Otto’s TN on the '98 Cascina Francia prompted me to grab a bottle of this for a progress check. The wine was popped & poured.
Color is a translucent red, with lightening around the rim. Reticent nose of mentholated cherries and underbrush. Sweet, fresh, crisp cherry fruit on the palate, with nice acidity and a tannic finish. Still too young, IMO, with virtually no secondary nuances. For all the alleged approachability of this “ready for drinking” vintage, I can honestly say that I haven’t had a wine yet that I thought was really ready for prime time. This wine is better on the palate now than the nose, and if you like sweet fruit buttressed by bright acidity, I guess it might be pleasurable, but IMO consuming it now really sells the wine short. Best strategy is to hang a “Do Not drink till 2015” sign on any bottles you might own.
Bob,
I recently had a 98 Riserva San Giuseppe that was really thoroughly enjoyable. I can’t speak to the Vignolo but I think a lot of 98’s other than the biggest / most traditional offerings can provide a good bit of pleasure now.
Thanks for the note Bob. Another one to hold…
Josh, I guess it really depends on how “mature”/aged you like your nebbiolo. From the '98 vintage I have tried (in most cases, on multiple occasions) the Mascarello Monprivato, Bartolo Mascarello, Conterno Cascina Francia, Roagna Barbaresco Paje, both the Vignolo as well as the Cavallotto normale, the Giacosa Barolo Falletto, the Mauro Veglio Arborina as well as the Travaglini Gattinara Tre Vigne – not a pervasive sampling of the vintage by any means, but enough wines that I normally like to form a general impression of the vintage. Even in the wines that are currently accessible & showing well like the Monprivato and the Bartolo Mascarello, I still think it’s highly likely that as nice as they are today, they will be better in 5 or 10 more years.
That’s not to say that some of these wines can’t be enjoyed now - and if you are the kind of taster that really focuses on palate presence vs. nuances of the bouquet, then the fact that these wines today are generally characterized by reticent noses with primary flavors is probably perfectly acceptable, and a reasonable trade-off if one wants to enjoy the brightness & sweetness of the fruit. But if one is buying fine Barolo to lay down for future development, and you are only puchasing 2 or 3 bottles of each wine, then at least IMO consuming the wines now just shortchanges you on the ultimate pleasure that these wines will be capable of delivering in another decade.