tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56603669008037662282024-03-19T13:58:12.411+01:00Nebbiolo JunkieNicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-19241305841775135612011-12-18T16:39:00.001+01:002011-12-18T19:07:40.907+01:00Conterno Weekend Part Two - Cascina Francia Vertical<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As I wrote in my previous post this tasting was done in June of 2009, but since I just started my blog, I thought it deserved to be mentioned here. It was a spectacular tasting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Saturday evening it was time for the big <strong>Cascina Francia</strong> tasting. Apart from Stefan I had invited 5 friends, who are all very interested in wine. Four of them also participated in my Cascina Francia vertical last year. So we knew that we could be in for a very special treat, especially as this year’s tasting included more “older” wines than last year. The wines were served semi-blind as everyone knew which wines were going to be in the tasting, but the bottles were covered when served. We did not decant the wines, but they were opened three – four hours before being served.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7eBu-3SvGKojYkgkyNYhsKKoRndnBhTzm9iGH3OuJ21dGGJz7Zn3BBaoR1M65sRVJqGnHgZlJTr4wQpGUAhE-JwoJo3toUteT8O-v1MBVNtl5aaIIFe4zOuqe0ANQ8sb-hCG8wKAjRA/s1600/DSC02268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7eBu-3SvGKojYkgkyNYhsKKoRndnBhTzm9iGH3OuJ21dGGJz7Zn3BBaoR1M65sRVJqGnHgZlJTr4wQpGUAhE-JwoJo3toUteT8O-v1MBVNtl5aaIIFe4zOuqe0ANQ8sb-hCG8wKAjRA/s400/DSC02268.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bottles waiting to be served</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We started with a glass of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Champagne</place></state>. </span><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;">It was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charles Ellner Champagne Brut Seduction Millésimé 1996</b>. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It had a golden colour. It had very distinct notes of rye bread, or yeast as others put it. Other than that it displayed lemon, honey, hazelnuts and also apples. It did not have the sharp acidity, which I have found in most the 96 <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Champagnes</place></state> I’ve had, but you could feel the acidity in the stomach. A very good <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">Champagne</state></place>. 92 points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Then came the first course, which was hand cut carne cruda from veal tenderloin. It was a magnificent carne cruda, and even though it was not tenderloin from Piedmontese animals it was one of the best carne cruda I’ve ever had. The food went very well with the first flight of wines, which were 1996 & 1999 Cascina Francia. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIN_0oVZTR3s7y27h9FcrPEfWZrhZCTV4r9calsZ5HQsOD-2GqY3U25G0hlCaC8ikK6FT_5Pdl9uiyhoKsB6TlkDnBRgQvYL_OaUJa1Dpv4v1cePkaFkJ1dozYD4XFpZ2xCJWQnS5W-YE/s1600/DSC02259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIN_0oVZTR3s7y27h9FcrPEfWZrhZCTV4r9calsZ5HQsOD-2GqY3U25G0hlCaC8ikK6FT_5Pdl9uiyhoKsB6TlkDnBRgQvYL_OaUJa1Dpv4v1cePkaFkJ1dozYD4XFpZ2xCJWQnS5W-YE/s400/DSC02259.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1999 Barolo Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Initially the 99 was very tight and did not offer much on the nose. I’ve had the 99 a number of times and it is the first time that I’ve experienced it with a tight nose. After working with it in the glass for a while it started to reveal some of its underlying greatness. The nose revealed cherries, some strawberry and in general small red berries. In the mouth it is very fruit driven, almost Burgundian. It was extremely well structured, with firm tannins and had good distinct acidity. It was very primary and you sensed that this only revealed a fraction of its potential as we definitely caught this at as rather closed stage. After the dinner we tried some of the leftovers and it was quite strange with voluminous sweet cherries. I had a tiny bit left for tonight and it had improved significantly. It was still dominated by cherries but it had lost the voluminous sweetness. On other bottles rose petals have been a very characteristic element in the nose, but I did not pick it up on this bottle. After this showing, I will try to keep my hands away from my remaining bottles. 93+ points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1996 Barolo Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The 96 was much more open for business and offered a very expressive nose of cherries. It appeared darker in style than the 99 and it had a monster structure underneath all the primary fruit and berries. This is really a wine which is build for the long haul. The great body and the sharp acidity will keep this wine alive for decades and I’m sure there is plenty of fruit to balance it. At other tastings I’ve preferred the 99 over the 96 but not this time. When revisited after dinner this was really singing and the people that got to taste it were stunned. A fantastic wine although it is only a baby. 94+ points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Next course was risotto with morels, summer truffles and fried quail egg. A fairly simple yet truly amazing dish. It offered a perfect match to the next flight of wines, which consisted of 1970 & 1971 Barolo from Giacomo Conterno. I had sourced the 1970 (and the 58 Monforitno) last year via a friend’s connection in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Italy</place></country-region>. When I ordered it, it was listed as a 1970 Barbaresco, but when I received it, it was a Barolo!! Naturally I did not complain and certainly not with a price tag of “only” 65 Euros. Stefan brought the 1971 from his cellar. I had anxiously been looking forward to this flight as I had never tasted any of the wines. As it turned out, this was the single best flight of wines I’ve ever had. Both bottles were truly amazing and in my book, they were both flirting with perfection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl38LwIW8U5w3TgyuOemnWW-x__RcMIMqK52wIedQLJ_lSWvykfKbUW3nt8WpncgCY_sgFS-7sTBSf9dnI0xBgxKg3icoL3Jgq2gItprGwUZlym1Ju56NncQ0Iss8BWpkwHT085-6yZ9o/s1600/DSC02265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl38LwIW8U5w3TgyuOemnWW-x__RcMIMqK52wIedQLJ_lSWvykfKbUW3nt8WpncgCY_sgFS-7sTBSf9dnI0xBgxKg3icoL3Jgq2gItprGwUZlym1Ju56NncQ0Iss8BWpkwHT085-6yZ9o/s400/DSC02265.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1970 Barolo</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It had good ruby red colour and it initially revealed a touch of maderization. But after just 5 minutes in the glass, it transformed into a true beauty. The nose had a very characteristic note of menthol, but it also revealed cherries, leather, truffles, iron, iodine, blood and beef. It was amazing. In the mouth it had a very masculine personality with a big body. It still had plenty of well integrated tannins and a whipping acidity. I was completely stunned by this wine and I feel so lucky to have tried it. Wow. It did not let down at all, rather it kept getting better and better. I had the last zip tonight and it was equally stunning. It had not lost anything. A truly amazing wine. 98 points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1971 Barolo</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Colour was also ruby red and it too revealed a touch of maderization, perhaps slightly more than the 1970 did. But again it transformed into a true beauty in the glass. The nose was amazing with scents of coffee, leather, truffles, cherries and menthol. It also revealed iron, but not nearly as much as the 1970 did. It had lots of tannin and a good distinct acidity. It was also a big bodied wine, but perhaps with a slightly more elegant touch than the 1970. The finish seemed endless as the wine stayed in your mouth forever. This wine also just got better and better over the course of the evening and even tonight the last zip was unbelievable. There was much debate around the table as which wine was the better of the two. Initially I preferred the 1970 but as time went by, the elegance and balance of the 71 made my preference shift towards the 1971. But this was like splitting hairs as both were incredible. 99 points.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOZNB0nm6as4pWFhg6-wXrfcqZRUKdvF1EDcqfT5VIeHq6Dw03Zk7V80l-gW1vhtUwKZ_Le_CYpxOrfCREjQtaH9qh1AF3WQPfgN7Fzt1pwLi1yyvtCewH0lDLOQJZ9k5qKOvCwWEhHw/s1600/DSC04205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOZNB0nm6as4pWFhg6-wXrfcqZRUKdvF1EDcqfT5VIeHq6Dw03Zk7V80l-gW1vhtUwKZ_Le_CYpxOrfCREjQtaH9qh1AF3WQPfgN7Fzt1pwLi1yyvtCewH0lDLOQJZ9k5qKOvCwWEhHw/s640/DSC04205.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">still the best set of wines I've ever had</td></tr>
</tbody></table> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Again I have to say that this was the single best flight I’ve ever had. The complexity of these two wines was stunning and the pairing with the food was just perfect.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPv8O8YzYBOg_qAoOPDGmzD-jewzgJ2dCJeLcuRcYH6T8fOVS8__ALOjF1zfBmJ1_EleGc0zm_b0St0rOXiKmTonzDhPgScLSDtlkPeBZfQhEBFbGNYalbddppGtLu3qNaATvIiHXC4U/s1600/DSC02266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPv8O8YzYBOg_qAoOPDGmzD-jewzgJ2dCJeLcuRcYH6T8fOVS8__ALOjF1zfBmJ1_EleGc0zm_b0St0rOXiKmTonzDhPgScLSDtlkPeBZfQhEBFbGNYalbddppGtLu3qNaATvIiHXC4U/s400/DSC02266.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Next up were the 1987 & 1988 Cascina Francia. Coming right after this unreal flight I feared that they would have a hard time. Again I was wrong. Both wines were singing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1987 Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This wine was singing right out of the glass with cherries, strawberries, menthol and liquorice. It was so pure nebbiolo. In the mouth it had wonderfully soft caressing tannins and well balanced acidity. The finish was long and the wine left everyone smiling. A great wine. I think that this wine really shows how good the Conternos have been and still are as producers. This was a real off-vintage and yet they have made such an incredible wine. I had the Monfortino earlier this year and honestly this wine was not far from the quality of the Monfortino. Having said this, I think we caught this wine at its peak and I don’t see it getting any better, but I’m sure it will keep this way for a number of years. 95 points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1988 Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Initially this was slightly more reserved than the 87. But after a while it opened in the glass. In the nose it revealed many of the same characteristics of the 87, but in the mouth it was much more masculine. The fruit was darker, the tannins were more aggressive and the finish was longer. Again an amazing wine and I really liked the pure expression of nebbiolo that this flight presented. One of my friends commented that this was how Mother Nature had intended nebbiolo to taste like. I have one bottle of the 88 left, and will keep this for a while as I think it will improve even more over the next few years. 95+ points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The last flight consisted of 1985, 1989 & 1990 Cascina Francia. I met with Roberto Conterno here in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Copenhagen</place></city> last Monday and when I told him about our tasting, he responded that the 85 should be unbelievable. I had never before tasted the 85 with this comment from Roberto, I was very excited to tasted it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1985 Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The colour of the 85 was quite dark red, but to be honest no one focused so much on the colour of this wine. No, this wine was all about the nose. It was incredibly expressive, revealing the characteristics of the warm vintage, with ripe dark fruit with an extremely seductive personality. This was sex in a bottle. The wine is at peak and I don’t see it getting any better, but then again it doesn’t need to get any better, because it was fantastic. I just sat and inhaled this wine for several minutes – it was gorgeous. After some time the ripe fruit moved a bit in the background and flowers became present and then suddenly there was an wonderful scent of truffles. In the mouth it was soft, seductive and caressing, but still pretty concentrated. The fruit was somewhat sweet, which I guess is a result of the warm vintage. It was a stunning wine with a nose which was to die for, but it did not have the structure of some of the other vintages. 96 points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1989 Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When poured into the glass this wine had a very mature nose but with time this disappeared and the wine just got better and better. I drank this from a Riedel Sommelier Grand Cru <place w:st="on">Burgundy</place> glass as I <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had anticipated that it would benefit from a lot of air. Despite being 20 years old it was tight and seemed to be saying “leave me alone” from the glass. But as expected it started to open up with air. It revealed tar, liquorice and cherries in the nose. Underneath this initial layer you felt the dark red fruit which seemed to be covering a core of rusty iron. Tannins are powerful and there was a whipping acidity. The finish seemed to last forever. This is a true powerful and awesome Barolo, but it also has an elegant touch. It really requires patience, which is best illustrated by the fact that it was much better when I had the last half glass tonight. A fantastic wine, which I think is one of the best if not the best Cascina Francia ever made. 97+ points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1990 Cascina Francia</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This wine seemed to be somewhere in the middle of the 85 and the 89, as you could sense that it came from a warm vintage like the 85, but it also had a hugely structured body like the 89. The nose revealed dark ripe fruit and cherries. Late in the evening it also started to show scents of iron. In the mouth it was big and powerful with very firm tannins and a medium strong acidity. The finish was also very long. It was a fantastic wine and easily the best 1990 Cascina Francia I’ve ever had. It did not appear to be near peak yet, although I’ve read many notes suggesting this. Perhaps this bottle had been stored under perfect conditions. 95+ points.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mMbvTlmNK-yWQWmhWQZa-ZV4egjYh_hwToSbCiFt0s06m1kq_mG98Nz7zEfZ0UKb78hQmquUYIpw2q1GixnHr2U0f4U1ttkoIcEQos_S7kJKtZP-C2Fc96_aj_MDSTfHii9JChMmXFc/s1600/DSC02269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mMbvTlmNK-yWQWmhWQZa-ZV4egjYh_hwToSbCiFt0s06m1kq_mG98Nz7zEfZ0UKb78hQmquUYIpw2q1GixnHr2U0f4U1ttkoIcEQos_S7kJKtZP-C2Fc96_aj_MDSTfHii9JChMmXFc/s400/DSC02269.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The amazing line-up</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-25108435464189672482011-12-15T23:43:00.001+01:002011-12-28T09:28:45.683+01:00Conterno Weekend - a pair of older Monfortinos<div style="text-align: justify;">As I just recently started my blog I have decided to put up some notes on a few wines that I tasted over the last couple of years. One evening came to my mind immediately and it was the first time, where I tried older Monfortino. Together with my good friend Stefan, I had 1958 Monfortino and 1974 Monfortino. The Friday where we had these wines was a monumental evening and it marked the beginning of what I still refer to as THE Conterno weekend - because not only did we have these two legendary wines, the day after we were 7 guys sharing 9 vintages of Conterno Barolos. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, here are my notes from that Friday evening in June 2009 - the Monfortino evening.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Stefan brought a long a bottle of 1964 Barolo Riserva from E. Pira & Figli and I contributed with a bottle of Monfortino 1958 and a bottle of Monfortino 1974. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Being the most experienced with older wines, Stefan had the honour of opening the three bottles. With great patience he managed to pull out all three corks in one piece. We enjoyed the wines over the course of the evening. It was a true treat to taste these fabulous wines. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WZORonhLlGbfR2e1ahCvZe_iEaEwzRQrDi5mYaEatVOr9dQZkvykphaz-zcFewhELIgWeNZqRei7qyfsK_VsSncxIYbAy6iC9V2No2t12QUlepWI_voehlTCEkcyEcbS07RL8ahrxIk/s1600/DSC02255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WZORonhLlGbfR2e1ahCvZe_iEaEwzRQrDi5mYaEatVOr9dQZkvykphaz-zcFewhELIgWeNZqRei7qyfsK_VsSncxIYbAy6iC9V2No2t12QUlepWI_voehlTCEkcyEcbS07RL8ahrxIk/s400/DSC02255.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monfortino 1958 ready to be uncorked</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="IT" style="mso-ansi-language: IT;">Giacomo Conterno, 1958 Barolo Riserva Monfortino, </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Monfortino 58 was quite light in the colour – almost like tea. It quickly gained colour and although it had slight oxidative notes it was a true treat to drink this wines. After three hours in the glass it was really singing. It displayed coffee, iron, iodine, and truffles in the nose. In the mouth you still sensed the fruit which was supported by a tremendous structure and a sharp acidity. To my surprise it still had good tannins which again contributed to the good balance. Although the acidity was sharp it was by no means too dominating. In fact I felt the wine - after it was allowed to breathe some hours - was extremely well balanced. It was highly enjoyable to drink and it was quite amazing that the wine did not fall apart over the course of the eveing. The wine seemed to stay in the mouth as the finish was very long (30+ seconds). Even when re-tasted Saturday evening it was highly enjoyable although the oxidative notes were more apparent. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTQ7af4xqiS6AEUV51qa3xOVUYQJN-4p-SGzVODgEdhW1IGSr9KXFPLEvYJV451dJbS_r8OoK5IbO3KyWAzW_DcST_gDCvOxecLRAsbqkWLIeMEgjwf8JhFV-DeqvgODe2Z5wlX2KaUY/s1600/DSC02256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTQ7af4xqiS6AEUV51qa3xOVUYQJN-4p-SGzVODgEdhW1IGSr9KXFPLEvYJV451dJbS_r8OoK5IbO3KyWAzW_DcST_gDCvOxecLRAsbqkWLIeMEgjwf8JhFV-DeqvgODe2Z5wlX2KaUY/s400/DSC02256.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">E. Pira & Figli, 1964 Barolo Riserva </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The wine was beautifully fresh and vibrant. Provenance was simply excellent. Colour was ruby red and it had an extremely distinct nose of menthol. In fact it was so distinct that it reminded me of a wine Stefan brought to a tasting last year. None of us could remember which wine he had brought back then, but I went through my photos and found that it was a 1967 Barolo by E. Pira. In the mouth you also sensed the menthol, but it had cherry, red berries and it was incredibly fresh. It had good firm tannins and a vibrant acidity. The finish was also long. Although it was much fresher than the Monfortino 58, it perhaps did not have the same complexity. But it was a very, very good wine. When re-tasted Saturday evening the menthol was still present but not nearly as distinct, and the wine seemed to be in even better balance. Thank you Stefan.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosEDiLp8sBq_BSTXNH8NIuy6thJe7wG7u3ERBCWQvKZJ7vNy4VyOkIrnKu5LOdgBoT6rakaIT_AlPbWoFWDsGlTF2MWjo7BNq1KdNV8mxCbo6OvrDDTTrqW8Tj9Tmm8fkVDnfD4gFQHY/s1600/DSC02257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosEDiLp8sBq_BSTXNH8NIuy6thJe7wG7u3ERBCWQvKZJ7vNy4VyOkIrnKu5LOdgBoT6rakaIT_AlPbWoFWDsGlTF2MWjo7BNq1KdNV8mxCbo6OvrDDTTrqW8Tj9Tmm8fkVDnfD4gFQHY/s400/DSC02257.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Giacomo Conterno, 1974 Barolo Riserva Monfortino </span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DA;">This bottle did not have the best fill level (top shoulder) and the capsule was not perfect either. I therefore did not have the highest expectations. But boy was I wrong. The wine was not suffering at all. It was dark red and to begin with the nose was very tight. But it quickly blossomed in the glass. The nose became extremely complex with menthol, smoked meat and leather. In the mouth it is great. Wow I’m impressed! It has a very bright acidity, but it gets plenty of counter balance from the fruit. It has sweet cherries and flowers, but still I think it has a very austere personality. The tannins are firm, but very well integrated and the wine is in wonderful balance. I re-tasted it both Saturday and Sunday and the last glass was stunning. More than 48 hours after opening this bottle it has not let down one bit. On the contrary it has improved. The acidity and tannins are not as dominating, which allows the fruit to play a more present role. A great, great wine. It was both heads and shoulders above any other 74 Barolos I’ve had previously.</span></div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-45233920954386875642011-12-11T13:43:00.000+01:002011-12-11T13:43:15.791+01:00Cantina del Pino Barbaresco 2007<div style="text-align: justify;">I decided to open this baby Friday evening. It was my only bottle of this, but after reading a bit about it on Antonio Galloni's forum I thought I would give it a try. As it was a last minute decision it was not given any pre-drinking treatment - so a pop and pour.</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVBtr-K8xhCL2Fx8qM4R0199OjXsFUaj4I6FVQB-otlNpmDOGyej6weIt3T8T61JJYiCL0D-4DFqSqpTbn_1uB9YWtjEoKKa13L9A7_MvnTFHIyxBj6F43hGrpiU4xhmcLSFXHSNIDMI/s1600/DSC04201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVBtr-K8xhCL2Fx8qM4R0199OjXsFUaj4I6FVQB-otlNpmDOGyej6weIt3T8T61JJYiCL0D-4DFqSqpTbn_1uB9YWtjEoKKa13L9A7_MvnTFHIyxBj6F43hGrpiU4xhmcLSFXHSNIDMI/s400/DSC04201.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In the glass the color was ruby red with a core which was somewhat darker. In the nose I felt that it was initially dominated by alcohol, however after some time in the glass this seemed to evaporate. It then displayed dark cherries, licorice and a slight touch of mint or menthol - all very classic nebbiolo scents. When I tasted it I initially felt it was very loyal to the vintage, with loads of overripe fruit and again slightly alcoholic and in general a bit out of balance. Luckily with time in the glass this feeling of disharmony dissappeared and more classic notes of nebbiolo surfaced. The dark and sweet cherries were there and so was the menthol. In terms of structure the wine was relatively feminine and the few tannins that were there were soft and sweet - so very true to the vintage. I enjoyed half of the the wine over the course of the evening and then left the rest for the day after. It clearly improved with air and it was even slightly better the following day as this touch of alcohol was completely gone. In general it was a wine that was made in a very polished style, and I must admit that I found it to lack a bit of personality. Anyway it was a very nice wine, which was charming with its warmth and it was very approachable due to the lack of a big brooding tannc structure. I'm not sure it is a wine that will keep for many years, but it definitely is worth a try and I like the fact that it was so true to its vintage.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzn_mqCvcO6AMQVF_6soBMd7eHsjHyenJT1kwr3YEZZI0-eh_i62qovqJWtRt5W38PuwFLglWFdPZ6u_SWCGX5Ra39_LvcmnLN_SU-uc_h1Dpn9sgIoRdBR10SBIc9zwNfQVx6KL3E9o/s1600/DSC04203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzn_mqCvcO6AMQVF_6soBMd7eHsjHyenJT1kwr3YEZZI0-eh_i62qovqJWtRt5W38PuwFLglWFdPZ6u_SWCGX5Ra39_LvcmnLN_SU-uc_h1Dpn9sgIoRdBR10SBIc9zwNfQVx6KL3E9o/s400/DSC04203.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-56766334364882750052011-12-08T23:41:00.003+01:002011-12-09T20:58:04.265+01:00Battle of Two Ripe Vintages<div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday evening, I was with three friends at Enomania in Copenhagen. I had hoped to do a sample of two different Barolos from 2007, but we ended up with a Barolo 2007 and a Burgundy 2009. Well, actually we tasted also one sip of another 2009 Burgundy. </div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidSSKFrKHcQNhrYR169buoZR3HioCXgfcLVs1jlLRoCmKtYr7UaPjOTO96xvTNKStbHpxf76P3AJp9ZgBrwXuJ5Bx_n9Re07sSWqXOzOTg9BqhIzMxXxExfv7Jp66mHybgrr-3kymQL8/s1600/DSC04189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidSSKFrKHcQNhrYR169buoZR3HioCXgfcLVs1jlLRoCmKtYr7UaPjOTO96xvTNKStbHpxf76P3AJp9ZgBrwXuJ5Bx_n9Re07sSWqXOzOTg9BqhIzMxXxExfv7Jp66mHybgrr-3kymQL8/s400/DSC04189.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First wine of the evening - too opulent for my taste</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">First up was a bottle from Burgundy. We chose to try something from the much hyped vintage: 2009. Unfortunately this hype has lead to a drastic increase in price, but that's another story... Well, back to the wine - we chose a <strong>2009 Domaine Dujac Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru "Aux Combottes"</strong>. As we ordered this wine while we were at the restaurant it was not given any specific pre-serving treatment, instead it was poured into a decanter, from which it was served. The color was quite dark red, but this information is not 100% accurate as the light at the restaurant naturally is not completely bright. In the nose it displayed very dark fruit - really black and ripe cherries as well as some blackcurrant. In the mouth I found it slightly out of balance. Initially when entering the mouth it was very opulent and an explosion of super ripe fruit - almost overwhelming. The finish was very abrupt and I seriously missed some acidity to help balance the (over)ripe fruit. With time in the glass it did however improve quite a bit, but to me it was still too ripe in the fruit. It almost felt like you could chew the wine. I must say that I was somewhat disappointed with this wine, especially after having tasted earlier vintages of it, including 1999 which was incredible.</div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwJA9Sri49Nhkpb-LHmFJ6D5JSJsUnKI9-BnKCa1JyEPiWrEuHqTbu2Nzf9QSw7aQtgR5wzIYNxQEdu1IBaehZS1Rl5Y2qN0TuFYk7stsrhHK90mXeumGfRe-gs3j5qVmessLJfebmwM/s1600/DSC04196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwJA9Sri49Nhkpb-LHmFJ6D5JSJsUnKI9-BnKCa1JyEPiWrEuHqTbu2Nzf9QSw7aQtgR5wzIYNxQEdu1IBaehZS1Rl5Y2qN0TuFYk7stsrhHK90mXeumGfRe-gs3j5qVmessLJfebmwM/s400/DSC04196.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, I know I have been on a bit of an Altare trip lately - but what a trip!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">After the Dujac we had a bottle from my beloved <strong>Elio Altare</strong>. It was <strong>2007 Barolo Barolo Brunate</strong> :-) Yes, I know I have been a bit narrow minded lately with all these Altare wines, but I'm just in the mood for these wines now. I adore their elegance and their perfect balance. This one was no exception. On the nose I found a lot of menthol and dark fruit - cherries and plums. In the mouth it was opulent but not nearly as opulent as the Dujac and although it had sweet fruit it was by no means chewy as the Aux Combottes. The tannins were soft, round and sweet, which is very characteristic for this vintage in Langhe. I have found other Barolos and Barbarescos from this vintage a bit clumsy and dull, but this one possessed freshness and a purity that I loved. It had a very long finish with quite good acidity on the contrary to the Dujac. It kept improving over the evening and I felt very happy to have chosen this bottle from the wine list.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After another great experience with the Brunate from Altare, it is sad to think that this year (2011) is supposed to be the last vintage for Altare's Barolo Brunate. The reason is that Mario Marengo, from whom Elio gets the grapes, has said that he is no longer interested in doing the usual swap for Arborina grapes. In a way I can understand, because it must be tough to see that Elio constantly outperforms him, but still I wish Marengo would change his mind, because I think Elio's Barolo Brunate is an iconic Barolo that deserves to be made also in the future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, as indicated in the beginning, we also tasted a sip of another bottle from Burgundy. Damiano came with the glass without telling us what it was, and I'm a little proud to say that I very fast nailed it as Rousseau 2009 :-) I don't drink a lot of Burgundy, but <strong>Armand Rousseau</strong> is one of my absolute favorite producers from that region, and this was his <strong>2009 Chambertin Grand Cru</strong>. It is not fair to write a big report on this wine as I only had a little sip, but I had enough to sense that it was a completely different animal than the Dujac. It was still with ripe fruit, but a very different selection of fruits - much more light red berries, and then it had this scent of animal or staples that I always find in Rousseau wines. It also had freshness and an elegance I didn't find in the Dujac and I felt it was able to balance the ripeness of the fruit. It was a very good sip indeed. Thank you Damiano!</div> <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSzpDPmAv_o-_RYRT8YOU30WA752WwsUeNJ3YDp29KQzVamsRJjBx3TNwYCN0ani8vSVro8uD0h_jabIpkLfLt0iUSl4pwkGRvmWaZX3DHwxwxqhLN3DGy2kNM0GsLlnerjKjLk4mUMk/s1600/DSC04200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSzpDPmAv_o-_RYRT8YOU30WA752WwsUeNJ3YDp29KQzVamsRJjBx3TNwYCN0ani8vSVro8uD0h_jabIpkLfLt0iUSl4pwkGRvmWaZX3DHwxwxqhLN3DGy2kNM0GsLlnerjKjLk4mUMk/s400/DSC04200.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We finished with a sip of this beauty</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">So, returning to the headline of this post, "Battle of Two Ripe Vintages", I must say I clearly felt that 2007 Barolo won against 2009 Burgundy. The Rousseau seemed to have handled the heat of 2009 in Burgundy much better than the Dujac's Aux Combottes, which seemed almost a little cooked. In general, I have not been a big fan of the 2007 vintage in Langhe, as I find the wines lack the tannic structure that I like, but in this case the Brunate made up for it via its freshness and overall balance.</div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRpNvmUDMfmrG14mr_oC4oQ28E7L5nqOSid6R8bgEs0ImAWVSSdHNVGsCAX2kjNknW5169XXBa-VgOp3rwk9_0vH9ZhFuYk4mMvCpQSZ6Oip5Hxe4y_2LZBccByW9J9yzn9oO-mjsYdM/s1600/DSC04199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRpNvmUDMfmrG14mr_oC4oQ28E7L5nqOSid6R8bgEs0ImAWVSSdHNVGsCAX2kjNknW5169XXBa-VgOp3rwk9_0vH9ZhFuYk4mMvCpQSZ6Oip5Hxe4y_2LZBccByW9J9yzn9oO-mjsYdM/s400/DSC04199.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two ripe vintages</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Below are pictures of Damiano's amazing food. If you haven't been to <strong>Enomania</strong> yet, it is a mistake - no, it is a BIG mistake! I can't recommend the place strongly enough. Damiano prepares simple yet fantastic food and he is very passionate and knowledgable about his wines.</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxc3b4ruVSr2PAKaK_9bKYkAwIDFayrY0iXhceCrfNT3LfGxzW5tZj1NA4K63zDAYnlajetZQyu3QeZvUA7SreaPEFkQPzZQhSIc5ObEdUZCEVLEaUg00JGrTjd_f8V8amfx7nafWh5E/s1600/DSC04190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxc3b4ruVSr2PAKaK_9bKYkAwIDFayrY0iXhceCrfNT3LfGxzW5tZj1NA4K63zDAYnlajetZQyu3QeZvUA7SreaPEFkQPzZQhSIc5ObEdUZCEVLEaUg00JGrTjd_f8V8amfx7nafWh5E/s400/DSC04190.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Risotto with halibut saltimbocca - delicious</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguk7ZN78PuJ0wMFV0uT53xd-A25VZo2DRdV7ZL_7B8gzhoYsQFY3lxkEIsSH6MKj0_rUeEXtUz1Y2c0zxhubRQLiHj1M5dpy_ZlsN-bEGR6QXJRQoMRcUPSD8_W-crsKVPMOY9B9FZEqs/s1600/DSC04192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguk7ZN78PuJ0wMFV0uT53xd-A25VZo2DRdV7ZL_7B8gzhoYsQFY3lxkEIsSH6MKj0_rUeEXtUz1Y2c0zxhubRQLiHj1M5dpy_ZlsN-bEGR6QXJRQoMRcUPSD8_W-crsKVPMOY9B9FZEqs/s400/DSC04192.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ravioli filled with braised veal cheeks - rich and good</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2BYJyDE3e8ilym-j9ASFmLINezVLGfdevvGTNzVWckqIGSnCdaJoVgkohfvySw65muBSap2d97n1GiCjA8z9ovnAhI_b9f9_qbFDAYZjMxwSE1K7MMPUJJ6ZIzfZjg7VV8TP_eNOkew/s1600/DSC04198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2BYJyDE3e8ilym-j9ASFmLINezVLGfdevvGTNzVWckqIGSnCdaJoVgkohfvySw65muBSap2d97n1GiCjA8z9ovnAhI_b9f9_qbFDAYZjMxwSE1K7MMPUJJ6ZIzfZjg7VV8TP_eNOkew/s400/DSC04198.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The meat was tender as butter and the white truffles didn't hurt...</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-66530453848202395702011-12-06T20:50:00.002+01:002011-12-09T21:34:24.758+01:00Altare Tasting Follow-up<div style="text-align: justify;">After the tasting I asked Silvia about the strange inscription on the 1971 Barolo Riserva Speciale. She didn't know why it said "<em>per Carol Marie Antoinette</em>" on the label, but she promised me to do some research.</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZLlAnCX7Y35sMyAcmK8zUJuRfMM8CqpeIIP1vx74MQSXR0eTPlNn8M98b69ZcvMPd7yZ0XnG9MbqdolOL5TfzwhO3u__zxg8Gnn_PqP4XDSY27gTpPN1rPyITgO_E4Di2PDFrCOfcXw/s1600/DSC04176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZLlAnCX7Y35sMyAcmK8zUJuRfMM8CqpeIIP1vx74MQSXR0eTPlNn8M98b69ZcvMPd7yZ0XnG9MbqdolOL5TfzwhO3u__zxg8Gnn_PqP4XDSY27gTpPN1rPyITgO_E4Di2PDFrCOfcXw/s640/DSC04176.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1971 Barolo Riserva Speciale "per Carol Marie Antoinette"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, tonight Silvia replied that she had solved the mystery. It turns out that in 1971 a man from Torino had a girl. He named her Carol Marie Antoinette and where other fathers buy a doll or some Lego for their newborn, he decided to buy her Barolo. Yes, he must have been a VERY wise man!! He contacted Silvia's grandfather, Giovanni, and asked if could make a special label for his daughter. Giovanni did and it was one of those bottles that we enjoyed on the 18th of November 40 years after the harvest. Anyway, you might wonder how we managed to drink one of these special bottles. This little girl grew up and found out that she didn't like wine, so she contacted the winery, which was now run by Elio, and asked if they wanted to buy back the bottles. Elio decided to do so and that's how the wine ended up at an Altare tasting in Copenhagen 40 years after the grapes were harvested. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What can I say.... First of all thanks to Silvia for following up on the story. Secondly, why didn't my father think like this wise man from Torino :-( and thirdly I'm so happy that this woman, who is now 40 years old, doesn't like wine, because this 1971 Barolo Riserva Speciale was AMAZING and I enjoyed every drop of it!!</div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-80577955509291301652011-12-03T13:03:00.005+01:002011-12-04T18:41:06.791+01:00...and on the 8th day God created Langhe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since I started my blog just a few days ago, I thought I would post my impressions from my recent trip to Langhe, although now almost a month has passed since I got back. It was really a special trip and it was interesting to get a better insight to the <strong>2007 vintage</strong>, which I had not tasted that much of prior to the trip. It is by no means a bad vintage - not at all! However, I must admit that for my palate it lacks the structure and the massive tannins of a more "classic" vintage. I also noted that most of the producers I visited talked very positively about 2007, but at the same time they said it would not be a long lived vintage. Some also mentioned that this was a very good "restaurant vintage" - meaning that it could be enjoyed young. Many also said it would serve as a good introduction to people who didn't really understand Barolo and Barbaresco. On the other hand, when producers were talking about 2006 they all said it was an absolutely incredible vintage, and some also spoke about 2005 being a completely overlooked vintage. I only tasted two 2005 Baroli on my trip - both Altare ("Normale" and Cerretta) and they were both very good. Anyway - it will be fun to follow these vintages develop over time. I'm sure we will have a lot of good debates on this matter...</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYTlPAndHkfEHkrmNJVcyjmBGHMi3u2t2LsOG5x-fM5FXFiArcBVEBl2WUTXcWn0iZlvj4zXo70gtFeC_TjJJFahPpWLZDOJyjHsrICv7waNRAKFeBDgNOJdpuBW5KhezT0PmiHlg9iE/s1600/IMG_3792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYTlPAndHkfEHkrmNJVcyjmBGHMi3u2t2LsOG5x-fM5FXFiArcBVEBl2WUTXcWn0iZlvj4zXo70gtFeC_TjJJFahPpWLZDOJyjHsrICv7waNRAKFeBDgNOJdpuBW5KhezT0PmiHlg9iE/s400/IMG_3792.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vineyards dressed in fall colors (view from Colla tasting room)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I arrived in Langhe slightly tired after a long drive from Copenhagen. I arrived just in time to check in at the wonderful agristurismo <strong>Le Viole in Vergne</strong>, before heading on to <b>Poderi Colla</b> for the first tasting of the trip. It was my first visit at Poderi Colla in the hills just outside Alba. Beautiful place and very nice and humble people. After a short tour of the winery and some talks about politics we went to the tasting room with Federica Colla. In the tasting room the legendary Beppe Colla was tasting with some friends. A real treat to meet this legendary piemontese winemaker, who at age 81 still seemed in pretty good shape. We tasted a number of their different wines including: </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2008 Pietro Colla Spumante, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2010 Riesling, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2010 Campo Romano, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2009 Nebbiolo d’Alba, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2006 Barbaresco Roncaglie, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2006 Barolo Bussia, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2007 Barolo Bussia, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1996 Barbaresco Roncaglie</span></b></span><br />
<br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsULeX457uzfd3E_vEN43_77pC24fCQkS7o4Js9qIuwsyw9_9oquJLZw6GF-7WHZwyQEbbBOgCz5q8yM0gERzk7SYh4w4u2oYSGwQHFZAR-eAY4PhpdyzjYjlTRI1C2K_XIiTo-SNhys/s1600/IMG_3786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsULeX457uzfd3E_vEN43_77pC24fCQkS7o4Js9qIuwsyw9_9oquJLZw6GF-7WHZwyQEbbBOgCz5q8yM0gERzk7SYh4w4u2oYSGwQHFZAR-eAY4PhpdyzjYjlTRI1C2K_XIiTo-SNhys/s400/IMG_3786.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living legend, Beppe Colla, tasting with his friends</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">I don’t have a ton of experience with the wines of Poderi Colla, but I was positively surprised. The Riesling had a very good and dry finish that I liked very much. The winemaking of the <b>Campo Romano</b> (100% Pinot Noir) had changed after Pietro Colla has taken over more responsibility. It is no longer aged in barrique but in big casks and it was very very good – possibly the best pinot I have ever tasted from Italy. And It was the best QPR of the trip. The best wine of the tasting was however, the <b>2006 Barolo Bussia</b>. What a wine – such concentration and power yet still elegant. The tannin structure is also amazing. Definitely one to put in the cellar – and keep it there for a long time. The <b>2007 Barolo Bussia</b> was not that good, but they also suffered a lot of hail in Bussia. The <b>96 Barbaresco Roncaglie</b> was a bit too “mature” compared to what I would have expected, but it was a pleasure to taste. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNLZwg692ZMcprtnJ0etNhrJtVbGgXDlhrdRRfMrE3kBJKWnsi1qScDyX0BZyT0Jf8e4afdeLopIu78lByfC4jF7kLKJ_Sb8wXB4TWgb19TrWaV-t3L-pCVAx3l1qfRzSQXwF6JXtugg/s1600/IMG_3797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNLZwg692ZMcprtnJ0etNhrJtVbGgXDlhrdRRfMrE3kBJKWnsi1qScDyX0BZyT0Jf8e4afdeLopIu78lByfC4jF7kLKJ_Sb8wXB4TWgb19TrWaV-t3L-pCVAx3l1qfRzSQXwF6JXtugg/s400/IMG_3797.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm ready to dig into my beloved hand cut carne cruda @ La Libera</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the evening we had dinner at <b>La Libera</b> with Federica Colla. We enjoyed the food of La Libera and Federica had brought two wines we missed out on at the tasting earlier: <b>2009 Barbera d’Alba Costa Bruna and 2007 Bricco del Drago</b> – both were good wines that were highly enjoyable. The food however, was nothing special - I had slightly higher hopes for my first visit at La Libera. But I think the chef had left, so they were struggling a bit.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Friday morning we had an appointment at <b>Marchesi di Gresy.</b> Unfortunately Jeff was not there to welcome us, as he was in the US. However, we had a very good tasting in the company of Marina. </span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNVdYOmtD46ubQxtzYb4d9oNOsGmsxnpOAVlZU8RUod_EjmAmzpHeikCo4yLb1AGIxdGTd2f5bOcSVgO437zApeUTNczk92kL6yxHQ-vTeXrzbP7cp2R6sdHfIuz9zYn2GuNEOq7BoHI/s1600/IMG_3813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNVdYOmtD46ubQxtzYb4d9oNOsGmsxnpOAVlZU8RUod_EjmAmzpHeikCo4yLb1AGIxdGTd2f5bOcSVgO437zApeUTNczk92kL6yxHQ-vTeXrzbP7cp2R6sdHfIuz9zYn2GuNEOq7BoHI/s400/IMG_3813.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marina talking about the wines of Marchesi di Gresy</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">We started out with <b>Di Gresy Chardonnay 2009 and 2000</b>. The 2009 was too young and a bit too oaky for me, however the 2000 was really fascinating. Especially a very distinct scent of white truffles kept putting a smile on my face. We also had <b>Villa Martis 2008, Merlot Da Solo 2008 and Barbera d’Asti Monte Colombo 2007</b> before heading to the nebbiolo. None of these wines were really my style. No faults just not my style. Next up was <b>2007 Barbaresco Martinenga</b>. To me it was a very smooth drinking wine without a lot of structure. It is made in a “sexy” style and I’m sure some people will really love this. However, I like my nebbiolo a bit more structured and with tannins. Then on to the <b>2007 Barbaresco Camp Gros</b>, which was so light and elegant in the glass. There was clearly more structure and tannins than in the 07 Martinenga, yet the tannins were very round and IMO it lacked some structure (IMHO a general “problem” of the 07 vintage). The next wine, <b>2006 Barbaresco Gaiun</b>, was a completely different animal – much bigger body and a completely different tannic structure. To me this vintage comparison just underlined how much I prefer the 06 to 07 – even in Barbaresco. The 06 Gaiun is the fines young Gaiun I have tried. At the end a real gem was opened for us: <b>1996 Barbaresco Camp Gros</b>. It simply blew the other wines away. In the glass it showed some orange bricking but still a deep red core. It had a gorgeous structure and balance and in the nose distinct notes of menthol and herbs could be found. It was of course still young, but I adored it – a very complex wine. A fantastic way to end the visit. In general I must say that I become more and more happy for the Barbaresci of di Gresy. As I have stated in other posts, I think they are overlooked when talking about the best wines of Barbareco DOCG. I know that the two top bottling are not cheap, but they are really great, and I love the balance of the wines.</span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3KWhjHWRWo4WT6kj83V6Z-VOBnfYNFMnbEmDGS2KY75414QD39ghkY3CzJ3wUAzVcLfXNa1hXrn253q5RNj5uZGIMV6O2KLNN6Aq_HwpfH_9tuEM9NJPOzxV8A_jDo-UiUYs39PyV1o/s1600/IMG_3819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3KWhjHWRWo4WT6kj83V6Z-VOBnfYNFMnbEmDGS2KY75414QD39ghkY3CzJ3wUAzVcLfXNa1hXrn253q5RNj5uZGIMV6O2KLNN6Aq_HwpfH_9tuEM9NJPOzxV8A_jDo-UiUYs39PyV1o/s400/IMG_3819.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Cantinetta - I love the food, but check out the wine storage...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">From Barbaresco we drove to Barolo to have our “mandatory” lunch a <b>La Cantinetta</b>. We had 7 different antipasti – including carne cruda, an amazing vitello tonnato and of course the trade mark ravioli with and egg inside. To accompany these delicious dishes served by Maurilio and his staff we had a bottle of <b>2009 Giuseppe Rinaldi Langhe Nebbiolo</b>. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtq7Gx2E4KfUbnhzTG1zptZn5jVnFNxumzqsPBXFn65Szwu7gm9HvPrmkAeT58Z3glQeq-eeffwY1DqdmekQhoCpXxybFdBgaF0Ogzi89NwEVaxZa8k9sSYypdC5sSrqQgJJpBuMovVwc/s1600/IMG_3820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtq7Gx2E4KfUbnhzTG1zptZn5jVnFNxumzqsPBXFn65Szwu7gm9HvPrmkAeT58Z3glQeq-eeffwY1DqdmekQhoCpXxybFdBgaF0Ogzi89NwEVaxZa8k9sSYypdC5sSrqQgJJpBuMovVwc/s400/IMG_3820.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is another absolutely beautiful expression of nebbiolo. It is made solely from the Ravera vineyard in Barolo. La Cantinetta is a lovely place for lunch, however their wine storage is absolutely awful. So if you go there, you have to pick very young wines.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6mQo_v4IMGuZ8TAg5vTe4eiNfqGjPHX2-LzyHNFxQGVRGHahLa2gS5-fVs0C4kEXy8ReZke6nzminynH3fEHYaMurkSarNAJuf8G60qTV9OreH0FKmmzE1mMtqGkuZIAKxmaXYFH3CE/s400/IMG_3826.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monforte d'Alba seen from Conterno winery</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch we had an appointment with il Re del Barolo, <b>Roberto Conterno</b> </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> We were greated by a slightly sad sight as several of the old casks are standing outside the winery. This is of course not because Roberto is changing the winemaking technique, but simply a result of some of the barrels were starting to fall apart, and therefore obviously needed to be replaced. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHchbqUWmd-HZ4Q2D2l7i4DOeRq0p0zlnthGMRuv4dL-Ry4yufRdznydkuIq12Vdji2M2RTH3hoo0Volk_4nlBuJziWc_7ZRj5JLE2XecZcXzCEZ3dWMeA_ZiZ9WRQdWqygiqHsWTDBM/s1600/IMG_3827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHchbqUWmd-HZ4Q2D2l7i4DOeRq0p0zlnthGMRuv4dL-Ry4yufRdznydkuIq12Vdji2M2RTH3hoo0Volk_4nlBuJziWc_7ZRj5JLE2XecZcXzCEZ3dWMeA_ZiZ9WRQdWqygiqHsWTDBM/s400/IMG_3827.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old botti resting outside the winery</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Roberto showed us around the cellar and we saw some of the replacements – casks from Austria. As fermentation was still undergoing, we did not taste anything from cask. </span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDmMN8NoEsTsau-mj6Jz3u4PFG7kN9aKrjXFMVaac-QiaIb53oIhCWTs1Bq9mvTUIBWXxHFxiAD85So4kEYynRGH8YZLVuQgL4X1ucamYF_kI864aJLjG6D2La9Fbd7C50xSegikd4Sw/s1600/IMG_3836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDmMN8NoEsTsau-mj6Jz3u4PFG7kN9aKrjXFMVaac-QiaIb53oIhCWTs1Bq9mvTUIBWXxHFxiAD85So4kEYynRGH8YZLVuQgL4X1ucamYF_kI864aJLjG6D2La9Fbd7C50xSegikd4Sw/s400/IMG_3836.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talking with Roberto in his cellar</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">However in the tasting room we had first the <b>2009 Barbera Cascina Francia</b>, which without competition was the best barbera we had during our trip. I absolutely loved it – it reminded me a bit of the 2004 version, but maybe even better… Then we had the <b>2007 Barolo Cascina Francia</b>. In 2007 Roberto chose not to make any Monfortino as he thought the quality of the wine was not "worthy" of being Monfortino as it lacked structure. However, he told us that the cask he had for Monfortino 2007 was the best of the 2007 casks, but the difference was not big enough to justify a separate Monfortino bottling and he chose to blend it with the Cascina Francia. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsTm7mG8QUMwDRoJi1Q0t7jETSz1iwNX2bXuBulQts6cVt7L2bBGC8wL9KlBgiKBHjLjf9rVT5WOZTZ0xTn-a7mDog-PKNb5trtYq-JdHQhalebkl9MGXZxjsI-51BqWOoMoqZGrKS1w/s1600/IMG_3840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsTm7mG8QUMwDRoJi1Q0t7jETSz1iwNX2bXuBulQts6cVt7L2bBGC8wL9KlBgiKBHjLjf9rVT5WOZTZ0xTn-a7mDog-PKNb5trtYq-JdHQhalebkl9MGXZxjsI-51BqWOoMoqZGrKS1w/s400/IMG_3840.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roberto gently pooring the old nebbiolo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The 2007 Cascina Francia was very dark and powerful and IMHO a much more structured 2007 compared to what we tasted other places. It is a very deep Barolo with lots of dark brooding fruit, and it is certainly one that I would not be worried about “forgetting” in the cellar. Next wine was the <b>2004 Monfortino</b>, which I had looked so much forward to trying. It was so silky and elegant in so perfect balance. Unbelievable!! Having said that, I must say that I prefer the big structure of the 2002 Monfortino. But they are just two very different expressions of nebbiolo – perfect in their own way. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCf2QTTLDz0bU-Y7j7CTWnPgHg-ogVVqXlFrIlaZ25bd-phnkjg3epDRc8kweTk5ve6uUHb3urcbE6mfysRtuewxFctAzAjOEpYjrdJBdIYzMIgRuzxnKZe52PQm3KUwalMk97ZxbYuM/s1600/IMG_3841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCf2QTTLDz0bU-Y7j7CTWnPgHg-ogVVqXlFrIlaZ25bd-phnkjg3epDRc8kweTk5ve6uUHb3urcbE6mfysRtuewxFctAzAjOEpYjrdJBdIYzMIgRuzxnKZe52PQm3KUwalMk97ZxbYuM/s400/IMG_3841.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasting with Roberto Conterno</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end we opened a bottle of <b>1987 Barolo Cascina Francia</b> that I had brought from my cellar here in Copenhagen. I know it seems odd to bring a bottle of Cascina Francia to Roberto, but last time I visited him, I told him of a tasting of Cascina Francia, where I was amazed by the 1987.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;"> He then said that it had been years since he tasted the 87 Francia, so I promised him to bring one next time I visited him. It was of course with some tension and nervousness that I watched Roberto uncork it – hopefully it wouldn’t be poorly stored or corked… Luckily it wasn’t. It was mindblowing and the nose was simply put, to die for. I was so impressed by its purity and elegance. Luckily so was Roberto. He was one big smile and had a very precise comment: it is perfect – basta!</span></span></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdGG-3tjITurNVULuvTAE3BEP3o12x8gcoOHgvqMiXyljQtD4lf7Iqio-lQamiyUuCg1H1b2sFfd-OpIhHMzyTGYt5RAMxmZZ9ymLQi2GO7oME6OZeG1mui1eI1EiEe-PDRAUth_33iM/s1600/IMG_3838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdGG-3tjITurNVULuvTAE3BEP3o12x8gcoOHgvqMiXyljQtD4lf7Iqio-lQamiyUuCg1H1b2sFfd-OpIhHMzyTGYt5RAMxmZZ9ymLQi2GO7oME6OZeG1mui1eI1EiEe-PDRAUth_33iM/s400/IMG_3838.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roberto opening my 1987 Barolo Cascina Francia</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujSEiXV93nyJ1QSAqrIwHsJlonl1YRglP4GTVWiBToOG4TWulONAD8lwlTGdzeToeU4M673FhLxtrtdsezzUKK2Oe5Rre96OzfZ1s1ssE5oS-8eJDiBCHJkFxbh5ICeLZzeLL4nxuf3Y/s1600/IMG_3848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujSEiXV93nyJ1QSAqrIwHsJlonl1YRglP4GTVWiBToOG4TWulONAD8lwlTGdzeToeU4M673FhLxtrtdsezzUKK2Oe5Rre96OzfZ1s1ssE5oS-8eJDiBCHJkFxbh5ICeLZzeLL4nxuf3Y/s400/IMG_3848.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing on top of the "Holy Grail" - Cascina Francia</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">For dinner we went for white truffles at <b>Tra Arte e Querce in Monchiero</b>. Ezio is a truffle hunter and his wife Clelia is the chef – need I say more…;-) </span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EndlceYfddHM3ueoTI62Gp8sdgPNO3-GxS5Ei9sqODmE7SN4Mt4WjapMQAmoLyS2RF7IxKFTLlJKp6LNDibIEO8jbj2B0pDvr_c9CPH9re-kcbrHfr34IvutU0b3vf7P3moqFCVBA_c/s1600/IMG_3861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EndlceYfddHM3ueoTI62Gp8sdgPNO3-GxS5Ei9sqODmE7SN4Mt4WjapMQAmoLyS2RF7IxKFTLlJKp6LNDibIEO8jbj2B0pDvr_c9CPH9re-kcbrHfr34IvutU0b3vf7P3moqFCVBA_c/s400/IMG_3861.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hosts, Clelia & Ezio</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well it is a very rustic place and the food is good, but not great – however the truffles are quite special, although this year’s truffles could not match the truffles of last year. We were in total 8 people for dinner as my girlfriend came with four of her best friends. A great Danish/Italian evening. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DoEtNnfUO9M4K6p8WlbSksbdmoWrGF8g3y3enhoeGsZhasRCGK_G_1Aaod8w2pDA3JGgWwTIAtmL17a5tNJihhLKxDNMZWjuUz2_R1n0iytDzQ1-BlZjxyy-PtpDiL_cJ00zWsP7gP0/s1600/IMG_3860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DoEtNnfUO9M4K6p8WlbSksbdmoWrGF8g3y3enhoeGsZhasRCGK_G_1Aaod8w2pDA3JGgWwTIAtmL17a5tNJihhLKxDNMZWjuUz2_R1n0iytDzQ1-BlZjxyy-PtpDiL_cJ00zWsP7gP0/s400/IMG_3860.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying life...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had quite a bit of wine – all of which were brought from home. We started out with a white wine made on the Timorasso grape. I believe it was <b>Il Giallo di Costa from Ricci</b> – I think a 2008 or 2009. It was quite particular and I really liked it. We then had a glass of <b>Barbaresco Riserva Pora 1997 from Produttori del Barbaresco</b>. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4QO5vFZju6uApr6-uo0_cRftLZh_2b_jwviasOW_h2sV8VXtwwYR65CbOcYua9bWRdiDlkpzHf9fN835GC3QYmmAgYDjlm8l0-O348WeGPxjLkQPQYGCTHjc_SDgjZvtgnm9DzetCrV4/s1600/DSC04073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4QO5vFZju6uApr6-uo0_cRftLZh_2b_jwviasOW_h2sV8VXtwwYR65CbOcYua9bWRdiDlkpzHf9fN835GC3QYmmAgYDjlm8l0-O348WeGPxjLkQPQYGCTHjc_SDgjZvtgnm9DzetCrV4/s400/DSC04073.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White truffles found by Ezio</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3EjUNT2k8zN_XUfyGxt6UKlxZnTdWQjXMuo8QoYevYov6v_5-1RE5tUuvOTXJR3kcnIkoEySK8ZruBBW4saft3GBGog03K0eqsRdEzvB14HDVcUAGVqLow8zoOMvtFv5tw4r3hh20Ss/s1600/DSC04074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3EjUNT2k8zN_XUfyGxt6UKlxZnTdWQjXMuo8QoYevYov6v_5-1RE5tUuvOTXJR3kcnIkoEySK8ZruBBW4saft3GBGog03K0eqsRdEzvB14HDVcUAGVqLow8zoOMvtFv5tw4r3hh20Ss/s400/DSC04074.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carne cruda and white truffle - a divine combination</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately it was a victim of poor storage, so nothing special to report on this one. We then had <strong>2007 Barolo Cascina Francia from Magnum</strong>. It was beautiful and with food it was even better than the one we tasted with Roberto a few hours earlier. </span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG12wsLbso-mhXM1k4xVEcCLswLJpFCJICPQqUa3lQsWaWZ2kidvt0aB1dqEz6wdVKx2iyLK9YFPvlHW7zmyCw0D9a-uqbFOKh1XVvQVkZ43DjVODa6svoOpm-C8qk1JTnmt_gcTGz7_I/s1600/DSC04072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG12wsLbso-mhXM1k4xVEcCLswLJpFCJICPQqUa3lQsWaWZ2kidvt0aB1dqEz6wdVKx2iyLK9YFPvlHW7zmyCw0D9a-uqbFOKh1XVvQVkZ43DjVODa6svoOpm-C8qk1JTnmt_gcTGz7_I/s400/DSC04072.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">We then had two outstanding bottles of <b>Marchesi di Gresy Camp Gros: the 1996 and the 1989</b>. The 96 was purchased at the winery in the morning and the 89 came from my cellar. The 96 is still a baby and the 89 is just starting to show what a great wine it is. What a joy to taste these two wines side by side.</span></span></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjbZkgeOeAGIwHxDznUF972HPaTl2sc_qiLfwIpw2gsjXGAJQ2zSZMBkdSscTR7gNA0GnF6xFomNFDEKZ4iM7tp6nqo00yPi7LReSNR3tGGBmBDevzRT95_0gPG3YksfGloy1m_xYato/s1600/DSC04076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjbZkgeOeAGIwHxDznUF972HPaTl2sc_qiLfwIpw2gsjXGAJQ2zSZMBkdSscTR7gNA0GnF6xFomNFDEKZ4iM7tp6nqo00yPi7LReSNR3tGGBmBDevzRT95_0gPG3YksfGloy1m_xYato/s400/DSC04076.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ezio generously shaving white truffle</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next day we went to Alba to see the market. On the way we did a bit of a detour going through Serralunga, where we stopped and walked a bit in Cascina Francia. There were still a few clusters of grapes hanging here and there, and we tasted a few of them. They were so sweet it was unbelievable – nice treat to try. In Alba we quickly got fed up with the chaos of the market and headed for <b>Enoclub</b> for a quick lunch. The weather allowed us to sit outside in the sun. After a long wait we were finally served. I had a lovely carne cruda along with a bottle of Menabrea Birra – a nice change from all the nebbiolo. </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkHR2nlq_MDM9UDm0CpN7hfeoaVpK5A8FMX89T8S6_zPVY-zyVca4RBAdMMQWPfbW_XxW7WXjLWI9sCXRjq_6syz3NVQxFQw_qUfSXSXIhyphenhyphen3JoJmtX4FNJhlRllTb8CB6XtPUh8qlsxQ/s1600/IMG_3868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkHR2nlq_MDM9UDm0CpN7hfeoaVpK5A8FMX89T8S6_zPVY-zyVca4RBAdMMQWPfbW_XxW7WXjLWI9sCXRjq_6syz3NVQxFQw_qUfSXSXIhyphenhyphen3JoJmtX4FNJhlRllTb8CB6XtPUh8qlsxQ/s400/IMG_3868.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria Teresa speaking passionately about her wines</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the afternoon we had an appointment with <b>Maria Teresa of Bartolo Mascarello</b>. It was a very busy Saturday afternoon at the winery, but we were fortunate to have the privilege of having Maria Teresa showing us the cellar and even sitting down for more than an hour tasting the recent vintages with us. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyyYJet6nCqXe-GVo5hMsmS8QEi3PT8FBxmfWna4TXH0vMa-VytFypcOQKfXF1bUIBTSOb8DcAF4bqE2ncrHJkrXAfkMCySIpBFWdjzMapzTJV7DbknTeqYU0HlbixpaIwwJzNYhW60Y/s1600/IMG_3874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyyYJet6nCqXe-GVo5hMsmS8QEi3PT8FBxmfWna4TXH0vMa-VytFypcOQKfXF1bUIBTSOb8DcAF4bqE2ncrHJkrXAfkMCySIpBFWdjzMapzTJV7DbknTeqYU0HlbixpaIwwJzNYhW60Y/s400/IMG_3874.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cellar of Maria Teresa Mascarello</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had <strong>2010 Dolcetto d’Alba, 2009 Barbera d’Alba San Lorenzo, 2009 Freisa and 2007 Barolo</strong>. The 2007 Barolo was beautiful, elegant and well balanced. It is a typical 2007 in the sense that it is so easy to love and it is definitely very easy drinking. Maria Teresa told us that it is a wine for consumption and not for long term storage. I understand what she means, but I think she is a bit too humble. I was also very pleased with the other wines we tried. They are very true to the grape, in the sense that when tasting, you have no doubt what you do taste. She makes very small quantities of these wines and they can be difficult to get a hold of. Personally I have been a big fan of her barbera since the 2004 vintage, where I tried it for the first time. It was a very special visit, where talked a lot about wine and a lot about politics.</span></span></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ493kYR-lYhFDntS-vK5htVTu3YdGzRmoWmTcKSzrtY1pPTVkUOXb6ws4Gh_5oFPPXHOwAkHdp_rD1Wc1XNA9RH1NBNYwL9bIo5k_5b6hiK9lwJ9xrsII139WjoemR4r83oRQHohReZM/s1600/IMG_3889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ493kYR-lYhFDntS-vK5htVTu3YdGzRmoWmTcKSzrtY1pPTVkUOXb6ws4Gh_5oFPPXHOwAkHdp_rD1Wc1XNA9RH1NBNYwL9bIo5k_5b6hiK9lwJ9xrsII139WjoemR4r83oRQHohReZM/s400/IMG_3889.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mascarello line-up incl. the famed "No Barrique No Berlusconi"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the evening we had dinner at <b>Marsupino</b>. We were treated with spectacular food and ditto wines. We started out with a bottle of <b>2006 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste</b>, which is to die for. It is simply amazing. Such perfect combination of fruit and structure. I’m so happy that I have quite a few of this wine in the cellar, because it will go down as one of the absolutely best Barolos from 2006. Wow. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-njGRO2grGpRLEE4crW3f8jAtqdMHO5-j5pPayj7GGy_WC-yzEKXphhnfISx0AlDAXtfjZhWQm9LM7W5PfHoEIA1OxI0dFqKOkeaMsahHoOoBi2Ies9rSOwqc-INLgrtZnhg84fQdgPE/s1600/IMG_3893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-njGRO2grGpRLEE4crW3f8jAtqdMHO5-j5pPayj7GGy_WC-yzEKXphhnfISx0AlDAXtfjZhWQm9LM7W5PfHoEIA1OxI0dFqKOkeaMsahHoOoBi2Ies9rSOwqc-INLgrtZnhg84fQdgPE/s400/IMG_3893.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erica and me enjoying Marsupino</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">To follow up on this wine, we needed to bring out one of the big guns, so we had a bottle of <b>1996 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino</b> and it was of course young, but it was unbelievably great. It was so complex and it seemed to just show a fraction of what it will one day unveil. </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqnH-cOBj3QvF9W-pkURITs-uKIvlDD-sSnvT5HAyONSqP058dtOXJPlJScodfJh1G_guwt-t93tEiRPM4Yn7_1NMwWimNDBdVpUHnfavbKICkeAmR1WNjMbewxS8IE1sni9La8jhlss/s1600/IMG_3897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqnH-cOBj3QvF9W-pkURITs-uKIvlDD-sSnvT5HAyONSqP058dtOXJPlJScodfJh1G_guwt-t93tEiRPM4Yn7_1NMwWimNDBdVpUHnfavbKICkeAmR1WNjMbewxS8IE1sni9La8jhlss/s400/IMG_3897.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monfortino 1996 - perfection in a bottle...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">My friends ordered one more bottle which in a way was a waste, as it was clear that nothing could compete with the perfection of the 96 Monfortino. Anyway a bottle of <b>1996 Aldo Conterno Barolo Granbussia</b> was opened and while it was a very good bottle of wine it was not in the same league as the 06 Brunate Le Coste and not even close to the 96 Monfortino. It was also more mature than the Monfortino, but of course an excellent bottle of wine. Needless to say that we left the restaurant in a very good mood. </span></span></div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpNcvfH7JpQjjWOuQIEmP42pt0INRxjMx1Q9J6q_HzCkwftV7w3FTeoKyZPIBPrrKN6B2Hd6_IRGU1PU0uJhmvtBKOuPy8fFEmHzVyq4WEUcnZG1adtcc4lENWGoOHJpkkPGFI8wixCo/s1600/IMG_3918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpNcvfH7JpQjjWOuQIEmP42pt0INRxjMx1Q9J6q_HzCkwftV7w3FTeoKyZPIBPrrKN6B2Hd6_IRGU1PU0uJhmvtBKOuPy8fFEmHzVyq4WEUcnZG1adtcc4lENWGoOHJpkkPGFI8wixCo/s400/IMG_3918.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasting with Guido Porro in his cellar</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunday morning we had a visit with <b>Guido Porro</b> of Serralunga d’Alba. I tasted Guido Porro for the first time with the 2004 vintage. It was Greg dal Piaz who drew my attention to this little artisan producer – thanks for that Greg. He makes two Barolos from two different plots on the Lazzarito Vineyard in Serralunga – a) Barolo Lazzairasco (app. 10.000 bottles produced) and b) Barolo Vigna Santa Caterina (app. 4.000 bottles produced). His winery is located at the very top of the Lazzarito Vineyard with a stunning view towards Castiglione Falletto. He is very traditional in his winemaking methods and he possesses vines in some important places. We tasted the whole range of his wines: <b>Dolcetto 2010</b> (5000 bottles produced) was very clean and elegant with good acidity. It only sees cement and steel and no wood. <b>Barbera 2010</b> (5000 bottles produced) was in a different stage, as it had just been bottled. It sees cement followed by a few months in old Slavonian botte. Next we tried the <b>2010 Langhe Nebbiolo</b>. He produced his first Langhe Nebbiolo in 2009, where he made 1000 bottles. In 2010 he had doubled the number of bottles produced to 2000. The grapes come from plants right next to Gaja’s Sperss vineyard in Serralunga. I really liked this wine. It was very pure and elegant with lots of red fruit, yet with a massive underlying structure and my mouth was coated by the tannins – lovely! </span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHkJ4svm0Hi8nNYDZ2i4K1Rg_l_DyLQqlgNaTYGNVRoFmuWAP_Y_LLNxff2uqEndk2x2zdo3Op8MINkyui9UFXAGnPWAr56MYwbsyivD8-afcejMywfzjzgz4s6dY601Cg1sXkMQx5jA/s1600/IMG_3931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHkJ4svm0Hi8nNYDZ2i4K1Rg_l_DyLQqlgNaTYGNVRoFmuWAP_Y_LLNxff2uqEndk2x2zdo3Op8MINkyui9UFXAGnPWAr56MYwbsyivD8-afcejMywfzjzgz4s6dY601Cg1sXkMQx5jA/s400/IMG_3931.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Guido Porro towards Serralunga d'Alba</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last we tried his two 2007 Barolos. First up was <b>Barolo Vigna Santa Caterina</b> which was very silky and elegant without a huge structure. Very pleasant and relatively easy drinking. The <b>Barolo Lazzairasco</b> was a different darker expression. It comes from 50 year old vines and maybe because of this it had managed to keep some coolness to it – despite the vintage. It possessed much more structure and was a truly great 2007 Barolo. The incredibly humble Guido Porro sensed that we were very pleased with his wines and we offered to come with him to his small cellar and taste from cask. An offer we of course couldn’t refuse </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> We had both Barolos in 2008 and in 2009. I especially liked the 2009s as they seemed more open and clean. It will be interesting to follow this producer over the coming years. Especially due to the fact that he was one of three producers who inherited part of Canale’s legendary plot on Vigna Rionda. </span></span></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDycJO72L3etbh-HFnRUxYmh-mWk8xY2ED8qOe6_kgccN3f7JChFFZ-kskhcPNcHgxctxgYdZWTfahJEbKKoZKZhahHwhiynnA5MzxTI0V7UxFmQfY7nZ779CKdJmlI58IUZpD1uZkopA/s1600/DSC04099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDycJO72L3etbh-HFnRUxYmh-mWk8xY2ED8qOe6_kgccN3f7JChFFZ-kskhcPNcHgxctxgYdZWTfahJEbKKoZKZhahHwhiynnA5MzxTI0V7UxFmQfY7nZ779CKdJmlI58IUZpD1uZkopA/s400/DSC04099.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">100 year old plant from Canale's part of Vigna Rionda</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Guido told us that the vineyard was in a terrible condition when they took it over. Many of the plants were dead and many were more than 100 years old. So they were forced to work a lot in the vineyard and they had chosen to replant the entire plot. Guido said he expected to produce the first vintage of Barolo Vigna Rionda in 2017 or 2018. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the visit we went to <b>Centro Storico in Serralunga</b>. Alessio served some simple but absolutely wonderful food for us - including a cake for dessert that made it to top of my dessert charts - and we enjoyed a stunning bottle of <b>Barolo Monprivato 2006</b> and a bottle of <b>2009 Barbera d’Alba Cerretta</b> from Giacomo Conterno. My girlfriend and I clearly preferred the 2009 Barbera from Cascina Francia but my two Danish friends were of the opposite opinion… After this my two Danish friends headed for Malpensa Airport, but luckily my girlfriend and I had the chance to spend a couple of more days in Langhe.</span></span></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVotQ4ZUPWl8ly19UYk824ZVm9_M3pJ2C-jQC66iDcR983r5bXMRhcf-l3vAgM3NYClIrC4iZ0uQo33qZ4EjQDEfoW0Kov676tAiafWlgxxzOFlC7Fw3S0xHQJ3jVUrPk8qt_RWwIqJ3o/s1600/IMG_3936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVotQ4ZUPWl8ly19UYk824ZVm9_M3pJ2C-jQC66iDcR983r5bXMRhcf-l3vAgM3NYClIrC4iZ0uQo33qZ4EjQDEfoW0Kov676tAiafWlgxxzOFlC7Fw3S0xHQJ3jVUrPk8qt_RWwIqJ3o/s400/IMG_3936.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goodbye lunch outside Centro Storico in Serralunga</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunday evening was spent with very good friends in Monforte. It was a cozy evening, and luckily without too much wine...</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfHW_W_ywUwmxR71Wv5sYrP5aMypTr76EK0eqhu-VDZbyY1GgGGg6_ixWR6S0JkTizHpqqIbUjhMxqltkEU661UiUahj6XLurbr90UqzRv4ZPbzEu9rsWD_53IfaafM_nFMDOfVeGBbA/s1600/P1030859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfHW_W_ywUwmxR71Wv5sYrP5aMypTr76EK0eqhu-VDZbyY1GgGGg6_ixWR6S0JkTizHpqqIbUjhMxqltkEU661UiUahj6XLurbr90UqzRv4ZPbzEu9rsWD_53IfaafM_nFMDOfVeGBbA/s400/P1030859.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandro and little Princess Chiara (don't worry it was only dolcetto...)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday morning I had a much awaited tasting with <b>Silvia at Elio Altare</b>. Along with the visit to Roberto Conterno it is always the highlight of my trip to Langhe. And as things turned out this was no exception. Unfortunately my girlfriend had to work, so she couldn’t join me. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">I met the legendary Elio when I got out of the car, but it was Silvia, who was showing me around. She took me to the cellar and we tried the <b>2009 Barolo</b> from steel. It was so open and fruity, but with good structure. Next we tried the <b>2009 Barolo Arborina</b> from steel. It was more closed and needed some air before it started showing its potential. It was somewhat deeper and more concentrated and more structured than the Barolo, but judged on how they showed on the day, I actually preferred the Barolo. After this Silvia showed me the great honor of letting me try from cask their new prestige project: <b>2010 Barolo Arborina – 100% hand de-stemmed</b>. I had of course heard about the project, but I must admit I didn’t think it could make such a big difference. Boy was I wrong!! On the nose it was so sexy and elegant, that you would think you were smelling a pinot noir from Burgundy. In the mouth of course the nebbiolo showed its presence. But it was so incredibly pure and elegant that I can’t compare it to anything I have ever tried. It was just drop dead gorgeous. There won’t be many of these bottles as there were only 6 barriques of this wine. After this sensational wine, we tried the <b>2009 Barolo Brunate</b> from steel. Silvia told me that this year (2011) would be the last year where they would produce a Barolo Brunate. The reason being that Mario Marengo had chosen to put an end to their swapping of Arborina grapes for Brunate grapes. It is a pity, because I have always loved the Brunate from Altare. Well, luckily based on the tasting of the 2009 Brunate, we still have some wonderful experiences waiting ahead of us. It was an adorable wine. Last Silvia took me to a tank with the <b>2011 hand de-stemmed Arborina</b>. It was so primary and really fruit juice, but I felt so lucky to taste it. Thank you Silvia! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PAo7pUf5yVbLwLI4d29Sg0zklRUrK8Y6P6dcjrTEvgcvdZvIWjsC1ThR7uERl9TgqOWLdzrRkLHhrQOMZJ6M9KUkC2j6xXbnCJ5CfKA3s3XkL3fl8LJJhV-EIkG7McF5GTopQDPvLBs/s1600/Altares+new+cellar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PAo7pUf5yVbLwLI4d29Sg0zklRUrK8Y6P6dcjrTEvgcvdZvIWjsC1ThR7uERl9TgqOWLdzrRkLHhrQOMZJ6M9KUkC2j6xXbnCJ5CfKA3s3XkL3fl8LJJhV-EIkG7McF5GTopQDPvLBs/s400/Altares+new+cellar.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cellar of Elio Altare</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the tasting room I was first served <b>Barolo 2005, 2006 and 2007</b>. It was very interesting to taste these three vintages side by side. I clearly preferred the 2006. In general when comparing vintages, 2006 is to me the perfect vintage – a beautiful marriage between a relatively warm vintage and a socalled classical vintage - massively structured but always balanced by the intense fruit. The 2005 is more feminine yet cooler in its expression, and the 2007 is the sexy woman that unfortunately shows a bit too much skin and a bit too much make-up for my taste – she is easy to fall in love with, but she won’t stay that long (maybe some conservative "neb-heads" would even consider her slightly slutty?)… After this vintage study I was served the first vintage of Altare’s new Serralunga Barolo: <b>2005 Barolo Cerretta</b>. I tried it a year and a half ago, where I liked it a lot, but this time it was stunning. Much more structure and tannins than what you normally get from the La Morra Barolos. It was really beautiful. Finally Silvia’s mother came by and she wanted me to have the <b>2008 Langhe Arborina</b>. It is made on 100% new oak, but it was very well integrated and I was quite impressed. I was so impressed with the wines that I was served by Silvia, and I cannot thank her enough for making the visit so special for me. Afterwards we had lunch at <b>Duvert in Cherasco</b> – simple but very nice. We shared a <b>2010 dolcetto from Domenico Clerico</b>.</span></span></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLEENS0oQvx763KO0pBcfAdJ92i8MZxhUinRgfpqS0PMljVk8VBVAHTrEb7vujuQCKbbVmDIyZzvdjXcZtLV7nqWzJc744p-S90ZpGEuaa0q76aWdL2ssYsB-uiKt13LrXpkLbU207KM/s1600/P1030875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLEENS0oQvx763KO0pBcfAdJ92i8MZxhUinRgfpqS0PMljVk8VBVAHTrEb7vujuQCKbbVmDIyZzvdjXcZtLV7nqWzJc744p-S90ZpGEuaa0q76aWdL2ssYsB-uiKt13LrXpkLbU207KM/s400/P1030875.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vineyards outside Barolo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the afternoon my girlfriend had finished her work and we could go together to <b>Giuseppe Rinaldi</b>. We were greeted be a very tired Giuseppe and afterwards his wife and his daughter, Martha, showed us the cellar. I have visited him before and it is quite a special experience to see the cellar. Things are messy and dark, very different from the perfect cleanliness at for example Roberto Conterno’s cellar. In fact I think Roberto Conterno’s cellar is more clean than the room where you have surgery at a Danish hospital </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Well, back to Giuseppe Rinaldi – it was hectic as there were other visitors but Martha and her mom were very nice. We saw the big open vat where the the Brunate is macerated – it is more than 100 years old, and they still use it. Rinaldi’s nebbiolo was completely sold out, so we tried the <b>barbera 2010</b>, which was gorgeous, with clean fruit and a lot of acidity. Afterwards we tried <b>Ravera 2008</b> from cask and <b>Brunate 2008</b> likewise from cask. I can just say: look forward to 2008 </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dp8m1ay7KPZSYgKnDMy6q9pId60soWLsZMRoJi-YGDHq8ivT75kYD6XYEK85c_A8zUWTzoLziSXF2CMlj1jurLRF1Ik7gIvvhB5XIubwUPh39z-PR1OlzoO-6oj9a8v9HwJQVQfK0Ug/s1600/P1030869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dp8m1ay7KPZSYgKnDMy6q9pId60soWLsZMRoJi-YGDHq8ivT75kYD6XYEK85c_A8zUWTzoLziSXF2CMlj1jurLRF1Ik7gIvvhB5XIubwUPh39z-PR1OlzoO-6oj9a8v9HwJQVQfK0Ug/s400/P1030869.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasting with Roberto Conterno at More & Machine</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the evening we had dinner with some very good friends who live in Monforte. And afterwards we were invited by <b>Roberto Conterno</b> to meet for a drink at <b>More & Machine in La Morra</b>. Roberto had heard that we had had a cooked bottle of <b>2001 Barolo Cascina Francia</b>, so he wanted to show us how good it could be. He therefore brought one from his own cellar, and it was spectacular. What a wine, superb balance and structure, but I must admit that it was more mature than I had expected. Mature is not the correct term, as it was naturally far from being mature, but it was really drinking well already now. Roberto then offered us the <b>1998 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis San Giuseppe</b>, which showed extremely well. I have sometimes found 98 Barolos a bit dull and fat, but this one was singing immediately. After some discussions on the wine and from where on the vineyard the San Giuseppe part is, we had a bottle of <b>2007 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Cannubi San Lorenzo Ravera</b>. It was very forward and very fruit driven and while very pleasant to drink I must admit that I felt it was a bit too one dimensional. Last wine of the evening was <b>Ferdinando Principiano 2007 Barolo Ravera</b>. According to Roberto and some of the people from More & Machine who had joined us by now, Ravera was one of the vineyards that did the best in 2007, as it was not as exposed to the heat and the sun. Personally I don’t have experience to comment on that, but I must say that this bottle was very good and IMHO better than the Rinaldi. It was not as warm in its expression and I really liked it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2gNMWzeXjtQPFmcANhOvnjXovQWnto7YR5ktgZJjnQ15vEIB7lksAYqAklu3ReGKqcEZiklSHjkdC4NBjgJBIjFUmKUdCCEy1kz9KQQ7-wP4vQ6mqJTQH2vPIu-zdN97-qwIdzBc_rI/s1600/IMG_3808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2gNMWzeXjtQPFmcANhOvnjXovQWnto7YR5ktgZJjnQ15vEIB7lksAYqAklu3ReGKqcEZiklSHjkdC4NBjgJBIjFUmKUdCCEy1kz9KQQ7-wP4vQ6mqJTQH2vPIu-zdN97-qwIdzBc_rI/s400/IMG_3808.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serralunga d'Alba dressed in fog</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What a way to end this fabulous stay in Langhe. Every time I go I'm impressed with the beauty of the land and this was no exception as vineyards were dressed in fall colors and it was just so incredibly beautiful. Also the openness of the people never fail to impress me. In particular the way you are greeted and received by the producers is amazing. Most of these producers are world class winemakers and yet they open their wineries to amatures like myself. For most of the winemakers, the wineries are even their private homes, which just make things even more special. I hope to be able to come down there on a regular basis, and I sure hope that I one day can find a way to live there on a more permanent basis, because to me Langhe is really Heaven on Earth.</span></div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-33097920508497899992011-11-29T20:47:00.002+01:002011-12-03T18:49:06.306+01:00Produttori del Barbaresco at Søllerød Kro<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Thursday November 10, 2011 the Danish importer of <strong>Produttori del Barbaresco</strong> had organized a winemaker’s dinner with <strong>Aldo Vacca</strong> from Produttori del Barbaresco at famed Danish restaurant Søllerød Kro. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m a big fan of the wines from Produttori del Barbaresco and Søllerød Kro is the best restaurant I have ever been to, so this seemed like the perfect dinner for me. Unfortunately on this night the cooking of Søllerød Kro was very far from their normal standard – for sure because of the budget, but still a shame. Fortunately the wines of Produttori were shining and so was Aldo Vacca.</span></div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTiMMESzPENXp30vq8IrvZloOLyv0i5F9g8yDXfKuhYSkgsBiDMrye3D22_V0Yw16OcUJNQfyIhlCVN8VR9GMdbpeLYFdes7bEmFo4ZaG6DvETexXd4a0uVqQEx6ZBQ0gJxHYS3pwdkQ/s1600/DSC04100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTiMMESzPENXp30vq8IrvZloOLyv0i5F9g8yDXfKuhYSkgsBiDMrye3D22_V0Yw16OcUJNQfyIhlCVN8VR9GMdbpeLYFdes7bEmFo4ZaG6DvETexXd4a0uVqQEx6ZBQ0gJxHYS3pwdkQ/s400/DSC04100.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aldo Vacca Presenting Barbaresco 90</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first two wines served were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2007 Barbaresco</b> along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1997 Barbaresco</b>. At first the 2007 seemed alcoholic and warm, but after some time in the glass it settled down and regained its balance. A very pleasant and easy drinking wine, which IMO was suffering somewhat from the heat of the vintage. The 1997 was what I would characterize as more or less fully mature. It was beautifully balanced and did not fall apart in the glass, but I didn’t see any upside in holding this any longer in the cellar. The wines were paired with some panfried white fish with a touch of salt and lemon and especially the 97 did well with the food.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next up was the first “real” flight of the evening. The theme of the evening was the 97 Riservas, and we were served <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">97 Asili Riserva, 97 Rabajà Riserva and 97 Montestefano Riserva</b>. The Asili stole the show immediately. It was head and shoulders above the two others. Unfortunately the Rabajà was off, but it was quickly replaced by another bottle. The Montestefano did surprisingly well, and whereas the Asili didn’t really evolve in the glass, the Montestefano kept getting better and better and at the end I actually preferred it to the Asili. Asili was all about elegance and balance, whereas Montestefano was more masculine in the style. Rabajà wasn’t really showing well. Yes, the second bottle was better than the first, but it seemed one dimensional and slightly over mature. I left mine to breathe in the glass for the remainder of the evening. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The third flight of the evening was <strong>97 Rio Sordo Riserva and 97 Ovello Riserva</strong>. The Rio Sordo reminded me a bit of the Montestefano and the Ovello seemed so young still and slightly out of balance. Especially the Ovello needed a lot of time in the glass before it started showing well. But at the end it was showing very well. The Rio Sordo was showing very well. It was the first time I tried this bottling (in any vintage) and it showed that I probably should start buying other crus than Rabajà, Asili and Ovello…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The fourth flight was also the last of the 97 Riservas. It was <strong>97 Pajé Riserva and 97 Moccagatta Riserva</strong>. I had high expectations for the Pajé, but they were not entirely met, as it didn’t seem to reach the same level as some of the others. The Moccagatta showed well but not the level of complexity as the previous flights.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrRJNT-dpoJi6-oVQ0G7KzDSzOlCgfjkQREpaV4CirF3ZHuzDah6erLldG5xphH4F4LrafwiybIgcopLoHaLKmIxEtOBjgwFsm5lXicXsJLlwwaC9a8kjpBVsB-a10fXysMi7Mx0eUVE/s1600/DSC04102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrRJNT-dpoJi6-oVQ0G7KzDSzOlCgfjkQREpaV4CirF3ZHuzDah6erLldG5xphH4F4LrafwiybIgcopLoHaLKmIxEtOBjgwFsm5lXicXsJLlwwaC9a8kjpBVsB-a10fXysMi7Mx0eUVE/s400/DSC04102.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glasses Full of Nebbiolo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before heading to the last flight of the evening I re-tasted all of the wines, as I had left something from all the 97 Riservas. The Asili had not changed one bit – it was beautiful. But there were two that had evolved positively. Ovello Riserva had found a better equilibrium and was showing really well, but much to my surprise one wine stood out above all others: Rabajà Riserva was fantastic. It no longer seemed over evolved – it had tightened up and the fruit, acidity and structure were now balancing each other perfectly. It was much more structured than the other crus even more than Montestefano. It was really fascinating to witness such a big change for this wine that I had the highest expectations to prior to the tasting.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxYk-HUfUiuKMB-ZOnRFaGRDuqr9GBgmXXk4TJqRTLGgd4C3D9AZ5uNPpK2y5b_C1TXw0Q8BS8cEepCm5eZzyfHTKM9xj8PUWNntzEai3PYLWKLvIY4Y1Xs6zJjmZrtllU5pYCRyqJU0/s1600/DSC04172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxYk-HUfUiuKMB-ZOnRFaGRDuqr9GBgmXXk4TJqRTLGgd4C3D9AZ5uNPpK2y5b_C1TXw0Q8BS8cEepCm5eZzyfHTKM9xj8PUWNntzEai3PYLWKLvIY4Y1Xs6zJjmZrtllU5pYCRyqJU0/s320/DSC04172.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbaresco 90 - notice the anniversary label</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a general comment to the 97s, they were still very much alive, but it was also clear that one shouldn’t expect improvements from these wines. I found them to be relatively close to peak, but I’m sure that they will remain at this level for quite a few years more. Most of them were relatively easy drinking and very elegant and feminine in style. Not big brooding tannin monsters but silky elegant wines.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well despite the loveliness of the 97s the last flight stole the show completely. We were served a <strong>1990 Barbaresco from magnum and 1989 Barbaresco from double magnum</strong>. The 90 was dark and concentrated with a beautiful nose full of dark fruit and menthol. In the mouth it was also beautiful – very well balanced, with dark fruit and very silky round tannins. The 89 was more muted on the nose to begin with but in the mouth it was far superior to the 90. Much more structured and tannic and the color was also much more red compared to the darkness of the 90. I wish I had a double mag of the 89 myself, because it was really special.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2Jj_TotdRSVTpLoIojkpYw5JAML8oQRsy0ov-Yo-9wmfy4mXGd8uWX85vnnq22avxefnat0vtoaI2n7WEfYNRahndgt5BVrJmc_ew1hd3SoXRIyOKIvuvTskwF2j1SmSVmnOyFVp9v4/s1600/DSC04173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2Jj_TotdRSVTpLoIojkpYw5JAML8oQRsy0ov-Yo-9wmfy4mXGd8uWX85vnnq22avxefnat0vtoaI2n7WEfYNRahndgt5BVrJmc_ew1hd3SoXRIyOKIvuvTskwF2j1SmSVmnOyFVp9v4/s320/DSC04173.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back label of Barbaresco 90</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While we were eating and drinking Aldo Vacca spoke about the wines and came around to all the tables talking to us. He did a fantastic job, speaking in perfect English with great knowledge and a great sense of humor. Bravo. So what did I learn from the tasting? Well, the 97s were beautiful and elegant without much upside to it, but it also showed that the less known crus, like Montestefano and Rio Sordo, really delivered well. Finally the tasting also showed how important the size of the bottles can be, as both wines served from larger formats were fantastic depite being 7-8 years older.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Myi0C9HccvHuSr3U1LXBtCekhpFA05sqzWgjpu_WR9TlIrEPLAGCpzK3TbcnccDpTsJqkdnMt6ZE0Rm7y6_Ggwmi-wFVipXzj5JxqBR7AWaXOXJDHNohd6qS3sl7ymKOlXgqzUeOCDc/s1600/DSC04174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Myi0C9HccvHuSr3U1LXBtCekhpFA05sqzWgjpu_WR9TlIrEPLAGCpzK3TbcnccDpTsJqkdnMt6ZE0Rm7y6_Ggwmi-wFVipXzj5JxqBR7AWaXOXJDHNohd6qS3sl7ymKOlXgqzUeOCDc/s320/DSC04174.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st Star of the evening</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660366900803766228.post-27444527009974671342011-11-28T23:18:00.004+01:002011-12-11T14:37:06.416+01:00Altare Dinner with Silvia Altare<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape id="_x0000_i1040" style="height: 81pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 297pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="logo_elio_altare" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\SAXOBA~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></imagedata></shape></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Tasting of Elio Altare Barolo 1971 to 2004 at Enomania in Copenhagen</span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">With Silvia Altare as Special Guest</span></i></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuFIYiZBCqCVEy1Nw1tanIXMPzrhjbdu9kwn8zRNRXD2DrzQFSFjtvU8MLPbCfJTbFKU-c8CF5Fo83eD59DptW3VIXJgJnU3ojpn3F7R_NW4KJmizWNXBpzW6BnRH5blqMiMQyq4Dxtg/s1600/DSC04140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuFIYiZBCqCVEy1Nw1tanIXMPzrhjbdu9kwn8zRNRXD2DrzQFSFjtvU8MLPbCfJTbFKU-c8CF5Fo83eD59DptW3VIXJgJnU3ojpn3F7R_NW4KJmizWNXBpzW6BnRH5blqMiMQyq4Dxtg/s400/DSC04140.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Altare in plural...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Last Friday at my favorite restaurant in Copenhagen, Enomania, I had invited my best friends to at very special tasting. The theme of the tasting was a vertical of the famous Barolo Arborina from Elio Altare. However, as you can see from this description the Barolo Arborina was not the only wine we had – no there were a few vintages of Langhe Arborina and Barolo Brunate as well as a few other wines. Naturally all of them were made by Altare.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">To make things even more special, Silvia Altare joined us for the tasting. My friends had not been told and it was a lot of fun to watch their faces when Silvia entered the restaurant. We were all extremely happy that Silvia showed us the honor of joining us for this very special event. Thank you Silvia it was really a treat to have you with us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Prior to the tasting Silvia had together with her father Elio prepared brief fact sheets on all wines and these were given to all people at the tasting. It was very interesting and valuable for us to have this “inside information”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Well, before being served the first dish of the evening, we had a glass of white wine served blind. It was served relatively chilled, maybe a couple of degrees too cold for my preference. In the beginning it was completely muted on the nose, but after heating up a little in the glass it gave a little citrus notes, but only a little. In the mouth it again displayed some citrus notes combined with a whipping acidity, which made it appear very fresh and youthful. I also found some saltiness in the wine. The wine was of course made by Elio Altare and it was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cinqueterre Campogrande Altare Bonanni: Cinque Terre DOC 2009</b> – only the second vintage of this wine. It was the first time I tasted this wine and according to Silvia it didn’t show as it normally does at the winery. Anyway it was fun to try this new project from Elio and although it was relatively muted, I liked the freshness of the wine very much.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6Q2QYe3WHMWIMh4e4KF6382Ff9O6XL2x_Uvif6ZZc8jZBHyeuDwhhWq3_A9GknZceYlCYae2-dLjzZ_tBZsXD6JqbT4Oi4O6pqhpL8Yy7sov4sFjwjqLzs_cI0dAL1aspSNmaF8gZoE/s1600/DSC04168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6Q2QYe3WHMWIMh4e4KF6382Ff9O6XL2x_Uvif6ZZc8jZBHyeuDwhhWq3_A9GknZceYlCYae2-dLjzZ_tBZsXD6JqbT4Oi4O6pqhpL8Yy7sov4sFjwjqLzs_cI0dAL1aspSNmaF8gZoE/s400/DSC04168.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Shortly after, we were served the first course of the evening. Being a night of otherwise Piemontese wines, my friend Damiano, who owns Enomania, had prepared a completely Piemontese menu. So what better way to start with than a dish with Vitello Tonnato and Carne Cruda. Both were delicious, but I particularly enjoyed the carne cruda – it had been prepared with a bit of Marolo Grappa di Gewürtztraminer and then covered with white truffles from Alba. It was a divine combination. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG99iay8M07-uVjy8rAJVfk5Ngfo_525VxGJS2HXfGyQNoST3ZEw0XofGRrWpRFiAv24XLNqJYkiJpHbeei5XbLyzrBTNsaOgGhWAc19VcJmt4mP5l0bzWpu7qZrpiRRJi9uY8KFCoff4/s1600/DSC04105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG99iay8M07-uVjy8rAJVfk5Ngfo_525VxGJS2HXfGyQNoST3ZEw0XofGRrWpRFiAv24XLNqJYkiJpHbeei5XbLyzrBTNsaOgGhWAc19VcJmt4mP5l0bzWpu7qZrpiRRJi9uY8KFCoff4/s400/DSC04105.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">In general all wines had been given slow-o treatment for between 5 and 8 hours. Immediately before being served they were decanted to separate any seditments and then poured gently back into the bottle. All wines were kept in the cellar and were served at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. To me the serving temperature was perfect – especially given the fact that it was relatively warm in the restaurant. Also it is worth noting that almost all wines had been brought to the restaurant one week prior to the tasting in order to let them stand up and rest before being served.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">For this course we were served four wines – all wines were served non-blind. It was youthful, yet marvelous set of wines. In the first glass we had <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barolo Arborina 2004</b> and in the next glass we had <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barolo Brunate 2004</b>. In the next two glasses we had <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barolo Arborina 2001</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barolo Brunate 2001</b>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPvUCFAfslekmRYFmp53pq1pDH9DhCqxJyZNvBYSc4abJT20do4Bh37sARrjwXAo2wJ4phii001AKFrYNWenR8fnOjmo_Q_bBQvUvaeJRUT3KiOXU4BbdqjChbJeeCkwo1b_Ran2eHRo/s1600/DSC04166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPvUCFAfslekmRYFmp53pq1pDH9DhCqxJyZNvBYSc4abJT20do4Bh37sARrjwXAo2wJ4phii001AKFrYNWenR8fnOjmo_Q_bBQvUvaeJRUT3KiOXU4BbdqjChbJeeCkwo1b_Ran2eHRo/s400/DSC04166.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">The 2004s were made in a “in-your-face” style - very ripe fruit, very sensual and very open for business. The Arborina had some sweetness in the fruit that I didn’t find in the Brunate. The Brunate on the other had had more menthol in the nose. According to Silvia both wines received the exact same treatment in the cellar, and for this vintage something very extraordinary happened: the wines were never racked during the 24 months they spend in oak – as put by Silvia: “They were born perfect”. Both wines were so beautiful and elegant and with a silkiness that I can’t describe. Tannins were so silky and smooth and the wines were in beautiful harmony – perfectly balanced. I re-tasted these two wines both 2 and 3 days after the tasting and they kept their freshness. With time, the Barolo Arborina developed a slightly more tannic grip than the Brunate, which on the other hand preserved more freshness in the fruit.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65sQN438dpg3K7_InH8CUiy49nNKc7n1OULU6NACo4WJD2rqb4bpFGGEWXiM3H3-r4cHDWuEF7dcF9pkWoZ55Zc1uok44fO6kfaxpKqamp3h7UgOBb7WeuXQXdzywxFvluqYfNXIoeuA/s1600/DSC04160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65sQN438dpg3K7_InH8CUiy49nNKc7n1OULU6NACo4WJD2rqb4bpFGGEWXiM3H3-r4cHDWuEF7dcF9pkWoZ55Zc1uok44fO6kfaxpKqamp3h7UgOBb7WeuXQXdzywxFvluqYfNXIoeuA/s400/DSC04160.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">The 2001s were not so “in-your-face” as the 2004s. Upon being served, they were more hard and closed – although the 2001 Brunate quickly showed a more opulent fruity nose – a nose which was to die for - unbelievably beautiful. However, they both needed some more time in the glass to shine, yet when they came around they were stunning. Again I found a note of menthol in the nose of the Brunate that I didn’t find in the Arborina. The 2001s had a completely different tannic profile than the 2004s. The 01s were much more firm and structured and the tannins were coating my teeth and actually my entire mouth. I found the 01s to be slightly more precise in the taste and I felt more acidity than in the 04s. Also the 2001s didn’t have the same ripeness of the fruit as the 2004s had. Again I loved the overall balance of the wines – so beautiful. When I retasted the wines on day 2 and 3 after the tasting, the wines showed beautifully, with the Brunate having a slight edge over the Arborina. The fruit of the 01 was fresher and it seemed to be a slightly more structured wine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">This was really a beautiful set of wines and I couldn’t think of a better way to start the tasting. It is difficult to say which was the better wine, but I did prefer the 2001s to the 2004s. No doubt the 2004s were made in more “friendly” and hedonistic style”, but I personally loved the more firm tannic structure of the 2001s. Anyway it is really splitting hairs. Generally though, I found the Barolo Brunate to be a bit more complex than the Barolo Arborina.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Next course served was Damiano’s trademark: risotto. His risotto has become “world-famous” in Denmark and that of course for a reason. On this night he had made the risotto with Jerusalem artichoke and different cuts from pheasant. On top he had generously shaved white truffle from Alba. Again it was a gorgeous combination.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVF_L4eFmuvpre5zYw-uo2HHJXnvAilzMYsPd68UOHEr-k6ar9zoBkdwkBx9XD633BhS7oe5pDvN02dkql_LUFc3kuFXe-ODhfp0EW7QdMo4V5AGzp2RRH5D0mYWy8kzIzZvTwrPQieU/s1600/DSC04112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVF_L4eFmuvpre5zYw-uo2HHJXnvAilzMYsPd68UOHEr-k6ar9zoBkdwkBx9XD633BhS7oe5pDvN02dkql_LUFc3kuFXe-ODhfp0EW7QdMo4V5AGzp2RRH5D0mYWy8kzIzZvTwrPQieU/s400/DSC04112.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">This amazing risotto was accompanied by four glasses of wine. In the first two glasses we had <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2000 Barolo Arborina</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1999 Barolo Arborina</b> respectively. In my opinion the 2000 was slightly overmatched by the 1999. The 2000 had some sweetness to the fruit. I found dark sweet cherries and after some time it felt like the 2000 started to fade a little. It didn’t have the freshness of the 1999 Barolo Arborina. The 1999 was much more structured with firm tannins and it didn’t have any of this sweetness to the fruit that I found in the 2000. The 1999 also displayed menthol and minerality that I didn’t find to the same extend in the 2000. However, in the beginning the 1999 was also much more reserved in the glass.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">In glass three and four we were served two wines blind. The wine in glass number three was brought by my friend Stefan Töpler from Germany. He brought it with him on the flight the same day, so it was only given 3 hours of slow-o before being served. However, when judged solely on the nose, it clearly stole the show. It appeared much more primary and it had a much fresher fruit. It had the structural similarities of the 1999 Barolo Arborina and my friend Martin quickly nailed the wine as being <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1999 Langhe Arborina</b>. Correct he was. In the mouth the wine also displayed slightly more freshness in the fruit, but one thing I found disturbing about this wine was its dry finish. Also I found that the tannins were not just from the wine, but also some oaky tannins. It was a shame with this dryness as all other things about this wine were superb. In the fourth glass was a “pirate” from Silvia. It was very different from the other three wines. The nose was very peculiar with a very lactic scent – I had a lot of yoghurt and buttermilk. Underneath this odd nose there was a beautiful wine an unbelievable freshness to the fruit. It didn’t have the structure of the other three wines, but I really enjoyed its fresh fruit. Due to the strange nose of the wine it was difficult to blind guess it, and Silvia had to tell us that it was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dolcetto 1999</b>. It had never seen wood, only stainless steel. When retasted the following days, surprisingly the 2000 Barolo Arborina had regained some of the freshness that it seemed to lack on the evening of the tasting. It suddenly displayed intense layers of dark sweet fruit but it still lacked a bit of structure when compared to the 1999 Barolo Arborina. The 1999 Barolo showed excellent and seemed uninfluenced by the time it had been open - it is definitely a wine that will have a long life. The 1999 Langhe Arborina kept the fresh fruit, but unfortunately it also kept the dry finish. Surprisingly – at least to me – the Dolcetto kept the very fresh fruit, but it unfortunately didn’t lose the peculiar scent of yoghurt and buttermilk.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAiHhBPfCXDbBJAdS8eeKjahp07_C47fDedrexYh7u0fVvkEVU3X0WA67NNdcyd5LgZeEHKWiEFIFC_CChdqASthHteFd-Jd47Icw6BjehOzhvwAKRq_4aPPs8NkTZsPsI-z-Li0u_Cg/s1600/DSC04171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAiHhBPfCXDbBJAdS8eeKjahp07_C47fDedrexYh7u0fVvkEVU3X0WA67NNdcyd5LgZeEHKWiEFIFC_CChdqASthHteFd-Jd47Icw6BjehOzhvwAKRq_4aPPs8NkTZsPsI-z-Li0u_Cg/s400/DSC04171.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">This flight was very interesting to me. It showed very different styles between the two vintages, but it also showed two different expressions of nebbiolo on the 1999s. According to Silvia there is no selection of grapes for Barolo Arborina and Langhe Arborina – only difference is in the cellar, where the Langhe receives 100% new barrique and the Barolo receives only 20-30% new barrique. Naturally there is also a difference in the aging time, as the Langhe only sees oak for 18 months whereas the Barolo ages 24 months in oak. But somehow the Langhe had preserved a more fresh fruit but in order to do so it had sacrificed some of the elegance and balance.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5Eg58L-DJK837yhB05_77fm9xNld32cgYsjmFQtL6BMj6bacRZW-u703nxCPgBcKMNSU5TEcszr0_lH7It1X8UXof8VRlUDIAyK8yUXAb90d1Bw26YLajrEQIbe8A36x6WgaNSk9QRE/s1600/DSC04114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5Eg58L-DJK837yhB05_77fm9xNld32cgYsjmFQtL6BMj6bacRZW-u703nxCPgBcKMNSU5TEcszr0_lH7It1X8UXof8VRlUDIAyK8yUXAb90d1Bw26YLajrEQIbe8A36x6WgaNSk9QRE/s400/DSC04114.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Next flight consisted of only three wines: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barolo Arborina 1996</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barolo Brunate 1996</b> and a wine donated by Silvia. The wine donated by Silvia was served blind. To accompany these fabulous wines Damiano served a stunning pasta dish. The pasta was served with rabbit and chanterelles and on top he had again generously shaved white truffles from Alba. A marvelous combination with the wines!</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDPw2dwZgq9bjX8PyRoAxnJLW0SN0HEJuxtC0NxuI9Gs5pxc70KrdpWRldbhQmRi3Acir18Pp3Lrl_lmwx_8_eK4Ro9OwvaDpL2zfDfoKJL3kmVgjUIGQ7yoLp7HbA-3RYKkQMiJqQW9k/s1600/DSC04158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDPw2dwZgq9bjX8PyRoAxnJLW0SN0HEJuxtC0NxuI9Gs5pxc70KrdpWRldbhQmRi3Acir18Pp3Lrl_lmwx_8_eK4Ro9OwvaDpL2zfDfoKJL3kmVgjUIGQ7yoLp7HbA-3RYKkQMiJqQW9k/s400/DSC04158.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hedonism in a bottle</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">As we all know, 1996 is one of the all-time greatest vintages for Barolo. Silvia described the vintage as a “fresh” year with warm temperatures and light rain at the same time. The grapes were harvested very late on the 10<sup>th</sup> of October – fortunately the light rain and the nice temperature helped preserve both freshness and acidity in the wines. The 1996 Brunate was only the second vintage from this great vineyard. Upon serving, the Barolo Arborina had some brown and more mature notes in the nose, but they quickly disappeared. The Brunate on the other hand came flying right out of the gate – it was super fresh. In the mouth the wines were hedonistic – simply a stunning set of wines. They both posses an incredible structure, loads of dark red fruit and a whipping acidity which helps preserve the incredible balance and elegance of the wines. However, I have to say that on the evening of the tasting, the Brunate seemed to have the upper hand on the Arborina – it seemed to have an extra gear. It appeared more complex with a more defined structure and more precise in the taste. The Arborina on the other hand appeared slightly more elegant than the Brunate. The Brunate was also beautiful and elegant, but underneath there was a ton of raw muscle and power. I kind of got the impression that the Brunate had so much to offer that it had to control itself in order for it to remain in balance. It was like a gymnast at the Olympics – they are so full of muscle that they have to control themselves in order to also get a high score for their artistic impression – i.e. to remain elegant. It was an incredible set of wines. When re-tasted over the following three days, the Brunate still had the edge over the Arborina, but the difference became smaller and smaller every day, and actually the Arborina became more and more tannic. Two days after the tasting I let one of my friends taste the 96 Arborina and he was so impressed. He couldn’t believe that it had been open 55 hours (of course with a cork in it for most of the time).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7lsjuxjzRwxq_0oH5Zz7gtz1G6Tscu0GXC8DB6boPevPoVpdiXWPvUUWGIw1GQw3zD9nMLJonMVcEes7wdwAnns8aYOmrIPSMQKdUYMXKrYGtgGUP_a-bvu9WrBIn4RRWUaf6ADZ7oTk/s1600/DSC04121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7lsjuxjzRwxq_0oH5Zz7gtz1G6Tscu0GXC8DB6boPevPoVpdiXWPvUUWGIw1GQw3zD9nMLJonMVcEes7wdwAnns8aYOmrIPSMQKdUYMXKrYGtgGUP_a-bvu9WrBIn4RRWUaf6ADZ7oTk/s400/DSC04121.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silvia, Damiano and myself</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">The wine served in glass number three was a gift from Silvia. It had a much lighter expression than the 96s. The color was not as dark red as with the 96s. In the mouth it displayed light cherries and an incredibly fresh fruit, but not nearly as dark fruit as the 96s showed. It was not a tannic monster, but showed silky round tannins. It was in perfect balance and to me it was a very feminine, elegant and slightly fragile expression of nebbiolo, which I really enjoyed. Actually this finesse made me think of the elegance of wines from Chambolle Musigny. I knew what wine it was and had it been served blind to me, I would never have guessed the vintage. We let my friends try and guess, and the two guesses were 97 Barolo Brunate and 98 Barolo Brunate. These two guesses are just an indication of how good this wine was. Everyone was quite surprised when they were told that it was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1994 Barolo Arborina</b>. I have never tried this wine before and it was easily the best 1994 Barolo I have ever tried. Generally 1994 is considered an off-vintage, but Silvia told us that it happens to be one of Elio’s favorite vintages. This wine had been macerated 40 hours on the skins and it was the first time the rotary fermenters were used. Thanks a lot to Silvia for giving us the chance to taste this elegant wine. I re-tasted the wine two and three days after the tasting and it remained fresh and elegant.</span></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wthvF2J5uYfKhc05yX2c68sSgx_g6G2xVn12h3jRNrUj3ou3xdLpdHzRVivG8mqkvhoAlRurWzX43rwq8ROSnjwhkHHwGscYaV2DLWSgT88E8LACgs1OzcI_UBcCxr0tat_Yw22-oI8/s1600/DSC04170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wthvF2J5uYfKhc05yX2c68sSgx_g6G2xVn12h3jRNrUj3ou3xdLpdHzRVivG8mqkvhoAlRurWzX43rwq8ROSnjwhkHHwGscYaV2DLWSgT88E8LACgs1OzcI_UBcCxr0tat_Yw22-oI8/s400/DSC04170.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chambolle of La Morra</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">As an intermezzo before the next flight, Martin served us a bottle Champagne, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2004 Agrapart & Fils Extra brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Venus</b>. It was very intense with an explosive flavor profile. It had citrus notes and a lot of minerality. It was an incredible bottle and I really enjoyed it. Thank you Martin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Next up was the flight that I had looked the most forward to serving. It was really the flight of giants. We were served four glasses with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1990 Barolo Arborina</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1990 Vigna Arborina</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1989 Barolo Arborina</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1989 Vigna Arborina</b>. To accompany these wines we were served Danish red deer with polenta and spinach - a lovely combination.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Upon serving, the 90 Barolo appeared fresher than the 89 Barolo – well actually the 89 Barolo was not giving much. But the most interesting observation was the freshness of both of the Vigna Arborinas. They both seemed 5 years younger than the Barolos – on the nose alone. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4Q7kAnhOEyHquiKmSCArJp-LjLvijsBM-Q-40eroqJ3MGr4swZYHd2nmZz8Plx9Hyi_heiCpeq1OyYfjG_qyXFowUtThiXVQDTjp2dpnGIX4AaAXTeAKCthmOsMscZN9_CrPyr6Rm6E/s1600/DSC04165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4Q7kAnhOEyHquiKmSCArJp-LjLvijsBM-Q-40eroqJ3MGr4swZYHd2nmZz8Plx9Hyi_heiCpeq1OyYfjG_qyXFowUtThiXVQDTjp2dpnGIX4AaAXTeAKCthmOsMscZN9_CrPyr6Rm6E/s400/DSC04165.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Silvia told us that 1989 was a great vintage, warm and powerful and with a smaller production than 1990. It was also the first vintage where Elio used only French barriques. The Barolo Arborina 1989 had been aged in 25% new barrquie, whereas the Vigna Arborina had received 100% new oak. 1990 was also a great vintage – very hot and with healthy grapes. Due to the hot weather there was a very early ripening and consequently the harvest had been early. In order to get more acidity and freshness from this warm year, Elio decided to pick the grapes two times, first on the 23<sup>rd</sup> of September and secondly on the 30<sup>th</sup> of September. The wines had been macerated four and a half days on the skins and then straight into barriques. The Vigna Arborina had seen 100% new oak.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtJY8EBJYGenZOEXGKfBS5shqogw_D3fl9ooIYTk73CDUz1-gpZDzccFSuBC2dQp5dfnO_C_jOEcGS3OPI699__s0_2skqRx3fSHImF-Am18hzWDYQCgret033AIQVdzgS8cOhhnS2dY/s1600/DSC04163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtJY8EBJYGenZOEXGKfBS5shqogw_D3fl9ooIYTk73CDUz1-gpZDzccFSuBC2dQp5dfnO_C_jOEcGS3OPI699__s0_2skqRx3fSHImF-Am18hzWDYQCgret033AIQVdzgS8cOhhnS2dY/s400/DSC04163.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">When observing the four wines in the glasses the 90s appeared darker in color and in the nose they were also slightly more perfumed. I have tried both Barolos at other tastings and I have always loved the 1990 Barolo Arborina. In general I have a vintage preference for 89 over 90, but for Altare it has always been the opposite for me. Initially this was no exception. The 1990 Barolo Arborina was a beauty – it was in PERFECT balance – silky and velvety and for me it was at peak. It had dark and sweet cherries, some menthol and a very good acidity, but still with smooth and silky tannins. I absolutely loved this wine. When tasted both 1, 2 and 3 days after the tasting, this wine was still in perfect balance and it was so beautiful. It reminded me somewhat of the 1985, but just with a bit more of everything. The 1989 Barolo Arborina had a completely different start, it was more dull and mature in the nose, but with air it really came alive. It was a more fresh expression of nebbiolo – much more aggressive tannins and with much more acidity present. But it still managed to keep a perfect balance between the red fruit, the tannins and the acidity. To me this wine was also much more youthful and when re-tasted over the following days, it almost got better and better. At least the day after it was much better. These two wines tested my Altare preference for 90 over 89. The 1990 Barolo Arborina was perfect now, whereas I got the impression that the 89 Barolo Arborina still didn’t show its full potential – which is incredible to say about a wine which is more than 20 years old. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Well, returning to the Vigna Arborinas, the story was in a way similar. The 89 was very fresh and youthful and although the 90 was also fresh, it had a more sweet and dark expression. Actually judged on the nose alone, probably the 89 Vigna Arborina was the best of the entire flight. However, in the mouth I didn’t find the same balance in the wines as I did with the Barolos. Although they appeared younger and fresher in the fruit, it seemed that this freshness had come at a high price, they had sacrificed part of their balance. Also they had dryness in the aftertaste that I didn’t find in the Barolos and it through me off a bit on these two wines. I found that in particular the 89 Vigna Arborina was showing off a bit too much – a bit like a person on steroids who looks perfectly fit and who can lift really heavy weights in the gym, but in reality he cannot use the muscles for anything than showing off in the gym and on the beach. So to me – although these two wines were impressive on the first impression they gave – they didn’t have the backbone and the balance of their two Barolo brothers. When I re-tasted these two wines I had the same impression and I still found the dryness at the end, which I didn’t like that much. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Anyway this flight was really spectacular and it was indeed a hedonistic flight. I hope that I one day get the chance to taste these wines side by side again. As a side comment I can tell that during this flight Silvia called her father and I had the privilege to talk to him. I have met Elio a couple of times before and I have always seen him as a very humble yet very passionate person. During our brief talk he talked passionately about the wines and he humbly thanked me for organizing this tasting. It was a great honor for me to talk to this living legend. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">The next flight also consisted of four different wines and it was a mix of three different vintages. First up were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1988 Barolo Arborina</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1988 Vigna Arborina</b> and then came <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1986 Barolo Arborina</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1985 Barolo Arborina</b>. The wines were served along a small selection of nice cheeses. </span></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_GJ4jOa7e0e49L1dT-QyXHpckr6PIiv1_lGw2qD4tCCy4fnm9WVV4xHTTZuU5s8i6s45qUbuJisb0OZnRJ-ebQuASVgq3Be6iZ71Dt0sS9gt8-cExMDTWcXzacfHialMjCKDbjYExVc/s1600/DSC04162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_GJ4jOa7e0e49L1dT-QyXHpckr6PIiv1_lGw2qD4tCCy4fnm9WVV4xHTTZuU5s8i6s45qUbuJisb0OZnRJ-ebQuASVgq3Be6iZ71Dt0sS9gt8-cExMDTWcXzacfHialMjCKDbjYExVc/s400/DSC04162.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1988 Barolo Arborina - the last to see botti</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">According to Silvia 1988 was considered a good vintage. She also told us that the 1988 Barolo Arborina was the last to be aged both in her grandfather’s botti and in barrique. Also this was the first “crazy harvest” where Elio chose to macerate only four days on the skins. The 1988 Vigna Arborina was aged in 100% new barrique. Unfortunately the 1988 Barolo Arborina was not showing well. There was fault on the nose, which was a shame because underneath there was still a fresh wine. We had a back-up of this wine, but unfortunately the back-up had exactly the same fault, just a little worse. The 1988 Vigna Arborina was on the other hand shining. To me it was the best of the Vigna Arborinas. It was still showing a very fresh fruit combined with a quite distinct acidity. Tannins were relatively round and smooth, and on this wine, I didn’t find the dryness I had found in the other Vigna/Langhe Arborinas. It was not a hugely structured wine, nonetheless it was a very well balanced wine, and it showed very well the following two evenings – in fact it was very beautiful on Sunday evening (two days after the tasting). Very impressive! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Next up was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1986 Barolo Arborina</b>. According to Silvia (and Elio) 1986 was an extremely good year, but it was affected by a big hail storm in May. This hail storm affected the quantity of grapes, but it did not affect the quality of the remaining grapes. In 1986 Elio, was still experimenting with barrique and the Barolo Arborina was aged half in his father’s botti and half in barrique. It was macerated 6 days on the skins. To me the wine showed really well. It had dark cherries in the nose along with a distinct scent of menthol. In the mouth it displayed licorice, dark sweet fruit and menthol, the tannins were very firm and it was a quite powerful wine. Again I was impressed by the balance of the wine. It was my first time tasting this vintage from Elio Altare and I was very impressed. A true treat to try all these older gems.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6S3k6cfRf-CbsY0JWNcar1VF9INe5AJb2LlyFnYpBKZxUxHMonggHsSjJNCzs0V84fN8vyP8ouWeRBBnRdcjikHQ6LhWkXFsEIH8NKVRovBVyptObG8dPCAG6sYg2i1GQ0Phb_U0x_Q/s1600/DSC04161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6S3k6cfRf-CbsY0JWNcar1VF9INe5AJb2LlyFnYpBKZxUxHMonggHsSjJNCzs0V84fN8vyP8ouWeRBBnRdcjikHQ6LhWkXFsEIH8NKVRovBVyptObG8dPCAG6sYg2i1GQ0Phb_U0x_Q/s400/DSC04161.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">On the night of the tasting, the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1985 Barolo Arborina</b> unfortunately didn’t really show that well. In fact we kind of agreed that the wine was not perfectly stored and that it was a bit over the hill. So when I shared the leftovers with Stefan the following day, we were both very surprised to find an absolutely beautiful wine in the bottle. It was a bit like the fairy tale of the ugly duckling. Overnight it had transformed itself into a beautifully and superbly balanced wine. On the evening Silvia gave us some insights on the making of the wine, it was the last Barolo Arborina to be aged 100% in her grandfather’s old 30 – 40 hl botti. Furthemore, the wine had been macerated 12 days on the skins which is a lot longer than the subsequent vintages. She also told us that 1985 – along with 1982 and 1989 –was one of the best vintages of the 80’s. To me this wine was an “underplayed” version of the 1990 Barolo Arborina. It was not nearly as powerful as the 90, but it had some of the same silkiness and velvet touch it, and I truly adored its balance and harmony. Tannins were soft and sweet and it almost felt as if the wine was caressing my mouth - so sexy and elegant. It was definitely a fully mature wine but it still had a wonderful sweet and slightly warm fruit that I enjoyed. What a magical transformation this wine went through.</span></div> <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMjGRNbfIVeP_frZaFWdBrAVildvG6GKg-NMp-YZ5xIrB7oseCwxnGMDCelenhGeYoWztYeEfI0E89TiNPh6Bgi0cfgdanyQTRmwNzI_tQnRwsB4Nl5ItMKVvV2ONVO-7ow5qz6MPC7E/s1600/DSC04111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMjGRNbfIVeP_frZaFWdBrAVildvG6GKg-NMp-YZ5xIrB7oseCwxnGMDCelenhGeYoWztYeEfI0E89TiNPh6Bgi0cfgdanyQTRmwNzI_tQnRwsB4Nl5ItMKVvV2ONVO-7ow5qz6MPC7E/s400/DSC04111.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silvia & Massimo</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">Before Damiano served us the dessert, we were served a final wine. It was also a donation from our guest of honor, Silvia. The wine was served blind and we quickly found out that we had jumped a bit back in time from the 1985. In the glass it was orange red with a slightly “milky” look. In the nose it was so complex with sweet fruit, menthol, rust and blood. In the mouth it had a relatively strong acidity but tannins were certainly still present. It was a real beauty – fully mature and a real treat to drink. We couldn’t guess which wine it was, but Silvia revealed to us that it was a wine made by her grandfather Giovanni. It was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1971 Barolo Riserva Speciale</b>. On the label it was engraved <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Barolo Riserva Speciale per Carol Marie Antoinette”</b>. What a fantastic way to end this incredible evening. I re-tasted it the following day with Stefan. It had lost some of its fruit, but it was still holding up nicely. Tannins were still present and it was still quite acidic. An absolute over achievement compared to what Silvia had expected. As she wasn’t sure about the storage of the wines of her grandfather, she didn’t have high hopes, but luckily she was wrong.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8XZoCXyxMVjwof2kwDNl761vxBtb9fqAQwIKCS2SbuZXqfrP51G_R8MMcsvMLHSDmVLxtVR6_ZY2hK5fucwkzdElDkRQtfURHIFFJn13rniQ6aSsvEA-RMhP7ZWWYBsfRSs53ghLrfM/s1600/DSC04135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8XZoCXyxMVjwof2kwDNl761vxBtb9fqAQwIKCS2SbuZXqfrP51G_R8MMcsvMLHSDmVLxtVR6_ZY2hK5fucwkzdElDkRQtfURHIFFJn13rniQ6aSsvEA-RMhP7ZWWYBsfRSs53ghLrfM/s400/DSC04135.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUYQRzTEWliQjZLaRkieNsqEKT8SiY3sjRtKEWjKCAFvGaQ72mXLLGkK5G63uS56VhoOXEZavGJUcqOn9_P72X6gtTY5wfC-Otd8hR8_WWkkipb6397yOh-2wBpxcxODDHMSfqKbad62w/s1600/DSC04176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUYQRzTEWliQjZLaRkieNsqEKT8SiY3sjRtKEWjKCAFvGaQ72mXLLGkK5G63uS56VhoOXEZavGJUcqOn9_P72X6gtTY5wfC-Otd8hR8_WWkkipb6397yOh-2wBpxcxODDHMSfqKbad62w/s400/DSC04176.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the strange insription</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-themecolor: text1;">This concluded the most special tasting I have ever been at. It was so special to be able to enjoy all these wines with my best friends and on top of that to have the pleasure of having Silvia and her boyfriend Massimo with us. Damiano did a spectacular job in the kitchen as well as with the wines. But most importantly Elio and Silvia had done an amazing job with the wines. Generally speaking, I found the Barolo Brunate to be slightly more complex than the Barolo Arborina, but both wines had this amazing balance and elegance, which to me is the trademark of the wines from Altare. The Vigna Arborinas didn’t posses this same balance and elegance, and they didn’t have the same structure as the Barolos, however they had on the other hand managed to preserve more freshness of the fruit. In general I was so impressed with all of the wines and I feel so privileged to have tried all these legendary monuments from Langhe. </span></div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVZf9kfGvKIUrySs6wF9kDoN_1ZuDlxFa4G-zC9opfe3QuXAEdbCtl0Bb336amxC9wW_x4qKg6eWi329UMoPGpWyjvZj4uI-FE3SIJnYQ7iesyvfHERLQalz6y_xc1zaEzzyYeki3wpY/s1600/DSC04139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVZf9kfGvKIUrySs6wF9kDoN_1ZuDlxFa4G-zC9opfe3QuXAEdbCtl0Bb336amxC9wW_x4qKg6eWi329UMoPGpWyjvZj4uI-FE3SIJnYQ7iesyvfHERLQalz6y_xc1zaEzzyYeki3wpY/s400/DSC04139.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Myself & Silvia</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Nicolai Soegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02578459149899675433noreply@blogger.com4