CWD: The new wave

V

VLM

VLM
In keeping with the recent habit of having Sunday dinner with my brother and his family. This time we cooked a Piedmontese dish, pork braised in milk.

1993 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra
A ruby red robe with only a hint of rust in it. This showed a really beautiful, heady, and pure nose of dried black cherry. There were hints of earth and leather as it went onto the palate. Not super expressive in the mouth, but well resolved and rounded. There was enough grip there for the dish, but nothing overwhelming. It could probably go a few more years, and maybe even improve. It seems like Ive had my best luck with modernists in little years like 1993 and 1995. In comparison to my last bottle of 1993 Giacosa Falleto, the color was much less advanced and the fruit was more pure, but the overall wine less complex and seemed a bit hotter. I still dont know what to make of Clerico. I sometimes think I should sell what I have, but I also think that the fruit quality he is producing is so good that maybe the wines deserve a chance to become what they will. Im just not sure that I will love what they become.
 
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
was your pork dish out of matt kramer's piemonte book?
Click to expand...

Not exactly, but similar. Maybe my favorite cookbook ever. Certainly, the only one I cook from with any regularity.
 
I had the '90 Clerico Ciabot Mentin Ginestra a couple months ago. It was good. Not stupendous, but good. Definitely still showed more fruit than tertiary notes. I don't recall having any problem with the oak level.

It was nice.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
I had the '90 Clerico Ciabot Mentin Ginestra a couple months ago. It was good. Not stupendous, but good. Definitely still showed more fruit than tertiary notes. I don't recall having any problem with the oak level.

It was nice.
Click to expand...

My last bottle was freakily unevolved. Like I said, I'm not sure what to make of it and I don't think that anyone really knows yet how these will age out.
 
I had the 1998 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra a short while ago, a wine apparently made at the peak of the new oak craze in Piedmont (for those following that wave at least). The oak was certainly evident, so for those with very little tolerance/liking for that effect, probably still a problem. But perhaps similarly to the 1993, the fruit was so good that the wine held up, and even showed extremely well--great overall balance, with the oak doing what it is supposed to do. In fact for me, one of the best wines of the year.

That said, with such an oak treatment, all it takes is a slight underperformance by the fruit and the wine will not show well. Teetering on the edge...
 
I've also liked the 93 Clericos, both the Ginestra and the Pajana and had some difficulties characterizing the wines. The 2004 Ginestra is an absolutely massive wine that I tasted at the winery as a barrel sample in 2006. I think it is a wine for our children's children.

Clerico himself is a very likable character. The day we visited our group was joined by a couple of private clients. We sat in his tasting room when Domenico Clerico walked in wearing orange coveralls from working on his tractor. He proceeded to hold forth on several eternal truths - wine, women and music. This was all in Italian and I had a tough time keeping up but it was a wonderful visit.
 
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
I had the '90 Clerico Ciabot Mentin Ginestra a couple months ago. It was good. Not stupendous, but good. Definitely still showed more fruit than tertiary notes. I don't recall having any problem with the oak level.

It was nice.
Click to expand...

My last bottle was freakily unevolved. Like I said, I'm not sure what to make of it and I don't think that anyone really knows yet how these will age out.
Click to expand...

Damn, you guys are freeekin PSYCHIC. I just opened a 90 Pajana, and feel the oak influence was a little much and the vibrant fruit from years ago is fading. I'll post on this when I get the next batch going. Still, a decent wine, but people like Zul would be shaking their heads...'the hor-ror, the hor-ror'...
 
I'm sure there will be some new wave stuff that will turn out to be just fine, maybe better.

My primary problem with the wines was the paradox they they presented. Much shorter macerations and lots of new oak. The idea was big scores and make the wines more appealing when young. But young they taste too oaky to enjoy. And as far as old goes, do they have the fruit and structure to age well once the oak finally recedes? I have my doubts. Since you don't know the answer to that question for two decades, why bet on the new wave, I say.

But then many of the new wave excesses have already been ditched. Unused rotofermenters. Different critics to sell the wines. Etc.

It will be interesting to taste some of those new wave mid-90s wines over the next decade to see how they turn out.

It's funny, the new wave B&Bs were once the issue that ignited the most intense opinions online, and now it seems like a footnote from a slightly passed time.
 
Actually, I've had a number of nice 97's in the last month or two, including Marengo's and Ceretto's brunate. Wines to enjoy while more structured vintages mature.

I've not tried any Clerico's from 97 or 98 but it might be worth a flyer to see how they are progressing.
 
originally posted by Bwood:


It's funny, the new wave B&Bs were once the issue that ignited the most intense opinions online, and now it seems like a footnote from a slightly passed time.
Click to expand...

Well, back then it was starting to look like all the producers might go that route which ignited a lot of concern. Fortunately many people have pulled back.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
'97 Percristina was also a little underwhelming.

But a lot of '97s are underwhelming.
Click to expand...

I liked the '97 Marcarini Brunate a lot. Less so the La Serra. The Monprivato was nice too, if a bit simple.
 
originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
'97 Percristina was also a little underwhelming.

But a lot of '97s are underwhelming.
Click to expand...

I liked the '97 Marcarini Brunate a lot. Less so the La Serra. The Monprivato was nice too, if a bit simple.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I liked that '97 Brunate as well. I think I already drank all of my bottles.

I think if you believe that the new wavier wines of the 90s will end up being too short on structure, that you'd generally guess their '96s might be better than their '97s.
 
The 2000 Clerico Ciabot Mentin Ginestra is a mess. Closed to the nose. Not oaky. All heat and tannins. Decent fruit though under it all. Nice acids too. It's all just so separated though, it's hard to imagine the exact date it may come together before it all falls to shit.
 
originally posted by Scott Kraft:
And Happy Fucking New Year, y'all! Come and visit again next year!
Click to expand...

I'm just happy to see someone conjugate y'all correctly.

And a New Yorker at that. Who would have thunk it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top