Thursday Evening Piedmont

Rahsaan

Rahsaan
Thursday evening Piedmont tasting at the Wine Bottega was a stop well-spent.

They opened quite an array of wines and anyone would have loved to spend hours with each bottle. I guess that was part of their strategy. To entice you into purchasing! : )

Lots of goodies, too much for concentration (given the crowd!), but I was particularly struck by the 2008 Brovia Roero Arneis Castiglione Falletto which had firm density plus lovely lively tangy body and snap. Something I would definitely purchase if I could only get myself to stop drinking riesling!

The 2007 Tavijn Grignolino dAsti was an excellent rendition of this wine with a nice amount of fruit on the bones before the raspy structure took over. This is what I like for Thanksgiving!

The 2007 Bartolo Mascarello Dolcetto dAlba was predictably gorgeous category-redefining wine. So balanced, so serious, so fun.

I wont pretend to have any accurate reads on the Barolo and Barbaresco wines, too short of a snapshot. But I will say that the 2004 Poderi Colla Barbaresco Roncaglie was showing extremely well to me. So easy so focused so pretty. The 1997 Oddero Barbaresco also impressed me because I dont know much about the vintage but behind the sweet fruit was a pretty firm and regal structure. Nice architecture. The 2004 Ca Rome Barbaresco Maria di Brun did not suck either, so fragrant. Finally, my mouth was comforted by the 1993 Roagna Barolo La Rocca e La Pira Riserva but it was the closest to maturity of the nebbiolo wines so it wasnt a fair fight.

And there was more. Not bad.
 
A special thanks to all those who made it out last night. The tasting was a big success and i was happy to see that some local disorderlies made it in. There were a lot of wines (19 total) and they were all showing really nicely. Highlghts included Ferrando sparkling erbaluce, 'tavijn Grignolino (brilliant), Cascina Roera Vigna Piva(personal favorite), and 1993 Roagna La Rocca e La Pira Ris. which was singing buy then end of the night. Thanks again for coming, and to those who missed, don't worry next month is the Tuscany Abbondanza!

Rahasaan: Thanks for stoping by on the earlier side. It was good to see you again. Also about the Poulsard, we do have maybe one or 2 bottles of that left in house, let me know if you want me to keep them on the side for you.

Also the "M" stands for "mysteriously good".

ciao ciao
 
Sorry I missed you, Rahsaan- they allowed an old Bottega vet (and current, er, crewman of one of the other ships on the proverbial rising tide) to sneak in a little later in the eve.

Great lineup. I'm right in line w/ Matteo- the Cascina Roera Vigna Piva was lovely enough I grabbed one immediately after tasting it to make sure the supply wouldn't dry up while I tasted through the rest.

Other standouts were the Ferrando bubbly, the 'Tavijn Grignolino (Nadia's wines are as beautiful as she is), the Maria-Theresa's Dolcetto (duh), and the Roagna '93 Rocca e Pira (double duh).

And putting the Mauro Chinato at the end was just mean, dude. Woke everybody up enough to spend some money rather than just walk out in a daze... Seriously, good show.
 
The Ruche, when its on, has the most hauntingly beautiful nose.
I haven't tried the Grignolino yet, must fix that.
Never tried it, but I like the idea of sparkling Erbaluce, too.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
'TavijnThe Ruche, when its on, has the most hauntingly beautiful nose.
I haven't tried the Grignolino yet, must fix that.
Never tried it, but I like the idea of sparkling Erbaluce, too.

The Ruche is my fave, too, though I didn't want to mention it because: 1. I don't The Bottega to take it all, and 2. It, along with Occhipinti's Frappato does things to me I really shouldn't be discussing in a public forum.
 
I've had about a 50% awesome/horribly flawed experience with the Ruch, but to be fair the retailer who sold it to me (not either of you) did promise almost exactly that.
 
originally posted by Matteo Mollo: Also the "M" stands for "mysteriously good".

ciao ciao

According to the googling I did when I got home, the 'M' cuvee is for vines that are only in the hamlet of Montigny (and argilo-calcaire) whereas the regular Poulsard has vines from a broader area (and more clay). Apparently he only did this cuvee M in 2003 and 2005. From what I can tell it's probably not the best time to open this wine, but glad to hear that you have more, I'll think about whether I want/need/should buy them!

But the 07 Lapierre I bought last night was gorgeous. I know, a shame that I walked out of the Piedmont tasting with all French wines. But routines are tough to break!
 
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
The cuvee M is a tricky one. Of all the Puffeney wines i've drunk the M has the worst tendency to be fucked up when opened.

Any recent experience with the 2005 M?
 
Cascina Roera Vigna Piva(personal favorite)...the Cascina Roera Vigna Piva was lovely enough I grabbed one immediately after tasting it...

I guess I'll have to come back to this at another time. My quick tasting gave me the impression of something pruney, spicy, and not very focused. But, I'm sure it was an unreliable read.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
The cuvee M is a tricky one. Of all the Puffeney wines i've drunk the M has the worst tendency to be fucked up when opened.

Any recent experience with the 2005 M?
Yes, about two months ago. Some bottles showed well, others were reduced, and still others were way over the hill. For the money I would stick to the regular cuvee, or better yet his trousseaus.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton: Check Brooklyn Guy's blog.

originally posted by Cory Cartwright: Some bottles showed well, others were reduced, and still others were way over the hill.

These sound like quite the ringing endorsements! That tasting on the Brooklyn Guy's blog sounds like fun, although the notes for the 'M' were quite harsh.

So does anyone know if Puffeney considers this 'M' experiment to be a success/failure? Has he in fact not done one since 2005?
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:

Check Brooklyn Guy's blog.

Does he ever post here? From his tastes, it'd seem like he'd be a natural. Or is this an inside joke I'm not party to? (No shortage of them)

Mark Lipton
 
Small sample size, but Puffeney's 2006 trousseau was a lovely relief after a couple of unhappy experiences with his 2005 reds.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:

Check Brooklyn Guy's blog.

Does he ever post here? From his tastes, it'd seem like he'd be a natural. Or is this an inside joke I'm not party to? (No shortage of them)

Mark Lipton

I do not believe he posts or lurks here at this time.
 
originally posted by slaton:
Small sample size, but Puffeney's 2006 trousseau was a lovely relief after a couple of unhappy experiences with his 2005 reds.

I can double the sample size. I enjoyed one of these last sunday evening. Lovely indeed.
 
Thursday Evening Piedmont turns into a Jura Trousseau discussion.

I opened the 2006 Berangeres last week and the first glass was very good, and then the wine seemed to tighten up considerably. My wife didn't agree and polished off the rest of the bottle.
 
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