'94 Cappellano, '05 Dnnhoff

B

Bill Buitenhuys

Bill Buitenhuys
1994 Cappellano Barolo Otin Fiorin Gabutti (Piedmont)Coloring is showing a bit of bricking. Really nice aromas of orange peel, dried cherries and anise are a good sign to start. The initial flavor is all dark cherry and dried mint then there is a huge rush of acidity that just swamps all else. The mid-palate is pretty thin but the cherry/menthol returns with a slight bit of very fined grain tannins for a lengthy finish. It takes a good 6 hours for this wine to balance and fill out. The aroma and flavors get ramped up more, the acidity seems more tame, and the mid-palate fills out. Very enjoyable, well priced barolo, that has lots of life in it.

2005 Dnnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Sptlese (Nahe) Very shy and petrol dominated for the first hour or so then showed graceful flavors of Asian pear, Granny Smith apple, and yellow peach with a mineral core of crystalline purity. The finish is lithe and persistent. This is just so primary and slightly round at this very young age but very enjoyable.
 
Appreciate the data point on the Cappellano, as I've been through a couple of bottles of this recently.

One was out of sorts and rather dilute, as you might expect from the vintage.

The other was more like your bottle - lovely, and in a great place for drinking now, though it needed a couple of hours to open up. I still have a few of these, so I'm hoping the rest of my bottles are like this one.

1994 Cappellano Barolo Otin Fiorin (Gabutti)
This showed funky, soft powdery red fruits, some old wood and spice, but also a little weird aromatically. Some complained about VA; I thought it was perhaps lifted but within reasonable limits. Palate is rather dilute and imprecise, with watery red fruits and some fuzzy tannin. Held okay overnight with at best marginal improvement.

1994 Cappellano Barolo Otin Fiorin (Gabutti)
Upon opening there's a whiff of Worcestershire sauce, but otherwise mute. This bottle was decanted two hours, and drank over another two to three hours.
Initially tight, by the 3rd hour this had morphed from interesting to remarkable. The nose was lovely, if not stunning, with strawberry, moist decaying leaves, and powdered cocoa. But this really shines in the mouth, showing a striking balance between full-bodied richness and water-like subtle weight, with layers of sweet strawberry fruit, black tea, earth, mushroom, and almost mouthfilling concentration. Still a few years from peak, this has some unresolved tannin but is very enjoyable now with decanting. The wine just kept improving with air and never tightened up. A surprisingly wonderful bottle, from a reportedly disastrous Barolo vintage where rain spoiled the harvest.
 
Thanks for the note, buddy. I'm coming to the conclusion that Cappellano, even in good vintages, is surprisingly accessible young.
 
originally posted by Joe_Perry:
Thanks for the note, buddy. I'm coming to the conclusion that Cappellano, even in good vintages, is surprisingly accessible young.
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I haven't had many but that's good to hear. Any data points in particular? I have a few '01's but haven't considered opening them yet.
 
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