Jim Hanlon
Jim Hanlon
Shared four bottles of older Alto Piemonte with friends and some white truffle. All sourced over the past few years from Chambers Street. (Jamie and crew have so enriched my wine life with their Italian cellar offerings.)
1964 Antoniolo Gattinara and 1964 Vallana Spanna San Lorenzo side by side. Both bottles were in great shape and held or improved over a three-hour dinner. (Decanted off their sediment and poured back into their bottles about four hours beforehand.) The Vallana was incredibly fruit driven. Really pure and ripe, but not overly so. One of those wines that makes people smile and shake their heads when it's poured. The Antoniolo started grumpier, and was driven by non-fruit flavors all night. It opened/evolved substantially over dinner, where the Vallana stayed in the same lane. Initially everyone preferred the Vallana, but by the end the Antoniolo was the more complex and interesting wine. A question of complexity v. deliciousness with no wrong answer.
1971 Ferrando Carema and 1971 Produttori di Carema (red label) side by side. I was a little worried about this pairing, concerned the Produttori would be too outclassed. With these two bottles, it wasn't. In someways a replay of the prior pair, with the Produttori showing substantially more pure fruit flavors and the Ferrando more earthy. Unlike with the Antoniolo, the Ferrando didn't gain much momentum, but was still a very enjoyable wine. If these were single blind, though, I'd have guessed the Ferrando was the Produttori. I don't have enough experience to say whether it was just these particular bottles, which can always be the case with older wines. I can say, though, that positive notes on the Produttori wines, which are often pretty inexpensive at Chambers Street, now strike me as credible.
This dinner usually features eight wines, but we slimmed down due to lower attendance. I've got to say, I preferred it this way. More time with the wines, and more chances to revisit. These wines rewarded that.
1964 Antoniolo Gattinara and 1964 Vallana Spanna San Lorenzo side by side. Both bottles were in great shape and held or improved over a three-hour dinner. (Decanted off their sediment and poured back into their bottles about four hours beforehand.) The Vallana was incredibly fruit driven. Really pure and ripe, but not overly so. One of those wines that makes people smile and shake their heads when it's poured. The Antoniolo started grumpier, and was driven by non-fruit flavors all night. It opened/evolved substantially over dinner, where the Vallana stayed in the same lane. Initially everyone preferred the Vallana, but by the end the Antoniolo was the more complex and interesting wine. A question of complexity v. deliciousness with no wrong answer.
1971 Ferrando Carema and 1971 Produttori di Carema (red label) side by side. I was a little worried about this pairing, concerned the Produttori would be too outclassed. With these two bottles, it wasn't. In someways a replay of the prior pair, with the Produttori showing substantially more pure fruit flavors and the Ferrando more earthy. Unlike with the Antoniolo, the Ferrando didn't gain much momentum, but was still a very enjoyable wine. If these were single blind, though, I'd have guessed the Ferrando was the Produttori. I don't have enough experience to say whether it was just these particular bottles, which can always be the case with older wines. I can say, though, that positive notes on the Produttori wines, which are often pretty inexpensive at Chambers Street, now strike me as credible.
This dinner usually features eight wines, but we slimmed down due to lower attendance. I've got to say, I preferred it this way. More time with the wines, and more chances to revisit. These wines rewarded that.