2020 Elvio Cogno Langhe Nebbiolo Montegrilli - fabulous juice! Purchased a full case a couple of years ago and have been enjoying it ever since.
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Our Shop Rite has some rare stuff for extremely good prices. They recently had $3.99 sale of Italian old vintages (prior to 2010). I am not sure where they got this stuff, or was it sitting on their shelves for 10+ years? In any case, I had grabbed almost everything they had, spending $200. Some bottles were cooked/corked but majority were fantastic. I checked and original prices were $30-$50.
2018 Reverdito Barolo
I have purchased very little 2017/2018s in general when it comes to Nebbiolo and Piemonte, but from what I have tasted 2018 has shown better.
This 2018 was just a spontaneous purchase, and despite the first bottle being corked I am happy to have a few more bottles around. As mentioned I kind of half serious about it being a Burgundy lovers vintage based on comments and what I read and had tasted, but it might not have been so far off for the more successful wines.
This bottle had red and brighter fruits and berries in abundance, a relatively light frame, with a not that detectable, yet growing with time in the background type of grippy tannins. Good acidic freshness, ending in a long slightly red fruits sour zippy tasty finish.
My most recent Nebb:
- 2016 Castello di Neive Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (9/12/2024)
This bottle surprised me with it's understated elegance and gentle tannin. Lovely raspberry, blackberry and strawberry fruit mixed with classic bramble and tar. It was elegant enough to go with a wild mushroom and arugula white pizza and masculine enough to stand up to a sauced "the works" pie as well. Excellent. (92 points)
Posted from CellarTracker
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going trough my stash of 2015 ferrando etichetta bianca carema. bottle variation is relatively a thing, but when you get the right bottle its singing. nice red cherry hints on the palate with really nice structureā¦ a extremely pleasant aged carema for around 30gbp!
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One of my favorite 30gbp nebbiolos (nebbioli?) that is a 60gbp wine here in the states 
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I canāt recall ever having a 1980 Barbaresco before, but this was sensational.
1980 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano: Had some Indian spice, mushroom and truffle and decaying rose to the nose. The palate started off relatively tight and then blossomed with air. It was unctuous through the mid and rich and heady. Structural elements were relaxed and the finish had so much savoury nuance and expansion.
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S & B Borgogno. Lost the vintage label somewhere along the way. I remember it being a 64 but could be a 67. Definitely one of the better 60s vintages and it seems too young for a 61. Iāve had maybe five or six S & B Borgogno from the 60s over the past 10 years and all have been solid although falling short of stellar. It just doesnāt have the finesse of the Conterno from a couple weeks ago. Bigger, clunkier, tannins a little looser knit, has a slight old-water fish tank smell. But those are all pretty minor issues in the overall context. Itās a pretty clean and classic Barolo. Still has lots of verve. A long way from being over the hill. IMO just reaching true maturity. Sweet, robust fruit. Didnāt have too much old bottle stink. Perfume kicking before I even had all the cork* out.
*The cork was very soft and I got the feeling as soon as I started driving the screw in that it wasnāt coming out in one piece. Most of my wine gear, like a small screen for filtering out corky bits and my decanter (I decanted into another bottle to lose the sediment) are in another state so once the cork started crumbling as I pulled, I tried something different than the usual rigmarole of foolishly pulling on the cork and hoping to get as much possible out on first draw. Instead I immediately unwound the cork and then surgically worked little chunks off the top of the cork and out of the bottle. After I worked a little hole about halfway down it was starting to develop some cork dust in the pit so I gently blew that out and continued the operation. Had almost zero cork in the bottle when done. Lord knows how many times Iāve just fouled up crumbling corks with the brute force āpull n hopeā method once itās obvious it isnāt going to work. Happy I have learned a varied method that seems effective. In the end I think itās less work than the filtering and clean up required from the old method.
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My most recent was last night a 2013 Ca Rome Maria di Brun Barbaresco. I had purchased 3 bottles at auction. This was the second one I tried. The first was okay, but seemed over the hill. This second one was oxidized and no good. Either this wine has no legs or there was bad storage.
I replaced it with a 2017 Cascina Luisin Rabaja Barbaresco that was very thin, almost transparent in the glass.
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I spent more time smelling than drinking. The Rose petal aroma was intense and compelling. There was also a good dose of tar and something herbal I couldnāt identify which also added to the olfactory pleasure. Itā s rather broad shouldered on the palate, though the acidity is high and the perception of weight was ephemeral. Decent complexity with leather, fungal soil tones, soy sauce, licorice, and just a hint of truffle in contrast with the expected fruit flavors. I found this to be more umami in character than fruity, 14.5% alcohol very well hidden, though I certainly feel it this morning.
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2020 G.D. Vajra Barolo Coste di Rose: Perfumed, pretty and accessible. Smells of red jelly crystals hit with hot water and rose petals. Good flesh and depth. Layered and complex, with some earthy and blood orange notes. Perfectly ripe tannins and fresh minerally acidity carry the finish.
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Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 2018 on Friday, such a beautiful barolo in the zone right now, elegance and class combined with grip. Best barolo from MT Iāve had since I drank the 08 and 10 this spring, better than 19 and 16 right now.
Piero Busso Langhe Nebbiolo 2021 on Saturday, really an elegant LN, much more easy drinking than the Bartolo but the style of LN that I love for everyday drinking
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Over the weekend I had a 2020 Silvio Giamello Barbaresco Vicenziana. I have a few of this producerās LN and they are quite pleasant so thought Iād give this a try for just a few dollars more. Not having much time to decant, this was quite tight and wound up on night one, but on night two it was singing. Very floral and fresh with exactly the level of background tannin youād expect at this stage. Good value at $40 retail.
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1978 Moccagatta Barbaresco: A nose of creosote, ginger, earth, bitter chocolate and rose petals. Good fruit weight and depth in the mouth,. Really sweetens at the core with air. Thoroughly engaging, with plenty of subtle nuance. Nice texture and still moderate grip from the tannins.
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Is 2015 Carema now an āaged Carema?ā
I have and have had older bottles of Carema and considered them to be still babies.
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I guess that makes my '74s geriatric, and my '62 positively Methuselan.
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For someone fairly new to the hobby, itās quite possible that a nearly 10 year old bottle of wine counts as āagedā for him. Heck, it might be one of the older bottles heās ever had the opportunity to taste!
I think itās exciting that someone newish to wine is discovering the wonderful magic that can happen when bottles of wine get a few years behind them. As his cellar and/or budget grows, he may eventually get to taste a 20 or 30 year-old bottle. But for now, Iām glad this 9 year-old bottle was a great experience for him.
The wine hobby needs new members and fresh blood. So instead of minimizing his experience, how about we encourage him instead? Everyoneās cellar has to start somewhere!
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Charles - I think I can speak for Otto that neither of us intended to minimize his experience. Only to point out that carema can last for a very long time, and continue to age wonderfully. Since itās a wine that some people might not think of aging, this is important information. Tone is often difficult to judge online, itās true, but in this case I think the intention was light-hearted, not derogatory. I apologize if it came off that way.
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This indeed. My only point was that all the Caremas under 10 yo Iāve tasted have shown no signs of age whatsoever, instead coming across as very youthful.
I just wanted to point out that if such a wine comes across as āagedā, there might some.problems with the wine, its provenance, etc.
And I never stopped to think one was new to the hobby, when they talk about going through their stash of Ferrando! 
I know at least I didnāt have such a thing when I was new to the hobby!
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no offence taken guys! 
i am quite new to this all wine thing, but carema is my home doc so its disproportionately represented in my cellar
but yea the aged comment was definitely misleading, it definitely has many years to go
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