WTN: SOBER does mostly Piedmont (lots of F Rinaldi)
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:17 pm
Cathleen hosted SOBER last night. Mark gave me a ride, so not as much spitting as the norm, yippee. As we arrived we were greeted with a glass of Champagne. Full, toasty, and long, with citrus and lemon notes, a delicious nutty mature Champagne. I really loved this, though I said not the style I gravitate towards, to discover it was in fact the 1989 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (I usually hold Comtes up as my ideal). So much for my blind tasting Champagne! A-/A
On to the blind reds. There were great salami and cheeses on table. Steve and Catheen put on an amazing dinner- pea soup, what might be the greatest mushroom risotto I’ve ever had, and a lamb stew.
Flight #1 We got Piedmont quickly, but flailed at vintage
Wine #1- Black cherry fruit, pepper, tar. This had many hours of air, I thought it older than it was but very nice. 1999 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo B+
Wine #2- quite volatile nose, red fruit, smoke. I liked more on palate than nose. 1999 Giacosa “Asili” Barbaresco B/B+
Flight #2 - ok, clearly Cathleen has a theme in mind, these are Piedmont too
Wine #1- Cherry fruit, ripe, straightforward. 1990 Borgogno Barolo B+
Wine #2- Fleshy, ripe, ready. 1990 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo B
Wine #3 - Exotic nose, full, smoked meats and good fruit. Excellent. 1990 G. Mascarello “Monprivato” Barolo A-
Flight #3 - ok, no more need to guess region!
Wine #1- Elegant, fresh, nice balance, classic, my favorite of flight by a good margin.
1982 F. Rinaldi Barolo A-
Wine #2 - hugely volatile nose (someone said “seashore” , remind me not to go to beach with them, then clarified as “low tide”). Much better on palate (low bar) with cherries and roses.. 1979 F. Rinaldi Barbaresco B-
Wine #3 - a bit lifted but not as volatile as #2. Full, red fruits, tar. I like better than neighbors. 1978 F. Rinaldi Barolo B+/B
Wine #4 - some thought corked, I got no TCA, but agreed with Cathleen a weird lactic wine. Barolo with a buttermilk nose? 1974 F. Rinaldi Barolo C-
Flight #4
Wine #1- Lovely, balanced, complex. 1971 F. Rinaldi Barbaresco Cavalieri del Tarfufo e dei Vini di Alba A-
Wine #2- all I wrote was tired B-/B 1970 F Rinaldi Barolo
Wine #3 Maderized, Mark said problem was it had a long finish, and he could still taste it after 45 seconds. Still, I thought there was something interesting under the oxidation. 1970 Rinaldi Barolo Cavalieri del Tarfufo e dei Vini di Alba C+
Flight #5 wowsa. I guessed 64 and 67, just because they were great and that would be progression
Wine #1- red fruit and rose petals, cool and elegant. 1964 F Rinaldi Barolo A-/A
Wine #2 Umami! Red fruit and soy, mushrooms and tar, long, lovely. 1961 F Rinaldi Barolo A-
There were a pair of dessert wines. First was loaded with nuts and spice, I guessed Rivesaltes only because I knew of Cathleen’s enthusiasm, Mark got vintage. 1978 Cazes Rivesaltes, A-/B+. I thought the other was actually Madeira, nope, 1986 Delaforce Colheita. B
A mix of hits (home runs) and misses, which happens with older bottles. Overall a fine night with lots of interesting stuff.
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.
On to the blind reds. There were great salami and cheeses on table. Steve and Catheen put on an amazing dinner- pea soup, what might be the greatest mushroom risotto I’ve ever had, and a lamb stew.
Flight #1 We got Piedmont quickly, but flailed at vintage
Wine #1- Black cherry fruit, pepper, tar. This had many hours of air, I thought it older than it was but very nice. 1999 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo B+
Wine #2- quite volatile nose, red fruit, smoke. I liked more on palate than nose. 1999 Giacosa “Asili” Barbaresco B/B+
Flight #2 - ok, clearly Cathleen has a theme in mind, these are Piedmont too
Wine #1- Cherry fruit, ripe, straightforward. 1990 Borgogno Barolo B+
Wine #2- Fleshy, ripe, ready. 1990 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo B
Wine #3 - Exotic nose, full, smoked meats and good fruit. Excellent. 1990 G. Mascarello “Monprivato” Barolo A-
Flight #3 - ok, no more need to guess region!
Wine #1- Elegant, fresh, nice balance, classic, my favorite of flight by a good margin.
1982 F. Rinaldi Barolo A-
Wine #2 - hugely volatile nose (someone said “seashore” , remind me not to go to beach with them, then clarified as “low tide”). Much better on palate (low bar) with cherries and roses.. 1979 F. Rinaldi Barbaresco B-
Wine #3 - a bit lifted but not as volatile as #2. Full, red fruits, tar. I like better than neighbors. 1978 F. Rinaldi Barolo B+/B
Wine #4 - some thought corked, I got no TCA, but agreed with Cathleen a weird lactic wine. Barolo with a buttermilk nose? 1974 F. Rinaldi Barolo C-
Flight #4
Wine #1- Lovely, balanced, complex. 1971 F. Rinaldi Barbaresco Cavalieri del Tarfufo e dei Vini di Alba A-
Wine #2- all I wrote was tired B-/B 1970 F Rinaldi Barolo
Wine #3 Maderized, Mark said problem was it had a long finish, and he could still taste it after 45 seconds. Still, I thought there was something interesting under the oxidation. 1970 Rinaldi Barolo Cavalieri del Tarfufo e dei Vini di Alba C+
Flight #5 wowsa. I guessed 64 and 67, just because they were great and that would be progression
Wine #1- red fruit and rose petals, cool and elegant. 1964 F Rinaldi Barolo A-/A
Wine #2 Umami! Red fruit and soy, mushrooms and tar, long, lovely. 1961 F Rinaldi Barolo A-
There were a pair of dessert wines. First was loaded with nuts and spice, I guessed Rivesaltes only because I knew of Cathleen’s enthusiasm, Mark got vintage. 1978 Cazes Rivesaltes, A-/B+. I thought the other was actually Madeira, nope, 1986 Delaforce Colheita. B
A mix of hits (home runs) and misses, which happens with older bottles. Overall a fine night with lots of interesting stuff.
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.