It was. Not sure why it took so long. But I am a fan too now.
1 Like
I opened a bottle of 07 Elvio Cogno Ravera last night.
Seemed raisined and over the hill when I opened. That cloying sweetness gradually receded over the course of the night. Around hour five of being in a decanter the wine was still picking up steam (turning into more floral with iron and tarry notes) when the bottle was finished. I’ve read here about older Barolo needing air but this is the first time I’ve personally experienced it… lesson learned I guess although still not sure the wine would have fully recovered into something great.
5 Likes
In the past few months I have had two of these nice Bramaterrans. Lovely wine.
1 Like
These lean a little modern (polished tannins) for my taste but they’re lovely. I double decanted this c. 1 hr prior to dinner. It came out of the bottle a little sharp (acidic and tannic) but resolved over the next hour into a nice place (fatty food definitely helped). Still youthful. Roses and cherries and herbs. Some minerality and spice. Probably best to leave these alone another few years.
1 Like
These wines age well. A 2004 Ovello this year was superb.
Did you decant or just let it breathe in the bottle? I have picked up some of these and the single MGA bottlings but have not opened any yet.
I drank two small glasses while doing some cooking right after pop’n’pour. That introduced a bit of air into the bottle. It was open in the bottle for two hours or so afterwards whiched helped quite a bit.
1 Like
2016s are kinda starting to poke their heads out of a sleep.
2016 Bel Colle Pajore. Jubey red fruited nose. Bright, punchy jubey red fruits on the palate. Lovely! Red fruits of the forest. Grapefruit acid. 94
2016 Monchiero Rocche. Cherry, roses and spearmint nose. Quite closed palate. Hole at the back but started opening up quickly. Some orange peel. Tart fruit, pokey acid but good. 95
Plus 1 day. The wine is finally showing itself. Intense rose petals, bit of iodine, the acidity is a tad volatile and blocky tannins.
1 Like
Over the past few days - a 2010 Vallana horizontal, with a guest appearance by 2006 Campi Raudii.
All but the Gattinara, which never got out of first gear, showed beautifully.
19 Likes
2015 A Conterno Romirasco Barolo. Young but fantastic. My TN:
Young but plenty lovely. Bright red cherries, dark candied cherries as well, strong aromas of roses, spearmint, and some herbal smells (rosemary?). Just fantastic in the mouth. High acidity and medium to medium high tannins, but that’s expected in Barolo. Just a little bit of VA, but nothing intrusive. The flavors are so cohesive, a perfect balance between ripe gorgeous cherries, floral and herbals, and a little bit of medicinal bitterness. Not much of the earthy tar flavors that will almost certainly come with age. The wine seems to grow in the mouth with a full mid-palate, almost rich, and a long lingering complex finish. Absolutely lovely young Barolo, which has miles to go.
1 Like
Cross-posting:
Well here is a fun one! Opened on Christmas Eve at my wife’s request, and it was great with our huge meatball and sauce dinner, but at 48 hours (tonight):
48 Hours: Substantially better, revving up to 5th gear.
-
Aromas: Morello Cherry and some other complex spice flavor that I really could not nail down.
-
Palate: Has picked up much better weight, almost vibrating with tension between the acidity, tannin, and perfectly ripe fruit. A little bit of sucrosity, but not overbearing.
I entirely believe this will become something gorgeous over the next 20 years, and this is just the Gattinara normale!
The much more fun backstory can be summarized thus:
We were in Lombardia and Piemonte in the fall for our third “baby moon,” and so my incredible, dear wife sat through tasting after tasting, enjoying, but spitting a ton. We did in fact make it to Nervi-Conterno, had a wonderful lunch at Cucine Nervi (€15 btg 2003 Cantine Nervi Gattinara!!), and all these months later my wife hadn’t really had a chance to taste the full story. So when this was her request, of course I was going to say yes. Merry Christmas!
4 Likes
2004 Brovia Barolo Ca’Mia was singing last night.
6 Likes
I’m going painfully back in time to thank you for your response @dcornutt regarding the Nervi-Conterno 21s, my apologies for not acknowledging your response sooner. Thank you!
1980 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia Soprana; A very good cork and a very good bottle of wine. In tertiary/savoury territory. Teak, chestnut, leather and salt. Some balsamic tang and lift. The scent of spent fireworks. Spice and flora with air. Intriguing and engaging. Chewy tannins and excellent length
7 Likes
A very early contender for wine of the year!! So pure, silky red fruits. Composed and complete, although young.
12 Likes
Thank you. I think I have some of this and remains only vintage of this wine that I have purchased for some reason. Need to drag one out! How was the oak treatment on this one?
Nice stuff in a good spot. Being 100%, it is less easy for me to peg this as Alto Piedmont and it could have passed as a Langhe wine. Perhaps lacking the expected body of a Barolo, but with lots of still firm tannins and dark tones of anise and tar. Drink or hold.
7 Likes
A few recent Produttori. I should have known better, but all three of these would have benefitted from some decanting time.
- 2012 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (1/7/2026)
This needed a couple hours of air to clean itself up. Very brown and funky on opening. What a difference after a couple of hours.
More concentrated cherry fruit than the 14. Also much more chewy and structured. Interesting nose, that is very pleasant but hard to describe. Not menthol, but spice and something nice. Really showing nicely, now. What a deal at $27 on release. Down to one bottle left unfortunately. - 2014 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (1/7/2026)
Like the 2012, this is showing some brown and orange in the color. More than I would expect, actually. This also has a lot of autumnal, earthy aromas at first, but with air, gains more red fruit and menthol notes. I really should have decanted this in hindsight. A little lighter bodied, in line with the vintage. Still some fine tannin, and nice acidity. I’ve always liked this vintage of Produttori. I have one bottle left. I doubt I will hold it long term, but this should cruise along for a while. - 2001 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (1/4/2026)
There was a little funkiness when I first pulled the cork. With some time in a decanter, the nose cleaned up, showing some light menthol, and what I think was maple and soy. A mix of red and darker fruit. Ann loved it. I wouldn’t go that far, but it was very likeable. It may have shown even better had it been decanted for a while before we started drinking it. Lots of sediment.
10 Likes
Opened one of these the other evening. Decanted for c. three hours.
These seem to age timelessly (my notes were virtually identical a could of years ago). This was fresh and vibrant. This bottling is particularly elegant (one of my favorites amongst a number of their bottlings and vintages). Beautiful floral aromatics and lovely minerality. The tannins are well integrated and while present not harsh or obtrusive.
6 Likes