TN: Some 1958s from the Langhe (Gaja, Fontanafredda) etc.

WINE TALK
21

Umm, a “half gallon”

22

Ah! Good point. Still odd, though, since U.S. gallons weren’t used in Europe, and it doesn’t equate at all to imperial gallons.

23

There is this thing called the wine gallon that has been used for centuries and is basically the same thing

24

Thanks. Never heard of it. But I doubt that any Barolo was being exported to Britain when the wine gallon was in use.

(That Wikipedia article is slightly odd since it suggests that the difference between US and imperial gallons is the temperature and barometric pressure at which they are measured. More significantly, the imperial gallon has 160 imperial ounces, while a US gallon has 128 ounces, and the ounces are slightly different. I used to do a lot darkroom work, so I had to master this. Kodak was in US measures; Ilford was in imperial measures, then metric; and everything else was in metric.)

25

Thanks for the notes. Appreciate any other notes on old Nebbs! I think for most of the group tasted, I think your impressions are about what you would expect. Definitely a bunch of wines that would be a total crapshoot. Surprised on the Gaja. Granted there is a good amount of bottle variation, but a good bottle of 58 Gaja should be stronger than that. They are some sturdy wines. But alas!

26

So we opened the '58 Fontanafredda early this morning and then decanted about 2 hours before serving.

In the glass this was fairly semi-opaque orange, almost like a big Rose.
Nose - smokey, burnt matches, campfire
Palate - orange rind, prunes, nice acid, orange jolly rancher, smooth mellow tannins, medium short finish, just a real pleasure.

Overall, it was great to drink a Barolo that is still going strong but doesn’t choke you with tannin. Now what to set up for 2023.

1 Like
27

Nice note, but seeing how there are sticklers on this thread, don’t you mean translucent?

[cheers.gif]

28

How about I split the difference, semi-opaque.