PSA: Winebid has a bunch of Tenuta Monolo Bramaterra Riserva 1994-2000 this week at pretty low prices.
Nebbiolo works in mysterious ways. Maria Teresa Mascarello said that Nebbiolo needs time, in every stage of its life (winemaking, bottle, glass).
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We’re drinking yours, I only bought 3 
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Checking in on a couple of ‘16’s.
2016 G.D. Vajra Barolo Albe: Tart red fruits, smoked meats, tar and mineral. Plenty going on here. Good acid drive and chalky tannins. Moderate depth and length.
2016 G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole: Gorgeous cherry and plum fruits, backlit by electric acidity. Quite stony, with some earth too. Dried flowers and spice with air. There is flesh but the wine is compact and linear. It offers enjoyment and is engaging but the best is yet to come. Lovely balance and outstanding length.
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Do you see further upside to holding the Albe?
Probably not a huge amount, Chris. I have 7-8 bottles remaining and will drink them over the next 3-4 years. The Bricco on the other hand is a 20+ year wine.
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2005 Tenute Sella Lessona Omaggio a Quintino Sella
At 20 yo it’s entering its drinking window, no sign of aging in the color or aroma, typical Nebbiolo profile of tar, red fruits, a subtle touch of aged balsamic, a hint of licorice root and noticeable minerality. Very elegant and balanced, with the acidity and tannic grip that I expect in Nebbiolo.
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2004 Renato Corino Barolo Vigneto Rocche - this is a big, bold, rich Barolo, dark fruits, tannins largely resolved, full bodies and pushing ripeness, but still very tasty.
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Fenocchio Bussia 2014
First bottle out of six - PnP over two nights.
Drinking really well but don’t think further time will do any harm and it’s one of the few 2014s I purchased.
Fruit profile in a red direction with raspberries, strawberries and cherries, some herbal notes and licorice. Nice long balanced long tasty finish.
Think it would be fun to drink this along side a 2014 Trediberri Barolo next time.
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Luigi Pira Barolo Serralunga d’Alba 2021
I buy Pira every year since visiting on my first trip to Barolo, and was excited to crack into this vintage before burying the rest away. I’ve found the 2021 vintage to be very expressive right out of the gate and this was no exception. Richly red fruited with roses, orange peel, warm spices, menthol, and loads of the new leather and dry hay that I always associate with Pira. Gorgeous high acidity, refined and persistent tannins, and comes across fairly high toned in this vintage. Can’t wait to see how these develop.
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Had a look at the Sordo '21’s. Excellent set of wines.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo : A beautiful nose of pomegranate, raspberry and chalk. Nice flesh in the mouth, rich and heady through the mid. Good depth and chalky grip. Excellent balance. 80% la Morra fruit here.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo La Serra: The gorgeous perfumes of this wine simply draw you in. Exquisite red fruits with rose petals. Accessible and relatively fine but with surefire structure.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo Monvigliero: Very spicy. Some licorice notes mix it up with complex cherry and pomegranate fruits. The palate is expansive. There is nice grip from perfectly ripe tannins. It is so long and perfumed.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo Ravera: Firing on all cylinders as soon as it hits the glass. Generous red berry fruits. Good mineral detail and tension. Perfect harmony between the flesh and the tannins. Great drive and persistence.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo Rocche di Castiglione: Fabulous fruit intensity here. Deep, concentrated, and stony. Very pure and layered. Everything is carried by superb, chalky tannins. This is complete wine that possesses awesome length and balance, it simply needs cellar time.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo Parussi: Rich and powerful, full and fleshy. A slightly darker fruit profile here. Some ironstone buried deep. Layered with flavour and possesses good chew. The finish is long and savoury.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo Perno: A little bit reduced and needs a vigorous decant if you are going to attack it now. It has beautiful cherry and raspberry fruits at its core. It is spicy and layered, expansive and long.
2021 Giovanni Sordo Barolo Gabutti: Very stony and oozes saline minerality. An amalgam of red and black fruits. Deep and penetrating. Ample chalky structure and a finish that fans out and drives on.
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Thanks for the notes Jeremy. I’ve never tried this producer, and I’m quite impressed by your notes and the excellent collection of vineyards. How would you describe the style overall? Which other Piemonte producers would you compare him to? Much appreciated.
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They have a wonderful suite of vineyards and make quite traditional wines. Seven-week macerations, 2 years in botti, then 6 months in steel. Each wine is treated the same to let the terroir shine. The wines seem to be more accessible than ever. Perhaps slightly gentler extraction or warmer harvests or a combination of both? They used to be quite stern and unyielding. I can’t think of another producer whose wines they resemble off the top of my head.
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Interesting to hear that they too are now working in an earlier accessible style. Last I had was 2010 and they were definitely stern. I like that firm structure but also like the newer way and the older way was probably too much for some people.
1966 Vietti Barbaresco: Gave this a 5 hour decant and it was wonderful. Complex aromatics of Indian spice, dried flowers, moss, cedar and wild herbs. There’s some balsamic volatile lift. The palate is deep and chewy, with something sweet and vinous at the core. It still possesses ample structure and there are all sorts of interesting tertiary savoury notes. It finishes clean and precise and is very long.
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Fascinating note, Jeremy. I was surprised to read about such a long decant for such an old wine. Did you try it when you opened it to decide it needed that much air? I’m also curious about storage - do you have any idea about its history? I kind of doubt you bought it on release .
Did it have the Mario label?
Don’t be surprised. Many of us agree Nebbiolo is the opposite of every other grape when it comes to decanting. The older wines need many hours of air, the younger wines do better with minimal if any decant, and tend to shut down if you give them air.
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It is counter-intuitive to many, but these older Nebbiolo demand serious airtime. 5-10 hours. Air will never revive a totally oxidised bottle but sound bottles always shine with loads of air.
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