I have had mostly good experiences opening 2010 Barolo over the past 1-2 years. I did a large 2010 tasting back in January 2024 and almost all of the wines were worth opening, with a few exceptions ('10 Conterno Francia, '10 Vietti Rocche were quite closed in our tasting). We had great showings from the Bartolo Mascarello, Cappellano Rupestris, Sandrone Le Vigne, Massolino Rionda, Conterno Monfortino, and G. Mascarello Monprivato. I also did a large tasting of 2008 Barolo last summer and the wines showed very well.
For the 2010s and 2008s, I did a quick double decant of each of the wines, so they obviously got some more air than pop and pour but not a long decant.
My personal approach with a '96 would also be a fairly quick double decant, you definitely need to decant for sediment but I donāt know that there is an obvious benefit to sitting in the decanter for a long time, not that Iād be afraid of time in the decanter though. For serving at dinner with other people or prepping the wine to bring somewhere, a double decant is definitely more convenient. If I was drinking the bottle myself for dinner, I might just decant right before serving and serve the wine from the decanter.
Thereās a lot of trial and error, to be sure. I havenāt opened many structured vintages like 2010s or 2013s at all, with a few exceptions of early blossomers like Produttoriās basic Barbaresco. 20 years+ is more my speed with those vintages, though I donāt doubt the reports from others that recent examples have been accessible earlier.
As far as air or the middle aged goes, I tend to err on the side of less air, because you can always give a wine more - you can never give it less. Other than decanting off of sediment, which I almost always do, I tend not to decant younger than 20 years. I keep careful notes of how I treated bottles and how they showed, so when I open the next one (yet another reason to buy wines in multiples) I have some guidelines. I donāt have any experience with Giacosa younger than 2004, but Iāve learned to give middle-aged bottles, including '96s, a couple of hours in the decanter, as the aromatics are greatly enhanced in my experience. A pair of 2001 Cavallottos showed very well with about 4 hours in the decanter and were still evolving in the glass, a process I enjoy observing.
In a perfect worldā¦ I open a bottle c. 6 hours prior to target consumption, coravin / pour 50-100ml and take a taste. Wait 15 minutes ā¦ taste ā¦ and so on. Am I objective relative to the previous observations? Probably not. Do I do this religiously? No. Not even close. Does this drive my spouse insane? Absolutely. However, Iāve found this reasonably effective in terms of making a decanting decision.
2013 Elio Sandri Barolo Riserva Perno - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (6/9/2025) Wines of the Via Francigena- Camino Italy style; 5/26/2025-7/6/2025 (Northern and Central Italy): This was bought at Giglio in Lucca. The nose was open and giving from the get go with flowing tones of Crushed rocks, a touch of balsamico, rose petals, licorice, sour red cherries, raspberries, savory herbs, leather, earth notes, thyme, potpourri, and rosemary notes. There is excellent depth and poise as the fruit still has some freshness while there is a touch of maturing starting to emerge. The Full bodied feel is so refined and balanced with a lengthy finish as well as tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins. The structure is refined and balanced while still retaining a level of youth. This is drinking quite well right now?! Whilst I wouldnāt call this mature, itās clearly in its window. This is a savory beauty that will have a long, happy life for those that want something a touch more old-school. (94 pts.)
Ha! Itās funny that you post this just after the decanting discussion as I had this wine particularly in mind. When I went to open my first bottle a couple of years ago, I texted Jamie Wolff and he said something to the effect āas much air as you can give it will only helpā so both times Iāve had it, Iāve decanted 6+ hours and it showed majestically. My guess is if there was a 2013 Francia, that strategy wouldnāt work as well.
This gets back to something Sarah said above, you really have to know the individual wine so if I only had one bottle of something, I wouldnāt want to give it too much time in the decanter. An additional confounder is that not all wines open in the same way. I find Vajra wines very linear and predictable in their relationship to air whereas something like Canonica will be closed, closed, then suddenly pop open. Mysteries.
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On the right is a birth year Carema Riserva from Cantine Rosotto. Know nothing about the producer (waiting to hear back from an LA Somm from Ivrea and my producer, Chiussuma) but damn! This wine was all dried roses, blood/iron, hint of cooked tomatoes, touch of anise. All the tannins are resolved leaving sweet dried strawberries and a steak of fresh raspberries for freshness.
Disclaimer: I import the Erbaluce and Canavese from Luca Leggero. That Erbaluce is insanely good, But I raise this because unless I missed it, no one has talked about the recent ascension of nebbiolo from Canavese. Any experience/favorites to share from this region?
