Continuing on with the theme established by my daughter’s 14th birthday, we’ll open three more wines from Piemonte to have tonight with my short ribs with onions and garlic, braised in a rosso do montalcino. First up:
1998 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia - light translucent ruby in the glass, with bricking around the rim. The nose is very primary and pronounced enough that you really don’t even need to swirl the glass - cool menthol and a ripe cherry liquer aroma.
The acidity on the palate really cuts the sweetness of the fruit, although this does not possess the tannic finish that the Vignolo had last night. Still, this is easily the youngest drinking of the three wines so far (comparing it to the two Cavallottos from last night), so we’ll have to revisit this in about five hours to see whether a little slow-ox improves the wine’s accessibility.
Back with bottle #2 in a sec.
Next up, the 1998 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo - a shade or two darker in the glass than the Cascina Francia, with a nose that is less primary than the CF, but also slightly unfocused. Clearly red-fruited, with maybe a little tarry nuance around the edge, but still coming together in the glass.
On the palate, less acidity than the CF, more accessible with no real hard edges and no drying tannins to speak of. This, along with the Monprivato, have been two Barolos from the vintage that have always struck me as being atypically forward, and today the wine is clearly showing more than the Conterno, yet it is also not totally knit together. We’ll see in a few hours how this comes around.
Bottles #3 coming up.
Last up, the 1998 Roagna Barbaresco Paje - and I realize that this weekend, along with the two Cavallottos that it looks like I stayed on the more traditional side of the house from a producer standpoint - nothing intentional there, as I do have some modernists (and recently had a bottle of the Veglio Arborina that was drinking great), but these were the first wines I came across in my rummaging through the cellar.
At any rate, this may be the darkest colored wine I’ve opened all weekend, albeit still translucent ruby. Also the first wine where I’m getting some discernible secondary development on the nose, with a dash o’ funk mingled in with menthol - red-fruited as well, but the fruit here is secondary to other elements on the nose.
Sour cherry on the palate, and a definite dose of drying tannin on the finish. This wine was more open five or so years ago, and I wonder if I’ve caught it today in an awkward place. Almost viscous on the palate as well, medium-bodied and definitely on the more rustic end of the spectrum.
More to follow in a few hours.
Well, the short ribs came out great, and all three wines performed better with air.
I would say our favorite wine was the Bartolo, but I think in another 10 years the Conterno will be blowing it away. I’m sitting here with a glass of the Roagna - while it improved, it was certainly 3rd tonight (probably not too much of a surprise given the wines it was poured with), but in terms of overall balance, I am still concerned with the severity/dryness of the finish. Certainly flavorful in a traditional nebbiolo way, but you almost get a “sandpaper on the tongue” sensation on the finish, so you do have to wonder where exactly this wine is headed from the balance perspective.
Bob, Thanks for notes. Currently sipping on the last of a '98 Seghesio Barolo Vigneto la Villa. Had the '97 tonight too. The results were completely surprising. The '98 the sweet fruit while the '97 seemed old an tired. The '98 is the real deal with with tar and anise behind fruit…great acidity too. Completely blew away the '97.
I’m not ready to kill any of my Conterno’s or Bartolo’s yet, so thanks for taking one for the team!
Bobbi-- drinking window for the bartolo?
No hurry on the Bartolo, Henry - while more evolved than the Conterno, I still think there are further positive changes to come. I think you could literally put it away for another 10 years and come back to find a very nice, elegantly-rendered Barolo.