Mark, you inspired me to open the 2010 Baudana Cerretta. Flavor profile similar to you 2009. I found this to be a powerful intense wine, wide open, crunch, with perfect balance and good depth. On the darker fruited side of Barolo, but showing just how wonderful 2010 can be. I’d say it’s emerging from youthful slumber but still very young, with decades of excellence ahead.
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Continuing the Ar. Pe. Pe. / Valtellina discussion …
Bias: APP is the best represented producer in my cellar and the bulk of my experience is in the 2013-2017 vintages of the Sassella and Grumello superiores and riservas. I am particularly fond of Sassella.
I think of these wines and Valtellina dry nebbiolos generally as the ballerinas of the nebbiolo world. They tend toward extreme elegance with aromatic complexity that can be particularly herbal and mineral (in the nebbiolo context) and a levels of acidity that taken together with less body / leaner mouthfeel can overwhelm impressions of sweetness or fruitiness.
I typically give these wines a lot of air (4-6 hours in the decanter). They are not forgiving. They are not tannic monsters though. They are sharp where other nebbiolo can be savory. I find them pleasing in their complexity.
I’m not sure if it’s a function of my markets or good fortune but I have found the value equation for APP to be superior to other top tier Valtellina.
For what it’s worth, when I serve these wines to others, the results are somewhat love or hate (underwhelmed) … they seem to really annoy lovers of big California cabs.
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Tried a couple of new Roero-based 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo tonight. Rossano Sandri and Marco Pezzuto. In short, I like them both a lot and both are quite reasonably priced and fun to drink. The Sandri is more about fruit and earth, the Pezzuto is more steel and roses (and on edit, some spices - black pepper and thyme maybe?). Both have the Nebbiolo tannins but I actually like that with my hot-weather wine strangely. Happy to drink either (or both) of them! And a few nights ago was APP 2017 Grumello which was also a nice wine, 5 years older and a bit less crispy but super delicious. I suppose I’m meant to be critical but I can’t find anything not to like in any of these 3 wines. All three rang the “fun” bell.
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Has anyone tried any 2016 barolos recently? Thinking about bringing one to dinner and wondering if I should decant.
2016 Burlotto Classico has never really shut down. My last one just got a short decant. My guess is that other Classicos should be drinking ok. 2016 Vajra Albe also is in a good, but early, place now.
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It’s too young to decant. Nebbiolo is the opposite of most wine - decant the old ones, pop and pour the youngsters.
I happen to think most 2016s are too young to drink, but if you want to try one out, I would not decant it.
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Another Idlewild tonight. This time it’s the 2016. Once more it closely resembles a top Trousseau, but with black tea accents that add structure and depth.
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Any specific vintages of the Prachiosso to try? Would 2022 be too young? Ciabot San Giorgio Riserva seems also available at reasonable price vs the Prachiosso. Significant uptick expected there?
BTW based on my source the Prachiosso is not a single vineyard but a blend from 3 sources?
2016 and 2019. One of Negro’s US importers, The Piedmont Guy, repeatedly refers to “Prachiosso” as a single vineyard. “The Prachiosso bottling is sourced from a single vineyard that predates the winery. Giovanni Negro replanted this vineyard in 1971 and still personally tends to it”
It does sound like Negro does not own this vineyard, if in fact it is a vineyard, but only sources fruit from it.
Monprivato, Conterno, and Bartolo were signing and, in my limited experience, have entered their drinking windows. The Cappellano needs more time but is approachable now. All unique wines with unmistakeable signatures. Will check in again in a year or two.
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Please elaborate! I’ve never heard this before.
It is often discussed on the board, going back to the days of Bill Klapp. Not everyone agrees, but lots of us have found it to be true. Very old (50’s, 60’s, even 70’s) can smell highly oxidized upon opening. You think the wine is dead. But after 5 or even more hours in a decanter, or double decanted, it comes back to life and starts to shine. It can even become more visibly saturated and vibrant in color. On the flipside, decanting young nebbiolo can make it clam up hard. The toughest part is deciding where the cutoff is - what’s old and what’s young? There is no hard and fast answer. Personally, I don’t believe in really long decants for young wines in general, unless I have specific experience that leads me to do so, as I don’t feel aeration is a proxy for aging. But that’s another question.
Again, not everyone agrees with me here, and of course there are exceptions. But I am convinced it’s a good place to start.
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Cool, thank you for the recap, I’m new on this board.
So what about opening them a few hours ahead of time?
What is "them?:
I noticed this happening with an '85 Barbaresco I opened last year. We popped and poured it; smelling it, it seemed pretty oxidized, but it was much better on the palate. And then with time in the glass, it definitely improved and the color got better.
And, yes, opening young Nebbiolo often feels like a race against time (though they can be surprisingly open on pop n’ pour, especially with recent vintages).
Sorry 
The young baroli
I don’t think so, no. I pop and pour young barolo. There are unlikely to be off flavors that need to be released, and, if you think air is going to make them shut down, why give it to them?
BTW, there is considerable disagreement over whether just pulling the cork on wine gets much air at all into the bottle, regardless of the grape. Some think “slow ox” is effective, some say the science would disagree. I don’t get into that debate. Limiting my response to nebbiolo, though, I don’t do it with the young ones.
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I definitely agree with the pop and pour for young Nebbiolo. There have been a few exceptions here and there, but 9/10 times when I open a young Barolo and taste it over the course of an evening and into the next day, it was most expressive when first opened.
A few exceptions I can recall are 2016 Margherita Otto Barolo (was aged largely not in oak, and reductive, in need of some air exposure) and the 2019 Roagna lineup, especially the Pira, which seemed to open up and benefit from air and was better on day 2.
I have not personally had many experiences of miraculous transformations with old Barolo + air exposure, but I do not find decanting/air exposure to be a negative for older Barolo and often a positive. I have also found decanting / air exposure to have benefitted medium aged, very structured wines like 1990s-2000s Monfortino.
@Sarah_Kirschbaum and @Rob_M1 Excellent discussion and more or less agrees with my experience. The difficult gray area is the middle aged bottles - say, between 10 and 20 years old. A pretty big range, so I know there aren’t simple answers, but would love to get your perspectives.
My rough thinking is to not open very structured vintages (2010/13 for example) or particularly traditional producers/bottlings before age 20. Other Barolos (less than 20 years old) I’ll either PnP or just decant to remove sediment and then serve.
But. So many buts! Here’s a good case/question: 1996 Giacosa Falletto (non Riserva). Opinions?