Am I to understand that Bill was drinking all day?
…well it appears attempting more than just drinking!
And now…the conclusion of…Giacosa Masterpiece Theatre!
The 11th hour in decanter: Dinner is served. (Pan-sauteed beef filets with hearts of palm warmed in the pan juices. I cannot fetish a bottle of wine to this degree and cook at the same time.) I am guessing (with the benefit of this morning’s hindsight, discussed below) that, over Hour 11-12, this wine offered everything that it is likely to give right now. The aromatic profile described above continued, with the menthol note becoming more pronounced. (It is important to understand that, after a bunch of tries over many years, this is the first time that there WAS an aromatic profile, much less one of some interest and complexity, so there was some real enjoyment to be had last night.) At last, the huge fruit that is one of the hallmarks of this wine showed up, but with a dark-fruit richness rather than the rather homogenized youthful exuberance of all previous tastings. The wine is surprisingly heavy for a Giacosa wine, which is not to say truly heavy, but rather, reticent and brooding. It is real, great-vintage Serralunga Barolo, not to be confused with the more delicate, more accessible Collina Riondas (well, except maybe for the 1978 RS), and surely not to be confused with any of Giacosa’s legendary Barbareschi. At this point, the wine was in utterly perfect balance, with the dark cherry/plum fruit to the fore, “informed” (as some reviewers like to say) in every sip by a refreshing nip of acid, with the tannins revealing themselves only at the end of a long (but untimed) finish.
Hour 24 in the decanter: The dominant impression is the mirrored surface of an entirely calm sea after a storm the night before. Nothing stands out at this point…the aroma persists after a swirl, but weakly and more homogenized, the fruit is there but rather soft and uninteresting, the acid has pretty much disappeared and the tannins are completely submerged and not even particularly noticeable on the finish. I have only a little wine left, but were there more, this would be pleasant enough to drink tonight, but nothing special, and surely not what it was last night. The most curious thing this morning is that the wine had darkened again, not to full opacity, but far enough that I would no longer call the wine “translucent”. That in full sunlight, by the way. I will follow the wine to see if it has any more twists and turns ahead, but my guess is not.
CONCLUSIONS: The wine is definitely drinkable, and fascinating to drink and observe, really, for those who do not mind a pronounced (but sweet) tannic finish. I would say that this wine has finally evolved beyond the perfectly balanced, huge-fruit, huge-tannin monolith that it has been since birth, and that it has begun to deliver on its enormous promise, but for my taste, it is still not completely out of its shell and within its window of drinkability. I would guess 1-5 years will do the trick, probably closer to 5 than to 1, but the wine is at a point that nobody will feel that he or she has wasted a bottle to try it. The tannins are deceptive. They are as sweet, fine and integrated as any in my Nebbiolo experience, and they constantly play hide-and-seek with the fruit. Some people, especially those with a high tolerance of tannins, might be tempted to conclude that this wine is not built for the long haul. It takes some focus to appreciate the power and interplay of the tannins and acid in this wine, since the remarkable balance does not draw attention to any one component. I, however, think that this is one for the ages. There remains more than enough fruit to outlive the supporting structure. One thing that does jump out at me, however, is how unlike some of the other Le Rocche vintages (well, other than the 2004 Le Rocche Riserva maybe) this wine is. For me, the 1997, 1998 and 1999 white-label Le Rocches have the commonality of red cherry and other red-fruit notes, sometimes toward the concentrated dried-cherry end of the spectrum, other times more of a bright, tart griotte taste. I found the 1997 Le Rocche to be in the sweet red cherry register, while the 1998, which had been sitting in cases next to the subject bottle since release, is decidedly griotte in nature. The wine that I had last night would not seem to have come from the same vineyard as those two, much less the same hallowed subplot. That suggests to me that the 1996 fruit is still in something of a dumb phase, not really at all explosive (for those that enjoy their wines “exploding from the glass”…and making a royal mess in the process!), with more to reveal later. Indeed, I wonder if the wine has shut down again this morning. I tasted the 1998 over 4 days, and it continued to evolve during the entire time. It will be interesting to see if this wine will do the same, or if it is finished after 24 hours. The wine wants only for greater resolution of the tannins, and a more forthcoming, more complex expression of its remarkable fruit, to achieve true perfection. A final thought: could it be possible that the Le Rocche normales exhibit more of red cherry character, while the Riserve exhibit a decided black cherry character, with profound floral aromas, dominantly violets and roses, being the consistent aromatic component across all Le Rocche wines? Or could it be that we simply have not had enough time and experience to understand what the wines will ultimately reveal? One thing is certain: the Le Rocche subplot has produced a greater number of truly outstanding wines than any of the other legendary vineyards that Il Maestro has employed over the past 50 years…
P.S. There is no question that the foregoing exercise will strike some readers as absurd and obsessive. So be it. This was done because I think that the singular wine involved is worth the effort, and also because I know how many long-suffering owners of this wine there are in these parts, many with too few bottles to be wasting them on the off-chance that the wine is ready. and, as always…je ne regrette rien!
With plenty of these bottles in the cantina,it’s certainly not a waste…given your well detailed notes…but appreciating a wine of this caliber,breeding and tannic structure given the vintage…in the end…comes down to a combination of experience drinking these wines with the aforementioned characteristics,i.e,knowing how to determine/divine the evolution and lengthening out of the tannins along with the maturation of fruit,spice and other features that delight the nose and palate.
I have only tasted it on release and would not have thought to try one now,given various TNs on record,but surely some time this year it will be worth a shot…as it comes round to its 20th year.
Thanks for the glimpse,Guglielmo!
Somebody put me up to doing this, Bill, but it took me so long to drink the wine and write it up that I have forgotten who! 
For those who have collected all of the Le Rocches, beginning with the wine profiled above, and with the understanding that most of them remain infants and/or giants today, I think one of the more interesting aspects of this will be divining the terroir in each over the longer term. Today, especially with the most mature wines being the 1997 and 1998, it ain’t so easy to trace the siblings on the family tree, even if “who’s their daddy” is clear enough…
Are you ok Bill? You realise you just did a tasting note, and one that spanned more than a day.
You know it is funny that you say this. I completely agree and it has always bewildered me when I hear someone occasionally compare this wine (and his later Rocche del Falleto Riservas in 01 and 04) to his Riondas. Stylistically, they seem to me almost diametrically opposed.
And Barry, if you taste through some older Massolino Riondas, despite the different hand at the helm, you come away with the same impression of the vineyard. That said, you will hear no knocks from me on either producer’s Riondas; I have both in my cellar. However, I have never believed that the 1989 Giacosa Rionda Riserva, as fine as it is and as delightful to drink, has any chance of being the best Barolo that Il Maestro has made. Leader in the clubhouse for a time, maybe…
I do not intend to make a habit of it, Jeremy. Think of it as a teachable moment for wine reviewers…
Thanks for this Bill.
It was an absolute joy to read.
Really amazing note, Bill. Talk about being informed.
Cheers,
Doug
Bill, you’re setting a new standard in TNs. Grazie!
The '78 and '89 Collina Rionda Riservas remain two of my reference point Giacosas - with a track record as long and as established/distinguished as the one that Bruno & Dante Scaglione have created over the years, it’s probably pointless to argue/debate over the best Giacosa ever (and I’m sure Henry is somewhere in the background getting ready to nominate the '71 SSR), but I can say that if the '01 Le Rocche that is currently resting in my cellar is ever capable of approaching the sheer complexity and pleasure that I have experienced on multiple occasions with the '78 & '89 Collina Rionda Riservas, I will be one very happy camper ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
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If Henry nominates the 1971 SSRS, I will second, but the problem with that wine is that not enough people got to taste it to put it up to a vote. (I think that Parker may be the only reviewer who has tasted it…his first, and maybe his only, Nebbiolo 100-pointer, as I recall.) Far and away the best Giacosa wine that I have tasted so far, but I doubt that it will remain on that pedestal forever. (But you are right about “pointlessness”, and surely the Boykin “facets of a diamond” perspective must trump any “best” discussion as far as 50 years of Giacosa’s wines are concerned, even for a rank Nebbiolo ranker like me.) You should remain ever braced to be one very happy camper anyway!
One interesting factor going forward is that we do not seem to have any analogue to the Le Rocche subplot phenomenon. Mauro Mascarello’s Ca d’ Morissio and Cappellano’s Pie Franco are both separate Michet-clone wines, and Monfortino results from a grape selection rather than a vineyard subplot…
Thanks Bill
Great wine, extraordinary note (Would love to taste the wine sometime, the 90 Riserva was awesome)
Agree on the Rionda and Le Rocche
Thanks to all.
Coda: Hour 48 in the decanter (Day 3): The wine is pretty much unchanged from my last taste on Day 2, but it seems pretty clear to me now that the wine shut down hard again after its good showing at the 12-hour mark, and it is back in its big-fruit, big-tannin, monolithic mode. At the 24-hour mark, I thought that it might just fade away, as many wines do after a lot of air. No dice. It is clear today that this wine simply stopped evolving without deteriorating. With all of the air, the tannins remain submerged and the fruit has taken over completely. The wine’s behavior is very much like a few of the 2010 Baroli that I have opened lately in that regard. To tell you the truth, this wine is kind of scary!
Bill,
I can’t get the image of flying pigs out of my head. And no points? What was the point?
I’ve never had the 71 SSR but, as with Bob, the 78 & 89 Riondas remain my reference points for Giacosa, although two 78 Villeros enjoyed in the past year are in the same league.
And in a bit of disagreement, I’ve found the Massolino Riondas to be much darker fruited and broad shouldered, more akin to the 78 Giacosa Rionda.
Working on lunch.
Tom, I am sponsoring a contest later to let somebody else award the points for my tasting note. Winner gets a magnum of…2003 Giacosa Barolo normale! (You didn’t think that I was going to give away my 1996 Falletto Riserva for a worthless number, did you?)
As always, you offer food for thought. A couple of points: on any given day, with any given bottle, I believe that any of the Giacosa 1978 Riserve Speciale can serve as reference-point Giacosa wines, and maybe a 1978 white label or two as well. (There are a few other 1989 Riserve that do not suck, either.) The 1978 Rionda RS is not even fully mature for my taste, and the Villero is just now getting there. The 1989 Rionda Riserva has always been open for business, and I am skeptical that it will remain in anyone’s driver’s seat should we all enjoy cent’anni and live to see a large fistful of Il Maestro’s greatest wines achieve full maturity. (Part of my thinking there has to do with the fact that none of his other Riondas quite hit the high notes of the 1978 and 1989, although I have not given away my 1982s.) For that reason, I went with the “leader in the clubhouse” analogy. As I said, no knock on either Rionda…just too many great players still on the course. It is what the poet calls “a good problem to have”.
I agree that several of the Massolino Riondas that I have tasted are more like the 1978 Giacosa RS than the 1989, although I have not found them all to be on the dark-fruit side, but I think that if we array all of Giacosa’s Riondas with all of Massolino’s, and maybe throw in the wines of all of the other assorted producers who have used Rionda fruit, we will not find many, if any, that resemble the wine profiled above. You and Bob may find that to be a good thing. The jury is still out for me…