Levi Dalton
Levi Dalton
Awhile back, Mannie Berk and some of his tasting group assembled a side by side comparison of the 1996 and 1997 vintages from some notable Barolo producers. They were also nice enough to invite me to attend.
All the 1996s were decanted just prior to service. All the 1997s were poured from bottle, and were not decanted. The wines were served side by side in pairs. A * means I particularly enjoyed the wine.
1997 Elvio Cogno "Ravera" Barolo
Drinking well, if a little flat. A touch of tar, with also menthol and tobacco accents. Very drinkable.
1996 Elvio Cogno "Ravera" Barolo
Darker and sterner than the 1997, but that same tar note is present. Tobacco as well, but more in a smokey way. The sweetness has started to come out with the fruit, a bit.
1997 Massolino "Vigna Rionda Riserva" Barolo
Possibly a touch off- reticent and angular. Some leathery character.
1996 Massolino "Vigna Rionda Riserva" Barolo
Bing cherry nose. This wine is still a bit in its shell, but seems promising. Darker color than you might expect.
1997 Vietti "Villero Riserva" Barolo
Showing the open knit character of Villero. Has a bit of wood showing today (the Riserva aging regime does call for more time in wood).
1996 Vietti "Villero Riserva" Barolo
Better integrated and more contained than the 1997, with more acid clip and definition as well. But starts off a bit in a shell. Needs some time to emerge.
* 1997 Giuseppe Mascarello "Monprivato" Barolo
This begins in the glass rather shutdown, showing darker tones and some astringency. With time this becomes very expressive, and a knockout wine! Majestic! Meat sauce and beef bouillon character. "Warm vintages are Mauro's thing" says Mannie, who is the importer of Giuseppe Mascarello.
1996 Giuseppe Mascarello "Monprivato" Barolo
Held in and compact, but also more open initially than the 1997 was. Overall, less expressive and without the grandeur of the 1997.
1997 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Something seems amiss here. Perhaps not a great bottle. A bit devoid of character.
* 1996 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Much better than the 1997 in this side by side. Just gets better and better in the glass. Notably good.
1997 Giuseppe Rinaldi "Brunate-Le Coste" Barolo
Corked. :(
1996 Giuseppe Rinaldi "Brunate-Le Coste" Barolo
A bit of brine, as well as sap. Cherry cola. A hint of greeness. Some brown spice. A touch soft.
* 1997 Giacomo Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo
Delicious. More open than the 1996 of the same.
* 1996 Giacomo Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo
Also delicious. More refined and expressive than the 1997.
1997 Bruno Giacosa "Falletto" Barolo
Some sweetness to the fruit. Drinking well. Open for business, but also a touch too giving and simple for my palate.
* 1996 Bruno Giacosa "Falletto" Barolo
Excellent. A wine on a 3-D level: playing at different positions and parts of the palate. Licorice and violets. This is still stern, but will evolve with time in the bottle and I think will do so beautifully.
This tasting, which happened in January of 2015, really drove home the point for me that vintage generalizations of the type that go "1996 is better than 1997 in the Piemonte," are unhelpful. And that is because when you are dealing with single vineyard wines and distinct winemaking regimes, it is more helpful to talk about 1996 is better (or not) for this producer vs. 1997. If the site is a cool site, a warmer vintage may be helpful. Or the opposite may be true- a cooler year may help extend the growing season in a warmer site. When people ask me if I prefer 1996 to 1997, I ask for whom? Which producer? It has been my conclusion (and obviously my opinion changes as I have different wines) that Elvio Cogno and Giuseppe Mascarello are producers that do great in warmer vintages. I did a Cogno vertical recently, and it was the warmer years that stood out. It makes sense if you think about Novello. For Giuseppe Mascarello, I think it comes down to Monprivato is a vineyard that does great in warmer years. I think it is less of an issue for other wines from G. Mascarello. If you think about 1990 Monprivato or 2003 Monprivato- I mean, those are exceptional takes on the vintages involved. For Bartolo Mascarello, I think that in terms of the winemaking of today (the late 1990s were a transition period, so actually less of an indication) the wines do well in the warm years- 2009 is a good example, as is 2007, although I prefer the cooler years like 2008 to my palate preferences. For Giacomo Conterno, I was impressed at a recent "Cascina Francia" vertical spanning a decade and a half at how consistently the wines impress. Roberto Conterno doesn't seem to miss. In terms of the Beppe Rinaldi era at Giuseppe Rinaldi (ie, from 1992), I tend to find the warmer years the most stunning (2000, for instance), but the daughters disagreed with this assessment when I ran it by them. I did end up having the 1997 G. Rinaldi "Brunate-Le Coste" with Marta and Carlotta, and it was very good. For Bruno Giacosa, the 1996 vintage is for me one of the high watermarks for the producer in the 1990s.
Anyway, this 1996 vs 1997 side by side was an interesting tasting to me, because I started thinking about why I liked a vintage from a certain producer, not just in the general terms of "warm vintage = bad," or whatever.
All the 1996s were decanted just prior to service. All the 1997s were poured from bottle, and were not decanted. The wines were served side by side in pairs. A * means I particularly enjoyed the wine.
1997 Elvio Cogno "Ravera" Barolo
Drinking well, if a little flat. A touch of tar, with also menthol and tobacco accents. Very drinkable.
1996 Elvio Cogno "Ravera" Barolo
Darker and sterner than the 1997, but that same tar note is present. Tobacco as well, but more in a smokey way. The sweetness has started to come out with the fruit, a bit.
1997 Massolino "Vigna Rionda Riserva" Barolo
Possibly a touch off- reticent and angular. Some leathery character.
1996 Massolino "Vigna Rionda Riserva" Barolo
Bing cherry nose. This wine is still a bit in its shell, but seems promising. Darker color than you might expect.
1997 Vietti "Villero Riserva" Barolo
Showing the open knit character of Villero. Has a bit of wood showing today (the Riserva aging regime does call for more time in wood).
1996 Vietti "Villero Riserva" Barolo
Better integrated and more contained than the 1997, with more acid clip and definition as well. But starts off a bit in a shell. Needs some time to emerge.
* 1997 Giuseppe Mascarello "Monprivato" Barolo
This begins in the glass rather shutdown, showing darker tones and some astringency. With time this becomes very expressive, and a knockout wine! Majestic! Meat sauce and beef bouillon character. "Warm vintages are Mauro's thing" says Mannie, who is the importer of Giuseppe Mascarello.
1996 Giuseppe Mascarello "Monprivato" Barolo
Held in and compact, but also more open initially than the 1997 was. Overall, less expressive and without the grandeur of the 1997.
1997 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Something seems amiss here. Perhaps not a great bottle. A bit devoid of character.
* 1996 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Much better than the 1997 in this side by side. Just gets better and better in the glass. Notably good.
1997 Giuseppe Rinaldi "Brunate-Le Coste" Barolo
Corked. :(
1996 Giuseppe Rinaldi "Brunate-Le Coste" Barolo
A bit of brine, as well as sap. Cherry cola. A hint of greeness. Some brown spice. A touch soft.
* 1997 Giacomo Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo
Delicious. More open than the 1996 of the same.
* 1996 Giacomo Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo
Also delicious. More refined and expressive than the 1997.
1997 Bruno Giacosa "Falletto" Barolo
Some sweetness to the fruit. Drinking well. Open for business, but also a touch too giving and simple for my palate.
* 1996 Bruno Giacosa "Falletto" Barolo
Excellent. A wine on a 3-D level: playing at different positions and parts of the palate. Licorice and violets. This is still stern, but will evolve with time in the bottle and I think will do so beautifully.
This tasting, which happened in January of 2015, really drove home the point for me that vintage generalizations of the type that go "1996 is better than 1997 in the Piemonte," are unhelpful. And that is because when you are dealing with single vineyard wines and distinct winemaking regimes, it is more helpful to talk about 1996 is better (or not) for this producer vs. 1997. If the site is a cool site, a warmer vintage may be helpful. Or the opposite may be true- a cooler year may help extend the growing season in a warmer site. When people ask me if I prefer 1996 to 1997, I ask for whom? Which producer? It has been my conclusion (and obviously my opinion changes as I have different wines) that Elvio Cogno and Giuseppe Mascarello are producers that do great in warmer vintages. I did a Cogno vertical recently, and it was the warmer years that stood out. It makes sense if you think about Novello. For Giuseppe Mascarello, I think it comes down to Monprivato is a vineyard that does great in warmer years. I think it is less of an issue for other wines from G. Mascarello. If you think about 1990 Monprivato or 2003 Monprivato- I mean, those are exceptional takes on the vintages involved. For Bartolo Mascarello, I think that in terms of the winemaking of today (the late 1990s were a transition period, so actually less of an indication) the wines do well in the warm years- 2009 is a good example, as is 2007, although I prefer the cooler years like 2008 to my palate preferences. For Giacomo Conterno, I was impressed at a recent "Cascina Francia" vertical spanning a decade and a half at how consistently the wines impress. Roberto Conterno doesn't seem to miss. In terms of the Beppe Rinaldi era at Giuseppe Rinaldi (ie, from 1992), I tend to find the warmer years the most stunning (2000, for instance), but the daughters disagreed with this assessment when I ran it by them. I did end up having the 1997 G. Rinaldi "Brunate-Le Coste" with Marta and Carlotta, and it was very good. For Bruno Giacosa, the 1996 vintage is for me one of the high watermarks for the producer in the 1990s.
Anyway, this 1996 vs 1997 side by side was an interesting tasting to me, because I started thinking about why I liked a vintage from a certain producer, not just in the general terms of "warm vintage = bad," or whatever.