WTN: Mostly Piedmont, with a Tuscan and a Loire

Fred's turn to host our non-serious local group, he chose Piedmont as the theme. Roger gave me a ride over (he only stayed a bit for food, not drinking due to recent surgery), Fred had made white bean soup, plus had an assortment of cheeses, sausages,and tapenades out. While we waited for the rest of the European contingent to arrive, we sampled a couple of whites, one on theme, one off:

2005 Giovanni Almondo "Bricco delle Ciliegie" Roero Arneis
Medium acids, round citrus and apple fruit, sweet edge good finish, but showing a bit of age. B

2007 Marca "Le Blanc" (VDP Cotes Catalanes)
Lemon pledge, somewhat short, not very appealing C+

OK, on to the blind Piedmont reds:

Wine #1 - not blind for me, my offering. Rich red fruits, smoke, leather. Decanted a few hours, but still showing some tannins. Still young but with a sense of elegance. 1999 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco B+/A-

Wine #2- low acids, quite tannic, plummy fruit. I guessed Dolcetto, but was quite wrong. Showed better/more Nebbiolo-ish later (of course, then I knew what it was) 2005 Adriano Marco e Vittorio " Basarin" Barbaresco. B

Wine #3 - bretty funk, moderate acids, some tannins, dark fruit. I initially thought Barbera but converted to Dolcetto. 2007 Flovio Roddolo Dolcetto d'Alba. B

Wine #4 - some obvious vanillin oak notes, firm tannins, medium bodied, spice, ripe red fruits. I'm pretty confident when I say modern Nebbiolo, I'm told no, but it turns out it's the 2001 Stefano Farina Barolo (hey, the guy's Belgian, he didn't know Barolo is Nebbiolo). B+

Wine #5 -dark color, high acids, violents, red fruit, good length, I go back and forth between Barbera and Nebbiolo before going for later. Way off, it's the 2006 Cavalotto Langhe Freisa. B+

Wine #6 - no chance to guess on this one, once he says it's a co-op wine I'm pretty sure. Red fruit, moderate tannins (in decanter for a while), smoky/tarry notes. Needs time but pretty good. 2005 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco B++

Wine #7 - Alex revealed early, he hadn't had time to go to store and brought the only Italian wine he owned, the 1998 Pacenti Rosso di Montalcino, showing some age, but better than I'd expect for a 11 year old RdM. Cherries, dried cherries, earth, and a bit of decay. B

Out of blind wines, we sampled a couple of Fred's samples (opened that day). My favorite was the 2007 Guillot Broux Macon-Cruzilles - good acids, herby, nice length. B/B+

Plus there was the 1990 Prince Poniatowski “Aigle Blanc- Vin de Tris” Vouvray .  Young, waxy, honied apples, sweet. Good length, but like most PP wines I've had more correct than exciting or complex. B/B+

About 12:45 I took the looooonnnggg walk home, fun night

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.  

Wine #4 - some obvious vanillin oak notes, firm tannins, medium bodied, spice, ripe red fruits. I'm pretty confident when I say modern Nebbiolo, I'm told no, but it turns out it's the 2001 Stefano Farina Barolo (hey, the guy's Belgian, he didn't know Barolo is Nebbiolo). B+
 

I like the wine choices by your non-serious wine group. Most are pretty serious by my standards.
Anyway, I just had this wine last week. My last bottle from a 6-pack purchase about 3 years ago. I'm just glad that my last notes are validated by yours.

2001 Stefano Farina Barolo
Tannic, ripe, medium bodied, cherries, wish I had more. B+

Thanks for the notes - at the end of the day, not that many 100% nebbiolos. Glad you enjoyed the basic 05 Produttori; they are one of the visits we have lined up for the first week of November.

I wrote to Bruno Giacosa in mid September asking for an appointment, offering first digs at every morning or afternoon of the entire week, but they said "unfortunately we will not be able to receive you because of previous committments." That seemed rather disingenuous and annoyed me more than if they had simply said, like many in Burgundy, and others in Piedmont like Gaja and Cappellano, "sorry, we don't receive visitors."

Ramon,
turns out I have a 3 of the Farina (I may have split a 6 with Mark during that Zachys sale). Nice wine for the price.

I wrote to Bruno Giacosa in mid September asking for an appointment, offering first digs at every morning or afternoon of the entire week, but they said "unfortunately we will not be able to receive you because of previous committments." That seemed rather disingenuous and annoyed me more than if they had simply said, like many in Burgundy, and others in Piedmont like Gaja and Cappellano, "sorry, we don't receive visitors."

Oswaldo,
my impression is that Giacosa receives visitors, but intentionally limits it to very small number of appointments (when Bruno's health was better they did a few more). Which is what Gaja and Cappellano do also (at least till recently -unsure after Teobaldo's death if things changed). So why would you consider Giacosa disingenuous-seems to me the more honest response?

So why would you consider Giacosa disingenuous-seems to me the more honest response?

Well, given the amount of time involved, it seems too unlikely to be true. If they had said "sorry, but we only receive trade visitors" or "sorry, we only receive visitors sent by our importers," then fine. But previous appointments, all day and every day, two months before?

Don't mind me, it's just transference. I believe that, with a tiny bit of effort, you can always find a way to say no that is both truthful and tactful, so it angers me, just a little, when when "the world" doesn't do the same to me. I know it's an unrealistic expectation, but I have it.