First Annual Nebbiolo and White Truffle Charity Dinner

November 2007

WINES:

1975	Bollinger 1975 (jeroboam)	94
1973	Bollinger R.D	96
1979	Bollinger R.D. (magnum)	95
1979	Philipponnat Réserve Spéciale (magnum)	93
1964	Leroy Grands-Echézeaux	94
1964	DRC Grands-Echézeaux	92
1964	DRC Richebourg	96
1964	Liger-Belair Richebourg	88
1953	Leroy La Romanée	?
1934	Hospices de Beaune Pommard (Leroy)	92
1934	Albert Ponnelle Corton	92
1921	Cheval Blanc (Van der Meulen)	?
1961	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Speciale	95
1967	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili	94
1964	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano	95
1978	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano	98
1982	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano	97
1985	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano	?
1982	Gaja Barbaresco	89
1982	Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn	95
1985	Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn	92
1971	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	98
1982	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	97
1985	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	97
1987	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	95
1975	Louis Roederer Cristal	94
1976	Louis Roederer Cristal	96
1978	Louis Roederer Cristal	92
1979	Louis Roederer Cristal	95
1976	Dom Pérignon (Original Release)	96
1982	Bruno Giacosa Barolo Rocche di Castiglione	93
1982	Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto	96
1982	Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda	98
1978	Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda	98
1982	Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Gallina	91
1958	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva	?
1967	Giacomo Conterno Barolo	93
1971	Giacomo Conterno Barolo	94
1978	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva	95
1943	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	?
1945	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	?
1947	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	90
1955	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	91
1958	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	94
1961	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	94
1964	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	93
1967	Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino	92
1983	Giuseppe Quintarelli Recioto Gran Riserva	97

The First Annual Nebbiolo and White Truffle Charity Dinner was held on November 14, 2007 at Del Posto Ristorante in New York City. All proceeds were donated to Tomorrows Children’s Fund, a New Jersey-based organization that offers a variety of programs to help children with cancer and rare blood disorders.

First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to Bruce Fingeret, Ray Tuppatsch, Tom Black, Scott Manlin, Marc Lazar, Mike Sussman, Eric Blattman, Michael Jessen and their guests for their generous support, not to mention the ungodly number of profound wines they added to the original line up. A special thank you also goes out to Del Posto proprietors Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali, who donated a spectacular dinner and what can only be described as insane amount of white truffles. Last but not least, Zachys Auctions generously agreed to sell this charity lot without any buyer’s fees in their September 2007 catalog.

Chef Marc Ladner prepared an incredible meal to match the wines, each course generously topped with fragrant white truffles. Highlights included the yellowfin and tail susci, the carne cruda, the agnolotti dal Plin and the New York strip steak. Wine Director Morgan Rich and his team did an amazing job preparing the wines and serving them at a perfect pace throughout the evening. I can easily say that this was one of the greatest evenings of wine and food I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of, and the memories of this night will last a lifetime. 

We started with a glass of the 1975 Bollinger (jeroboam, disgorged 1995), a phenomenal wine with which to kick off the evening. The wine revealed the essence of dried apricots and roasted nut with gorgeous inner perfume, and a soft-textured personality to marvel over. The large format gave us the opportunity to come back to the wine throughout the evening, and it was always as impressive as the first taste suggested, even after all the monumental wines that would follow. The 1973 Bollinger R.D. (disgorged 1981) offered a more candied, spiced set of aromas and flavors. It too was glorious. Bollinger’s 1979 R.D. (disgorged 1998) was an especially haunting, ethereal wine that floated on palate with remarkable grace. Our first flight concluded with the 1979 Philipponnat Réserve Spéciale (magnum, disgorged 2005). It was the freshest of this first set of wines, no doubt owing to its recent disgorgement, with pretty smoke and scorched earth nuances layered into its vibrant fruit. I could get used to starting a dinner like this, I thought.

Leroy’s 1964 Grands-Echézeaux was simply phenomenal. A model of clarity and precision, it flowed with sensations of red cherries, spices and mint, showing remarkable poise as well as freshness. DRC’s 1964 Grands-Echézeaux provided a fascinating contrast. It presented a super-ripe, candied quality to its fruit, with more advanced aromas and flavors than the Leroy. Most tasters agreed that the 1964 DRC Richebourg was the strongest wine in this flight. It was gloriously structured, with plenty of sweet ethereal fruit and a firm tannic spine that provided support as well as length. This was an absolutely sensational bottle. Unfortunately the 1964 Liger-Belair Richebourg was a letdown. It came across as dried out and volatile, with surprisingly evolved flavors, most probably due to poor storage at some point during its life. The 1953 Leroy La Romanée was impossible to evaluate as it was shot. We then moved into a couple of last minute additions, served blind. The 1934 Hospices de Beaune Pommard (Leroy) offered gorgeous aromatics along with soft, ethereal, spiced red cherries. This delicate, feminine wine was a beauty. Albert Ponnelle’s 1934 Corton revealed incredible muscle and tannins for a wine of its age, along with masculine notes of dark cherries, tar and smoke. Most tasters pegged the next wine at about 20 -25 years of age, which seemed about right given its deep color, rich fruit and distinct sweet toasted oak aromas. The wine turned out to be the 1921 Cheval Blanc (Van der Meulen bottling). My experience with Bordeaux of this era is limited, but I can’t possibly believe this was an 86-year old wine!

I was thrilled with the showing of Bruno Giacosa’s 1960’s Barbarescos. These bottles were all in superb shape and the wines were among the highlights of this incredible evening. Because Piedmont wines have become collectible only fairly recently, these wines hadn’t changed hands very often and it was remarkable how pristine the wines were compared to Burgundies of the same era. We were utterly captivated by Bruno Giacosa’s 1961 Barbaresco Riserva Speciale, the first wine Giacosa made under his own name. It revealed a sweet, delicate, ethereal personality, with surreal balance, poise and tautness. Although other, more “important” wines would follow, we had the incredible fortune of catching this wine at absolute peak of expression which caused conversation at the table to stop as we all marveled at this wine’s utter profoundness. This was my one and only bottle of this majestic wine and it was a thrill to share it with this group. It was without question one of the evening’s highlights. The 1967 Barbaresco Riserva Asili offered a more generous, full-bodied expression of fruit, if not quite the exquisite balance of the 1961. This sweet, generous Barbaresco was another wine to marvel over. With the 1964 Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano we moved into a surreal flight of Red Label Riservas from the historic Santo Stefano vineyard in Neive. The 1964 is also Giacosa’s first single-vineyard Barbaresco and it was a rare treat to enjoy in the context of his other 1960s Riservas. The wine showed the greater volume of this warm vintage in its sweet, open personality. Still deeply-colored, it was the finest bottle of this wine I have ever had. Simply, put it was a terrific showing from one of Giacosa’s early masterpieces. The 1978 Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano showed why this wine is justly regarded by many as one of the world’s greatest wines. It too was deeply colored and revealed a massive core of dark fruit, with mentholated, balsamic nuances the gradually emerged from its towering frame. The 1978 remains a monumental achievement among Giacosa’s most legendary wines. This bottle was breathtaking. The 1982 Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano presented more of a floral expression in its aromatics, with the penetrating, linear personality that is its hallmark. My last sip with a bite of white truffle was…spectacular. The 1982 remains one my personal favorites. Sadly, our bottle of the 1985 Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano was corked. It didn’t matter. This was one of the most amazing flights of wines I have ever had the privilege of tasting.

It was a fascinating to contrast the Giacosa wines with those of Angelo Gaja. Although their personalities and the wines could not be more different, Gaja’s wines have also stood the test of time, even if some of these bottles weren’t perfect. The 1982 Barbaresco can be a beautiful wine, but this bottle was somewhat advanced and showed signs of slight oxidation. The 1982 Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn, on the other hand, was awesome. It revealed superb depth in its core of generous fruit, with superb concentration as well as balance. It was a memorable wine in every way. In the late 1970s and 1980s Gaja often waited to harvest until very late in the growing season in order to achieve the ripeness he was looking for. 1982 was the last vintage made with this method as subsequent vintages brought warmer weather than had previously been the case. The 1985 Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn was sweet and ripe but lacked the energy and focus of this producer’s finest wines.

A breathtaking flight of Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Riserva Monfortino followed. On a normal night any one of these four wines would have been a highlight. This was one of the most mind-blowing flights of Monfortinos I have ever experienced. The 1971 Barolo Riserva Monfortino was stunning right out of the gate. Still deeply-colored, it coated the palate with a massive, imposing expression of fresh, vibrant fruit. Conterno’s 1982 Barolo Riserva Monfortino was simply beautiful in the way its perfumed aromatics and linear fruit unfolded on the palate with sublime grace. Conterno’s 1985 Barolo Riserva Monfortino remains one the most pleasurable and rewarding vintages of this wine for current drinking as it is endowed with a generous amount of super-ripe, opulent fruit. The 1987 Barolo Riserva Monfortino passed without much commentary, but this youthful, fragrant Barolo more than held its own with the more famous wines served alongside it, which is the highest compliment I could bestow on this superb wine.

It was time for a palate cleanser, so we moved into a semi-blind flight of Champagnes as we knew which wines we were tasting, but not the order. This magical flight of Roederer Cristal included an absolutely brilliant bottle of the 1976 Dom Pérignon. Kudos to Ray Tuppatsch for correctly identifying it! The 1975 Cristal was sweet, pure and ethereal in its suggestions of pears and spices. The 1976 Cristal offered an additional level of ripeness and sweetness and depth, with notes of candied apricots and figs. The 1978 Cristal was the most advanced of these wines. Sweet and unctuous at first, it lost steam in the glass fairly quickly. Roederer’s 1979 Cristal was magnificent. This full-bodied wine combined some of the candied fruit of the 1976 with the sweetness of the 1978. In many ways the best was saved for last. The 1976 Dom Pérignon (Original Release) was a revelation. It showed the lightest color in this flight, which could have been taken as a clue. It showed unreal freshness and vibrancy, with soaring aromatics and notes white peaches and jasmine. It was a totally seductive wine.

Our flight of Bruno Giacosa’s 1982s was staggering for its depth and the perfection of the wines themselves. The 1982 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione was delicious and accessible, with its hallmark perfumed aromatics and delicate core of sweet red fruit. A lingering note of minerality gave the wine a wonderful sense of proportion. This bottle was generously donated by Mark Rosenthal. Thank you, Mark! Giacosa’s 1982 Barolo Falletto was spectacular in the way it burst from the glass with an exciting array of dark fruit, menthol, spices and minerals. The Red Label Riservas get most of the attention in 1982, but this bottle showed superb detail, freshness and delineation. We moved from strength to strength with the 1982 Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda. It flowed onto the palate in a very classic expression of tar and roses, with an inner sweetness and perfume that is hard to capture with mere words. Sublime. Elegant. Extraordinary. None of those descriptions do this majestic, profound Barolo justice. An unexpected bottle of the 1982 Barbaresco Gallina appeared out of the blue. This medium-bodied, aromatic Barbaresco was at the peak of its expressiveness, with pretty, perfumed ripe fruit and a delicate, feminine personality. A perfect bottle of the 1978 Barolo Riserva Speciale Collina Rionda brought this rapturous flight to a close in grand style. Still boasting an intense, deep color, the wine literally exploded from the glass with layers of dark fruit, tar, smoke and minerals, all supported by the tannic heft that is so characteristic of this legendary vintage and wine. I am not sure when this monumental, youthful Barolo will be truly ready to drink, but it has always been breathtaking, as it was again on this night.

Our bottle of the 1958 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva was corked, which was a shame since other bottles from this same lot have been incredible. Fortunately we had a bottle of the 1978 in tow as a spare. Before we got to it we enjoyed a beautiful bottle of the 1967 Barolo, which was sweet, balsamic and beautifully layered with fruit. Conterno’s 1971 Barolo offered a more powerful personality, with firmer tannins and greater length than the 1967. The 1978 Barolo Riserva was simply phenomenal. This explosive Barolo flowed from the glass with a never-ending array of plums, prunes, licorice, tar and leather notes on an imposing and impressively structured frame. It was a beautiful and very representative wine from this storied Piedmontese vintage.

The evening wound down with two flights of older Monfortinos. In the first flight the 1943 and 1955 were clearly fakes. The 1945 Barolo Riserva Monfortino presented a pale, spent color, along with ethereal sensations of tea leaves, spices and dried fruits. It was not a particularly fine example. The 1947 Barolo Riserva Monfortino was gorgeous in its expression of smoke, tar, earthiness and dark fruit. We had much better luck with the second flight where the wines really shined. The 1958 Barolo Riserva Monfortino revealed awesome depth and richness. This old-style, burly Barolo was loaded with dark plums, prunes, spices, tar, tobacco and earthiness. Our bottle of the 1961 Barolo Riserva Monfortino was especially beautiful and fresh. It offered a similar flavor profile as the 1958 with greater harmony and balance, it not quite as much sheer power. The 1964 Barolo Riserva Monfortino was uncharacteristically sweet, with open, expressive aromatics and gorgeous purity to its fruit. Conterno’s 1967 Barolo Riserva Monfortino presented a more advanced set of leather, spice and stewed prunes in a delicate, understated style. Giuseppe Quintarelli’s 1983 Recioto Gran Riserva is a legendary wine, and this bottle more than lived up to my lofty expectations. Still incredibly vibrant and fresh, it revealed layers of dark chocolate, leather, spices and sweet that coated the palate with extraordinary richness and concentration. It was the perfect wine to sit with for a moment and contemplate the remarkable evening we had all been fortunate to be a part of.

FOOD:

Roasted autumn vegetables with truffled hazelnuts

Yellowfin & tail susci with red grapes, horseradish & sunflower

Carne cruda & tartufi

Tajarin & tartufi

Del Posto agnolotti dal Plin with Parmiggiano-Reggiano and black truffle butter

New York strip steak with chicory salad, Cesare’s beans

Robiola La Rossa with tartufi

Assorted desserts

Del Posto Ristorante, 85 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, tel (212) 497-8090

-- Antonio Galloni