NV Benoit Dehu Champagne Initiation - France, Champagne
[Disgorged 22 February 2021. Pop and pour.] Bouquet of citrus, bread dough, and bright flowers. Very dry and complex. (93 points)
Bartolo Mascarello
2001 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Double-decanted around 1pm.] Heavenly nose of dark cherries, licorice, and a hint of brown sugar. Long, expansive, and complex. Classic CBM style. Elegant and perfumed. (95 points)
Bruno Giacosa
Clearly among the greatest vintages for Bruno Giacosa. The difference between the two Barbarescos is quite striking considering that this Rabajà plot is now part of the Asili MGA.
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
[Double-decanted around 10am.] Nose of plums and tar. Lots of dark fruit. Complex. Still has tannins, but they are softening and there is loads of fruit to match. (95 points)
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
[Double-decanted around 10am.] Explosive nose of licorice, tar, and black fruit. Tannin and black fruit on a super long finish. This is a gorgeous wine. 10pm: Tannins have mellowed and this is smooth as silk now. (99 points)
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Double-decanted around 1pm.] The muted nose of black fruit and tar opens slowly.After 20 minutes, the nose is vibrant and fabulous. In the mouth, this is rich, complex, and expansive. Just a wow wine. Every wine tonight was wonderful, but this is the best. (100 points)
Cappellano
Surprisingly, at this stage, there is relatively little difference between these two great wines.
2001 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin (Gabutti) - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Double-decanted for 2.5 hours around 6am.] Massive nose of black fruit and tar. Loads of ripe fruit, but quite tannic on the finish. This is a beast of a wine. Hard to believe that this is 20 years old. Or that it is the "lesser" of their two Barolos. 96-98 (97 points)
2001 Cappellano Barolo Piè Franco Otin Fiorin (Gabutti) - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Double-decanted for 2.5 hours around 6am.] Vibrant nose of dark black fruit with a hint of Kirsch. Grippy tannins. Loads of rich black fruit. A sleeping giant. 97-100 (98 points)
We only had 6 red wines, but each one was a great example of what Nebbiolo can achieve in the hands of a great winemaker. A very special evening. Many thanks to Jamie and Perri for their hospitality.
Great group of wines!! A number of years ago I had the Bartolo Mascarello 01 Barolo and sometime after the 2001 Giacosa Barbaresco Asili. Also 01 Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia.
At that time my preference was the Mascarello. Definitely not the wine to hold the longest but the most beautiful nose, and just a pristine Barolo. Delicious!,
2001 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
I preferred the more mature 1990 to this, but given the same amount of time, I think this would be the better wine because it felt that this had more acid and structure to go the distance, while still having similar amounts of fruit (though in this case, more red than black). Very much an old-school style of nebbiolo in terms of its structure. Quite tannic still (not unexpectedly), this has a lot of potential ahead. (95 points)
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (11/12/2022)
No. 3725. The Bruno-era wines here are just so damn good. This is an absolutely spectacular bottle of nebbiolo, with intense red fruit and floral perfume emanating from the glass. Inordinately young, this still doesn't seem to have developed many secondary notes. The fruit is still very much primary and displays in a crystalline, pure fashion on the palate. Almost no earthy/leather elements here, this is really a straight-up expression of perfumed fruit. Some moderately grainy tannins on the midpalate and finish owing to the relative youth, but this certainly has strong long-term potential. My only concern is that given how nice this is now, why even bother waiting longer? (95 points)
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
No. 10496. Very 2001, especially in the context of so many great wines of that vintage tonight. The fruit here, as with the other wines, was red-fruited and bright, with heightened acidity balanced with some youthful, chewy tannins. Delicately perfumed, this wine clearly still has much more road ahead. Probably my favourite of the three white labels. (93 points)
2001 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
I don't think that this bottle was at the level of another bottle of this that I drank a few years ago. This felt a little more immature, with a lot more structural elements here. The perfume on this wine, of course, is incredible, with that lifted, elegant herbal nose from the whole clusters. Interestingly, I found the fruit profile to be more black than red (which wasn't the case with most of the 2001s we drank tonight). Very tannic, it seems like this bottle could have benefitted with a good amount more of bottle age. (95 points)
2001 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
No. 10395. I don't think this was as explosively exuberant as a bottle three nights ago (perhaps it was more of a contextual thing than anything else), but this was still very much in line with that previous experience. Incredibly generous tart red fruit, lots of acidity, and a lithe, elegant profile despite the still present tannins. Very much an old school, tannic Barolo, but with the tart red fruit that seems to be in vogue so much these days; this is kind of a best of both worlds situation. (95 points)
2001 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
Served double blind in the Rinaldi flight. This was so different from the other three wines I was thinking it was a different producer altogether. Unlike the three burly, tannic wines preceding this one, there was much more of a "return to form" of the 2001 vintage here. I had actually thought this might even have been a 2004 because it didn't have quite the same tannic structure. More perfumed and red fruited, this was almost delicate next to the same wines. Needless to say, my guesses were all incredibly off base. But this was easily my favourite of the Rinaldi Barolos opened tonight. (95 points)
2001 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Cannubi San Lorenzo Ravera - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
Of the 2001s on the table tonight, I think that this was probably one of the outliers in that its fruit was far darker than the others (even the 2001 Brunate!) and that it felt a lot more burly and unready than the others. Shows much more commonality to the 1999 of the same wine than the 2001 Brunate that was served blind alongside (which really threw me for a loop because of it). Like the 1999, I felt that this was pretty tight due to its structure, and it was hard to get a good read on it. I'd like to try this again some other day in isolation, but the price and availability are both becoming prohibitive. (93 points)
2001 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (11/12/2022)
No. 14173. (I love the $39 Pastaworks sticker on this bottle.) It's perhaps ever so slightly (read: very much) unfair to open this next to the Giacosa, but hey, they're both Rabajà riservas right? For me the difference is really not so much about the relative quality of the winemaking but boils down to more of a stylistic choice. The Produttori is far more rustic, with more earth notes and tannins that are much larger grained. The quality of the fruit here is indisputable. To my palate however, this bottle showed more bottle age than the Giacosa, but there's a confluence of factors that could have caused that. (93 points)
2001 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin (Gabutti) - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (11/12/2022)
I sort of can't believe I've never had this vintage before -- I guess by the time I had discovered these wines around the 2008 release, they were already starting to get a little tricky to find, and backfilling was getting harder and harder. One of my favourites tonight, without a doubt. I love the tart red fruit, with sour cherry, coupled with relatively high acids, and still a good amount of tannin. In a dinner with so many 2001s opened, this showed very similar characteristics to many of the other wines in that way. A sensational, two thumbs up kind of wine. I think many of the table agreed with that.
Great to see the knigit’s faces again. Nice lineup. I still have to repatriate some bottles of Giacosa from Tom. Would love to get together with you guys soon.
