Festa di Barolo

January 2008

I often find the best way to enjoy fine older wines is at home, where the more relaxed pace allows for re-visiting wines over the course of an evening, something that is much harder to do in a more formal restaurant setting. So it was that a small group of passionate Barolo lovers gathered to survey a collection of some of the great all-time Barolos, grouped in pairs around a set of reference-point vintages. The home-cooked food was absolutely delicious with the wines. The aromas emanating from the open kitchen, along with the smells of a multitude of legendary wines being poured into decanters was utterly mind-blowing. Readers may also want to check out Eric Asimov’s terrific article on this dinner in his New York Times column, The Pour, and the accompanying blog.

The 1990 Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs was gorgeous, sweet and pure as it caressed the palate with layers of focused fruit and a creamy-textured finish. It put everyone in a great mood right away. What can I say about a dinner where the first red wine is Giacomo Conterno’s 1990 Barolo Cascina Francia? Our bottle was simply superb. It revealed expressive aromatics married to an expansive core of fruit, all supported by a firm, classic structure. This was a particularly fine example of the wine. We didn’t do quite as well with Bruno Giacosa’s 1990 Barolo Riserva Falletto, which was slightly forward, showing pretty notes of spices intermingled with ethereal, advanced, soft fruit. Sadly, this was not a representative bottle. As it often is, Giuseppe Mascarello’s 1989 Barolo Monprivato was spectacular. Fresh, vibrant and layered, it continued to develop positively for several hours and was still among my favorites of the night after all the other great wines that followed. It was a treat to taste and drink this pristine, legendary Barolo. Giuseppe Rinaldi makes a very small amount of straight Barolo Riserva Brunate (as opposed to his Brunate/Le Coste cuvée) which is generally sold only to family and friends. It is a very rare and hard to come by bottling, so needless to say I was excited to drink this wine again. Sadly the 1989 was marred by high amounts of volatile acid (even for this producer) which detracted from this wine’s considerable depth and richness of fruit. Angelo Gaja’s Barolo Sperss from the 1988 vintage was added as a last-minute surprise. It enjoyed a very strong showing as it revealed considerable fruit and freshness, both attributes which today are rare in many wines of the vintage.

Unfortunately, it looks like I didn’t take a note on Aldo Conterno’s 1982 Barolo Colonnello but others enjoyed the wine quite a bit. Maybe I was distracted by the NFL playoff game being watched in an adjacent room....Giacosa’s 1982 Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda was one of the most talked about wines of the evening. Some tasters asked, Is it in the same league as the majestic 1989? That may be splitting hairs, but the 1982 didn’t quite have that level of depth and concentration. Still, this bottle, from my cellar, was spellbinding and ethereal in its expression of flowers, violets, spices, tar and sweet red fruit. The wine seemed to literally hover on the palate for an eternity. It was superb.

1978 is of course one of the all-time great vintages in Piedmont. A spring hailstorm caused an irregular flowering and lowered yields, nature’s version of a green harvest. The summer was cool up until the final month of the season, which saw very hot temperatures. The grapes were thick-skinned but ripe, and yielded massively structured wines, the best of which are still youthful to this day. We were fortunate to drink two of the finest wines of that historic harvest. Giuseppe Mascarello’s 1978 Barolo Monprivato revealed a thrilling array of dark cherries, spices and chocolate, with balsamic, mentholated notes that came to life as the wine sat in the glass. The 1978 Cantina (Bartolo) Mascarello Barolo came across as softer and more generous in its sweet, perfumed fruit, which makes sense given that Mascarello’s vineyards are in Barolo and La Morra, where the wines mature faster.

Hard as it may seem to believe, things got even better with the 1971s. Giulio Mascarello bottled a small lot of his Barolo for the Cavaliere del Tartufo association that has become an object of desire among Barolo cognoscenti as it is often better than the regular bottling. Mascarello’s 1971 Barolo ‘Cavaliere del Tartufo’ was sensational, still youthful, fresh and full of vibrant fruit. The 1971 Cantina (Bartolo) Mascarello Barolo was more advanced, yet beautiful and ethereal in its sweet, perfumed fruit. This was a particularly fine example of a wine that has a history of significant bottle variation. I have been incredibly fortunate to drink Giacomo Conterno’s 1971 Barolo Riserva Monfortino on many occasions, yet seldom have I enjoyed a bottle that was so utterly perfect. The wine was just gorgeous, with tons of fruit and compelling, sensual balance. I have always believed that the 1978 is the greatest of the older Monfortinos, but those who argue that the 1971 deserves that honor must have had bottles like this. Simply put, this was a breathtaking wine in every way. I served the next wine blind, curious to see what reactions might be. This group of accomplished tasters had no clue what the wine was. I am sure I would have fared no better. In fact no one came remotely close to naming the wine or even grape variety. The wine revealed a soft core of sweet fruit intermingled with delicate suggestions of flowers and spices. It turned out to be Angelo Gaja’s 1971 Barbera Sori Vagnona. What a beautiful wine.

I’ve had mixed experiences with older wines from Marcarini, but this bottle of the 1964 Barolo Brunate was very pretty, delicate and well-preserved. Sadly the 1964 Cantina (Bartolo) Mascarello Barolo was corked. Francesco Rinaldi’s 1958 Barolo also wasn’t perfect. His 1945 Barolo, on the other hand, caused a lot of discussion. It was unbelievably youthful, with a dark color and tons of fruit. It’s hard to say how much of this wine was actually 1945 Nebbiolo, but my guess is not much. It’s pretty rare to come across a well-stored, fresh bottle of Giacomo Conterno’s 1958 Barolo Riserva Monfortino, but this bottled was in splendid shape. The wine was powerful and structured yet had also acquired stunning complexity, not to mention spellbinding seductiveness.

Taurasi, which is made from Aglianico, is often called the “Barolo of the South,” so it was fun to check in on one of the most legendary expressions of this wine, Mastroberardino’s 1968 Taurasi Riserva Pian d’Angelo. Though impressively big and full-bodied, it lacked the sense of harmony of the estate’s Castelfranci which I tasted a few months back. It was getting late, but there was still time for one more Nebbiolo, from a vintage that we hadn’t spent any time with. I wasn’t sure how this magnum of the Produttori del Barbaresco’s 1985 Barbaresco would show given that its provenance was iffy, at best, but the wine was simply beautiful, with soft, caressing fruit and expressive aromatics. It was an impressive showing for the regular bottling in a warm, precocious vintage in which many wines are approaching full maturity. Jacques Selosse’s NV Substance (disgorged April 2007) was a fitting bookend to this phenomenal dinner. This solera-based Champagne burst from the glass with compelling aromatics that melded seamlessly on a full-bodied palate packed with fruit. With each taste it revealed brilliant balance and a finish that lasted well into the cold winter night.

Food:

Assorted antipasti

Gnocchetti Sardi with fresh thyme, Fontina d’Aosta and black truffles

Fettucini with duck ragu and black truffles

Barolo braised baby goat

Biscotti

Wine:

--Antonio Galloni