My gosh that looks like good food!
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Love it!!! Glad you were able to make it. We were actually there again tonight (my terrible photos after wrangling my phone back from one of my kids). Both wines were on point and the Giulia Negri might be my top LN of the trip.
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Dying to go back!
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BTW, the kid knows what it’s good, after all the apple doesn’t fall far for the tree
Wow, talk about a blast from the past. It’s been more than a decade since I last had either Doyard or Negri/Serradenari. Good to know about the latter - I’m already planning my next Piemonte online purchase and we have not even returned home yet. Really interested to explore Luigi Pira further.
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Would be great to tour Piemonte a bit with someone who appears to be Italian 
You mean the cheese? Unfortunately she is not yet super into them but I’m sure she’ll get there.
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One of my favourite winemakers in Piedmont. 2015 is very approachable now. Already showing a bit of subtle tertiary notes in the background, but still with its bright elegant primary fruit, herbs and roses. Super aromatic. Tannins are already fine and in a good spot. The style is classic with a mild touch of “low intervention”.
Absolutely lovely!
Surprisingly it did have a ton of sediment already which I had to work around as I was not prepared for that in a 2015. Next time I need to have it stand up for a while before serving.
Served it for my guests with a creamy safran/mushroom stock polenta, grilled pork and oven baked tomatoes with sage.
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2020 Villa Guelpa Boca. This was quite nice, I’ve not had a ton of Boca outside Vallana and found this to be very pleasant.
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With the separate thread on Francesco Rinaldi I thought I would pick this off the list tonight. Their winery is within the Cannubi MGA so thought this would be the best offering. It was good but didn’t wow us. I think it’s actually priced right
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What vintage Tom?
Sorry, 2024
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Another stellar 2019 GD Vajra Barolo Albe last night. It’s brimming with delicious florals, dark cherries and a darker edge, but the palate is just so vivid and juicy, the tannins well covered by the perfectly ripe fruits. It’s so well balanced I can’t see this shutting down.
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Had this Castello di Neive Barbaresco 2023 the other day. This is one of my go-to Barbarescos, this had bright acidity, soft/chewy tannins, forest cherry and ripe raspberry, polished texture and overall very balanced. Just a simply good red from Piemonte! This, Bruno Rocca, aged Gaja, and Roagna some of my favs in recent months.
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Sandrone Nebbiolo d’Alba “Valmaggiore” 2021
TN: morello cherry, chrysanthemum, sun-drenched river clay
w/ Bread Peddler (Olympia, WA) “Tre Semi”, Salumi Chicago “Barolo” + Jeff’s Garden (American Canyon, CA) garlic-stuffed olives
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- 2016 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (26/01/2026)
Cabotte #4 (London): Perfumy, thick and luscious nose; roast corn, flapjack oats, rhubarb jelly, barbeque, hazelnut icing, herbal tea, after some air strawberry dust; additional aroma of carbon, plywood; the herbaceous and vegetal notes are the defining features;
Tannins are prominent but plush, becoming Da Hong Pao (Oolong) -like on finish; one can taste the stems and the soil owing to whole cluster fermentation; fruit is more balsamic rather than developed;
Without decanter over 3hrs at Cabotte; think this needs 5y, though the aromatics are singing; this has potential to be one of the best Monvigliero, though rating it below the 17' which is ready and far less dense in phenolics; (97 points)
More recently and stylistically the reverse:
- 2015 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (17/07/2026)
L'amuse Bouche, Malvern #2: Uncorked for an hour, drunk over two, stored in personal cellar purchased at estate;
Hawthorn flakes, moss, dark cherries, hint of roast chestnuts, black ink block (getting very Vosne here), rosewater at end; on palette, liquorice, sweet sesame, watermelon; dense heavy tannins initially but granulates on mid palette; a long heat on the throat; occasionally tannins subsumed by a cold herbal mint, perhaps a vanilla with the primary notes above; finish after 2hrs ends as a saline dried red berry powder without much tannin detectable; think we've entered the drinking window, a milder, medium intensity Barolo with not too much modernist influence to irritate; (94 points)
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Very much agree on the 2021 Vajra BdV, Produttori and Trediberri. I bought cases of all three.
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I need to give the Scavino another try. I had this same Bric del Fiasc 2015 a few months ago and I found it terribly tannic. Maybe I didn’t give it enough time in the glass?
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I like to drink a bottle of each of the Mascarello Monprivato and Villero side by side as young wines to set a mental benchmark for future reference. The 2021s are just stunning wines. The Monprivato sits alongside the Cappellano Pie Franco as my favourite nebbs.
- 2021 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (7/31/2026)
Slightly darker than the 21 Villero. Intense nose of vanilla pastry and diverse red fruits. The fruits get lighter red with swirling. Rose petals, bright spicy red berries. Very very long. Intense red fruits, grippy on the tongue, tightly coupled to start with. Super expressive but also closed.
Grip starts to come out after 15 mins in the glass. Takes another step up after 30 mins in glass - amazing bouquet of red, pink and white roses and different florals, more layers of red fruits. Amazing inner cherry sweetness coming out. The rose petals swirl over and over again across the palate. Incredibly silky texture. 98
Fresh pour is really tightly coiled again.
Plus 1 day. Roses, florals on palate. Good acid, nice puckering tannins. Layers of flowing red fruits and rose petals and florals. Wow. 98 (98 points)
- 2021 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Villero - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (7/31/2026)
Amazing light red rose colour. Very lifted and spicy nose of raspberries, spicy red berries. A super light lifted nose. What a fantastic mouthfeel of flowing spicy punchy red fruits and dry rhubarb. Long and lingering. Raspberry coulis.
Grip starts to come out after 15 mins in the glass. Such light and airy red fruits. Fewer dimensions than the Monprivato, more linear. With 40 mins a sweet cherry essence came through. Kept improving for a full hour in the glass. Cherry and raspberry, and then tannins starting to grow after an hour in the glass.
Plus 1 day. Intense raspberry palate with a depth of different shades of raspberry. Super expressive hit of intense raspberry! 96 (96 points)
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So fascinating to think about the modern vs traditional debate and then taste a wine like this with a 12-15 day maceration time. Totally “nontraditional” but Beppe Colla realized back in the late 1940s, that Nebbiolo could age on its acidity like Pinot Noir does, rather than needing its tannins. He worked for Felice Bonardi at the time, and was given the chance to use a 18 day maceration period on a small batch of the wine in 1950. The following year, everything was done with that shortened maceration time. In time, others followed suit, but of course not all. Aldo Conterno is a prime example though, starting his winery nearly 20 years later and generally having a maceration time of about 3 weeks for his Barolos besides Gran Bussia.
2021 Poderi Colla Barbaresco Roncaglia
12-15 day maceration time, aged in neutral 35hl Slavonian oak for 12-14 months. This is bright, even on day 3, with rose pedals, vibrant black raspberry, red cherry, a touch of anise, some earth, and lovely soft tannins. Very well balanced, and should show very well for at least another 15 years. Quite possibly much more.
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