masculine Italian words ending in “o” become plural by changing the “o” to “i”. Feminine Italian words ending in “a” become plural by changing the “a” to “e”. (As always, there are some irregularities.) With all due respect, you are also dealing with some bad characters here, myself included, who have forgotten more about Nebbiolo than you have yet learned. Show the old people a little respect, eh?
Nonsense: casco → caschi, teschio → teschi, falco → falchi, and thousands of more examples.
Who told you that rule?
Coming back to the original post, or rather stretching the question to more recent vintages, I would appreciate opinions on the vintages of the nineties. I understand that 99 and 96 are considered excellent and I have drunk wines from both, but what about the others? What should one try to buy/drink?
Thanks
For drinking now (though all of these will either benefit from further development or at the very least last for an extended period), and focusing specifically on my personal experience with my favorite producers:
Giacosa (white and red labels): 90, 93, 97, 98
G Conterno Cascina Francia: 90, 95
G Mascarello Monprivato: 90, 93, 95, 97, 98
B Mascarello: 90
The best vintages of the 90s–96 and 99–need more time and for the most part the wines are not even at the front end of their respective windows.
Great thread. The 64 Giacosa SSR remains one of the greatest wines I have ever had. I think I have 1 or 2 bottles left. I had the 64 G Mascarello Barolo a few weeks ago and it was sublime. That wine was made by Mauro’s dad from a blend of vineyards. What a wine! For me, though, 1964 lacks just a bit of the visceral thrill of 1989. I personally adore 1982, and 1986 is the most overlooked vintage of the last 40 or so years. Giacosa, B Bartolo Mascarello and G Rinaldi all thought it better to 1985…FWIW.
Mamma mia! The Antonio Galloni that I knew and loved resurfaces, to show us a glimpse of that heart that beats (and occasionally even skips a beat) only for old Nebbiolo, unencumbered by all of those damn numbers and tasting notes! 
I, too have only one 1964 SSRS, which is being stored in an undisclosed location (with Dick Cheney). As long as we are going a little long and deep here, two questions:
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Do we have some views on Giacosa’s 1998 Barbaresco SSR? (Carl seems to be casting a positive vote on current drinkability above.)
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And for Antonio and anyone else with relevant experience, any experience with the 1962s in general and the 1962 Cappellano in particular? I have some of the latter in pristine condition and with great color being held for me, pending trying one (which will be my first 62), and wondered if the 1962 Nebbioli might provide some of the magic that many 62 Burgundies and Bordeaux have.
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98 SSR IMO is at the very early aperture of its drinking window,along with the 97 Rocche and Falletto.Carl’s accompanying aviso covers it nicely.
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You have my private recommendation for 62s.
I agree with all of the above, and I would add the 97 G. Mascarello Monprivato Ca d’ Morissio Riserva to that list. Not sure that it has ever been shut down, and even though the Morissio often takes a beating vis a vis the normale Monprivato due to its price tag, it is not a wine to be missed, IMO. Very easy to justify with the old “what will a bottle of 2009 first-growth Bordeaux cost me?” analysis. Were I in the market (or at least in Vegas), I could also use that argument to justify a $1,000-an-hour hooker!
I am in the process of drinking or selling all but a few of my 1990s, having already consumed my share. It is definitely not a “drink up” situation at all, but it is a vintage that Parker lumped in with the 1989s back in the day as pretty much interchangeable, and nothing could be further from the truth. There are, of course, too many 90s from lesser producers with prune notes or other hot-year problems, and a few more where the producers involved were in a bad place with their experimentation with barrique and other new techniques. Too many are already on their downward trajectories. Even greats like the 1990 SSR are no longer floating my boat the way that they once did, and I do not see many of the 90s continuing to improve with time, as we can be relatively certain the 89s, 96s and 99s will and the 78s, 71s and 64s have. While I am not Catholic, I feel the need to confess that I recently sold 2 bottles each of the 82 and 85 SSR, but achieved partial redemption by replacing the 2 82s here for less than the U.S. sales price. (I used the rest of the money as a down payment on some 71 and 78 SS white labels!)
And, as always, I have taken it to heart!
Where is Ken when you really need him? I know that he is alive and well, as I sent him some photos of 1861, 1924 and 1927 Cappellanos yesterday from a wine shop. And Tom M.? He must have some pearls to throw before Nebbiolo lovers…
Sorry. Work is the curse of the drinking class. Bad week at work. Too much shit. Too many fans. Too bad. Several interesting threads here this week. Maybe I’ll catch up next week.
BTW does anyone have a bottle of Giacosa 1971 Falletto Riserva with good provenance, that they would be willing to sell for a good cause? If so, please PM me.
The good cause being the Ken V Made-A-Wish Foundation, having Ken V as its sole beneficiary and the wish being a pristine bottle of 1971 Falletto Riserva?
I will buy them. I have not had my fair share!
Alas, I should have said “have sold”. Benchmark made me an offer that I could not refuse…
Sell him some Monfortinichistis,Bill…
I was thinking of leaving him my 1999s and 2004s. I cannot imagine that I will be around when they are ready to drink!