TN: 1970 Produttori del Barbaresco (normale)

[Brady_Daniels]

Thanks Andrew,

We recently drank my fourth 1967 PdB normale. Left it upright for four months. Decanted super-slow, leaving maybe 1/8th bottle. It definitely had more sediment than yours. The wine was fully mature, identical in color to yours. It was absolutely stunning, far more vibrant than any 53 year old wine has a right to be.

For those inexperienced with older Nebbiolo, I cannot emphasize enough the need to be meticulous in preparing the wine. Nebbiolo has a very fine and bitter sediment that can overwhelm the experience. I’ve had some great wines, including older Monfortino and Giacosa, converted to interesting wines because the owner didn’t prepare and double decant it themselves, before bringing it to a restaurant.

[Mattstolz]

Great pics and note. I have one bottle of this and have been waiting to open. Soon perhaps. Really appreciate the detailed post. Thanks!

FWIW: every older Produttori I’ve had has only just been starting to open up at the four hour mark, and has only gotten better from there.

OPs pics do a great job illustrating what I simultaneously love and hate about old Nebbiolo: you have to be so patient when opening and drinking it. You can see in the pics even the color completely transformed with some air time.

Thanks, Matt. I’ve had similar experiences on a couple from the 80s and older Borgognos. Looking forward to it.

a 1982 produttori i opened about 6 months ago will be my lesson forever in never giving up on these wines. opened it and thought it was DOA but just in case held onto it. decanted it 3 hours later and still thought it was totally dead. took another 4 hours for it to end up ruby red with dried red fruit notes galore. was so glad I opened it extra early!

[Claus_Jeppesen]

Also the Baroli looking like clear water through the green glass will (many times) develop into unforgettable wines

[jordan_jacobs]

FWIW: every older Produttori I’ve had has only just been starting to open up at the four hour mark, and has only gotten better from there.

OPs pics do a great job illustrating what I simultaneously love and hate about old Nebbiolo: you have to be so patient when opening and drinking it. You can see in the pics even the color completely transformed with some air time.

Thanks, Matt. I’ve had similar experiences on a couple from the 80s and older Borgognos. Looking forward to it.

a 1982 produttori i opened about 6 months ago will be my lesson forever in never giving up on these wines. opened it and thought it was DOA but just in case held onto it. decanted it 3 hours later and still thought it was totally dead. took another 4 hours for it to end up ruby red with dried red fruit notes galore. was so glad I opened it extra early!

I recently learned this same lesson thanks to Sarah Kirshenbaum a couple weeks ago on a 67 Barolo.

[Andrew_Hamilton]

I’m very sensitive to sediment, which is why I prefer to carefully double decant all the red wines prior to any tastings.

However, I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen older wines where the particles would remain in suspension for days, even though so very many here claim the opposite. If I have to travel with an older bottle that is to be tasted the same day, I definitely double decant the wine off the deposit at the place where the wine is being kept before I transfer it to the place where it is to be tasted. However, if I have the opportunity to move the wine to the tasting place beforehand, I’ve noticed that 24 hours has always been enough to let the sediment settle.

In this Barbaresco vertical I brought four wines with me the previous day to the tasting place, while nine bottles had been aging there for a longer time. When I double decanted them the next day, I couldn’t tell from the wines which had been staying there for the whole time and which ones I had brought the day before. Only one wine was noticeably hazy, but that one was also oxidized, so I doubt any amount of settling would’ve clarified the wine. And bar the few young vintages, virtually all the bottles had thrown notceable amounts of sediment. 1971 had developed tons of semi-solid clumps that required some very rigorous bottle shaking before I could get them out from the decanted bottle!

I find that sediment in older nebbiolo can vary wildly dependent on producer. I’ve had bottles from producers like Massolino ('78 Riserva) that had very little sediment. I’ve also had older F. Rinaldi’s that were chock full of sediment. But from my perspective when I decant old nebbiolo I don’t stop decanting when the sediment starts, I stop as soon as the ‘white cloud’ starts to appear before I get to the sediment. I’m not sure what it is, I’ve never photographed it as I was decanting and it was in the bottle neck anyway, but that’s my cut off point. Whatever it is it’s superfine and appears quite light mass wise. Do you ever come across that? Next old bottle I open I’ll try to get a snap.

The ability to handle and improve with exposure to oxygen also seems to be producer dependent. Most can tolerate and improve a day after opening but a few years ago I opened a '78 Fontanafredda Barolo that was gorgeous on opening and quite disappointing the next day. As with most things in life there aren’t many set in stone rules, more like guidelines that apply most of the time.