Category: Nebbiolo

I do get to drink incredibly well sometimes thanks to friends’ extreme generosity. I did at first think, so, you’ve only opened a Langhe Rosso while I’ve dug a 2010 Boschis Via Nuova out for you. Teach me to be so unkind. The Boschis Barolo was malty, muddy and horribly oxidised, not the first 2010 to be disappointing. To be honest, I did have a vague memory of Giovanni Rosso making a Langhe from a cru vineyard and it being a bit special, and not cheap. Turns out this comes from a cherished Rosso family plot in Vigna Rionda no less. And what a fine glass of wine it was. So finely wrought. All the best possible sweet red cherries dusted in perfumed sweet spices. A lift of flowers to fill out the edges. The essence of summer fruit is backed up by a savoury nut paste. In shape, sort of like Grand Cru Burg, inasmuch as there’s enormous flavour that just floats on fine tannin of great finesse that dissipates on a long vapour trail of gentle but persistent acidity. Best possible way to forget a dodgy bottle of Barolo.

14% alcohol. Cork. $275 RRP, eek.

96 points.

Continuing to open special bottles while the tasting is good, a special cru from Serralunga albeit not marked on the map photo above. Think it’s the unnamed vineyard next to the S of Serralunga maybe? Was anorak fun googling the amazing Masnaghetti MGA maps to check. The incredible detail is a joy for both wine and map fiend. I always liked Massolino’s cheaper bottles, clean, good fruit and good winemaking. Time to open a cru which ten years ago was seen as relative value and now retails over two hundred Australian. Must admit it was a blind buy for the cellar based on Massolino’s Dolcetto and persuasive reviews. It’s rare for most of us to get a taste before deciding. Not sure it would have done any good here, as I’d have been as puzzled then as now maybe. Opened well visually but the first sniff was swamped by a haze of pine forest with the hint of fresh fruit below. The palate likewise a drying, dominant pine needle flavour gives the beautiful fruit that lurks below a bit of a biff. It sort of looks like a cedary, raw oak flavour but it’s much more complicated and earthy too. All the publicity says it’s made using big, traditionally sized oak. Serralunga or barrel or both, beyond me. Nonetheless, despite the distraction there’s intense cherry, rose perfume, deep sweet stone stuff, all held in eternal tannin and pleasing acidity of real quality. I’ve a few more Massolino bottles to go, here’s hoping.

14.5% alcohol. Cork. Around $100 at the time?

Somewhere between 89 and 95 depending on how much you like pine forests.

Enjoyed over the dinner table without a proper note but so good, it’s maybe worth a comment? Opened with a lush, clean and modern edge with perhaps a waft of dusty oak. Given half an hour in the decanter after a vigorous double decant and it seemed to lose weight but gained perfume and focus. Rose oil, sweet and tart cherry, darker red fruit and a hallelujah chorus of bright Castiglione dirt carried on tongue coating tannins so sweet they melt and last a very long time. So fresh and bright after its slumber. There was tar and maybe porcini too. All the unfettered flavours of Barolo suavely poised in a perfect Armani suit. One of my first 2008s and there’s a balance of ripeness and zing which had me checking the cellar list for more. No rush though.

14.5% alcohol but no sign of warmth. Cork. Think it was a very thoughtful gift.

95 points, easy.

On the way between Milan and Turin as the high speed train thundered through the town of Novara, I did idly think a stop would be interesting. Gazing north to Lake Maggiore, the country looked gently hilly and quietly inviting for wine exploration, one day. Seems I’m not alone as those Mondo Import lads from Boccaccio Cellars have been bringing in Davide Carlone’s wines for a few years now at direct prices that are very tempting. This bottle opened with a health spa blast of bitter herbs which quickly evened out into rose oil, crisp red cherry buffed with granite dust tannin and well mingled ripe acidity. Over three days, the fruit darkened to maraschino cherry and some roasted nuttiness. The true nuttiness though would be to drink this without good Ital stylee food. Swishing a sip after a mouthful of a Sunday night pizza treat isolated all that sweet Nebbiolo tang into pure delicious pleasure. And that was after three days of oxygen exposure, more reason for slow food. The thought occurred this is sort of between the power of Barolo and the mountain crispness of the Valtellina, geographically obvious really, duh.

13.5% alcohol. Diam, good. $38 in Neb terms, value.

92 points to start, 93 to finish, plus plus for pizza appropriateness.

Yikes, another one that got reviewed before, almost exactly a year ago. Seems blushes are spared as both similar and same points. Good fun if you don’t check before posting.

Having opened a leaden, malty and hulking 2010 Barolo recently and read alarming reports of disappointments with the vintage, thought it time to see if money and patience had been wasted, a familiar sensation to Burgundy fiends especially. Seems this is named for the winemaker’s mum and comes from a special bit of the special Rabaja cru planted to the Michet clone. Important info thanks to importers Trembath and Taylor and their detailed website. The first small pour wasn’t encouraging, looking a bit rusty and tired but air brought a sense of relief as the colour brightened and darkened, if that makes sense? Black cherry, deep tarry earth flavours and a flicker of juicy red fruit to bring a twinkle of chiara to the profound scuro. More air and interminable swirling bring liquorice root and fennel to saturate the retro nasal canyons, intense. Ripe acidity sluices it all through the mouth. The tannins, and what tannins, throb and build and take no prisoners. Brilliant but don’t think it’s possible for wine to be any more positively tannic. Couldn’t imagine trying to drink this without something full of protein and fat to eat. Monumental antioxidant Nebbiolo. Seems there’s another in the cellar to wrestle should bottle variation and cork be kind.

14% alcohol. Cork. Was possibly about $100 or so of recklessly optimistic spending.

95 points and no arguing with those tannins.

Each year this gets better. No longer do Vajra list varieties on the back label but I’d guess it’s the same Nebbiolo dominant blend with bits of Dolcetto, Barbera, Freisa and something else as past vintages. The ability to taste well enough to say for sure would be good though. Starts with a lift of that dirty, dusty old road Langhe Nebbiolo thing but it’s no more than a savoury seasoning like some of those better low sulphur natural brews. At its core is a panoply of red summer fruits, rose petals and the most mouthwatering of acidities and fresh tannin. It sparkles with life. That dirty road becomes calm and macadamed in time. Improved over three days. Probably rather drink this than more bulky aspirations of extraction. In a word, delicious, burp.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. $30 at best, normally $35 but still a relative bargain the way Barolo prices are going.

94 points influenced by sheer pleasure.

A weekend treat, well I think it was Saturday, the only way to tell was more than usual walkers, cyclists and dogs on the footpath getting their permitted two hours of exercise. A treat that nearly didn’t as a 2010 version was horribly corked. Thanks to fine customer service from the importer and retailer that’s Boccaccio Cellars this was nobly offered as a replacement. Wish some other importers did that with corked Burgundies. Did I mention I hate corks? What a serious bit of Monforte grunt it is too. Faded, dusty old pot pourri, a bitumen and tarry depth, a haze of lift to lighten the dark with mashed up cherries and spice. Not the most polished of winemaking with that lift adding a jangly feel to the thunder of Monforte tannin but add food and tickle me pink. Thanks to some good potatoes, the gnocchi held soft and clung to mushrooms and truffle and the qualms disappeared. The Barolo just soared with the sweetest of cherry essence and profound earthy seasonings. Ripe and sweet. Think this is how Monforte is supposed to be. What a bottle rescued from the inequities of annoying tree bark.

14.5% alcohol with the tannin and acidity to cope. Cork. A bargain for Barolo around $80.

94 points.

Our neighbours are suffering building renovations and have been kind if not a little anxious in their forewarnings of chaos but we were all a bit startled as the builders have enthusiastically taken up the offer of a bit of our backyard for storage. A bottle of Nebbiolo was very gratefully received to smooth things along. Due to the recurring lockdown, I didn’t even have to share. A very suave version of Langhe Nebbiolo it is too. Over a couple of days it showed sweet, ripe cherries, scented with roses and pot pourri. Clean as a nonna’s kitchen. Sparkle of mineral acidity and firm black tea tannin. 2018 may not be the darkest or most powerful of vintages but the perfumes and crisp drinkabilty are very appealing at the moment. Good to get on with the neighbours. Maybe the builders could take some more liberties if drinks like this are forthcoming.

13.5% alcohol. Diam. Thanks kind neighbours.

92 points.

Reading around the subject of Barolo, Giovanni Canonica seems to be a bit of a cult in the best sense with some inspiring reviews. When a bottle of the basic but not inexpensive Langhe Neb beckoned from the Italian heavy shelves of Boccaccio Cellars, the thought was now or never. Deceptive looking Nebbiolo as it can be, just medium bodied, clear crimson rose red looking. Starts a bit natural wine yeasty and nutty with a growing perfume of rose oil and musk scented red cherry. Wafts of Langhe stonework lurk. In the mouth, roses, cherry, almond paste and a yeast lees savour. Then, a sweep of those fine tannins like bouncing off a rocky tunnel. The second day the remaining half bottle gained fruit sweetness. Great purity of perfectly ripened grapes, glistening dewy cherries and even the rocky tannins sparkle like quartz in the sun. Pristine, ethereal, pure and of the earth. Rather drink this than the twice the price 2010 Barolo which was leaden footed, over extracted, lacked perfume and was hard work to actually drink. Finesse over bombast.

14% alcohol. Cork. $70.

95 points for pure joy not an excess of power.