CWD: '96 Brovia Barbaresco Rio Sordo

L

Lee Short

Lee Short
I opened this to go with gemelli with lamb ragu. It might have been an off bottle -- showed a brief hint of corky wet cardboard right when opened, but it seemed to blow off (I was the only one who picked up on this, anyway). The bottle was cold when opened, but warmth and air didn't coax much out of it. Decanted, there still wasn't much there later that night or the next day. Either it was a bad bottle or this is VERY closed right now. Or just crappy wine.

Anyone else had one lately?
 
I had the entire Brovia 2000 line recently and I was underwhelmed by each and every one. I wasn't sure, as you were not, whether they were closed of just not great. I have, however, enjoyed greatly many bottles of the '98s...
 
A Brovia Barbera that I had recently was one of the worst wines I had last year.

Not as bad as a particular Greek red that I had the misfortune to drink, but certainly on the list of badzies.
 
Weird. I've been on a hot streak with Brovia [name your wine]; while I was already a fan, the wines have been overperforming. The freisa's in the queue.

Lee, not the '96, but I had a '95 a few months back that was still too young but eminently delicious. Open for business, as others might say.
 
I tried the '04 Freisa recently. An interesting wine, but I'm not sure that I've got a handle on the grape. What would you match it with?
 
originally posted by Thor:

I had a '95 a few months back that was still too young but eminently delicious. Open for business, as others might say.
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A 1995 Brovia Ca'Mia on Christmas Eve seemed to be in an in-between state between "capable red wine" and "awe-inspiring Barolo". Its Nebbiolo-ness was readily apparent, but it would be a Wilt Chamberlain-like stretch to deem it "eminently delicious". However, it most certainly was an apt accompaniment to a roast piglet, despite not being particularly impressive on its own. This may change over time (I've got another bottle with which to do the appropriate scientific research) but it may also just be the nature of the 1995 vintage.

-Eden (not intending to damn the bottle with faint praise)
 
I tried the '04 Freisa recently. An interesting wine, but I'm not sure that I've got a handle on the grape. What would you match it with?
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I'm thinking some leftover charcuterie from the other night's raclette-fest, but I haven't given it a lot of thought as of yet.

an in-between state between "capable red wine" and "awe-inspiring Barolo"
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Maybe it's a coastal effect:

Brovia 1995 Barolo camia (Piedmont) Gorgeous. Roses, muscular tannin, and a huge core of dark but supple fruit. Complex. Still in its very early adolescence, but surprisingly drinkable now. (2/08)
 
I had the '95 Rio Sordo in February 2005. It was closed up tight.

Cork taint, even if faint, will make a wine less tasty so you were probably fighting both problems (corked, closed).
 
Cork taint, even if faint, will make a wine less tasty so you were probably fighting both problems (corked, closed).
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the trifecta occurs when you simultaneously suffer from a viral invasion of the naso-pharyngeal mucosa:
closed
corked
clogged

cilly, I know
 
originally posted by Lee Short:
CWD: '96 Brovia Barbaresco Rio SordoI opened this to go with gemelli with lamb ragu. It might have been an off bottle -- showed a brief hint of corky wet cardboard right when opened, but it seemed to blow off (I was the only one who picked up on this, anyway). The bottle was cold when opened, but warmth and air didn't coax much out of it. Decanted, there still wasn't much there later that night or the next day. Either it was a bad bottle or this is VERY closed right now. Or just crappy wine.

Anyone else had one lately?
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Sounds to me like a corked wine. The whiff I get when I first pull the cork somehow seems the most telling indication. Perhaps it's because the air in the bottle between wine and cork has fewer components to mask the TCA than does the wine itself.

I expect it is way early to be drinking this wine, but with air it should still open up somewhat, and have something good to show. Definitely not a crappy wine.
 
I had a bottle of '96 Rio Sordo this summer that was carried back from Brovia several years ago. It was drinking surprisingly well, although it's not like another decade or two in the bottle was going to hurt.

You know, I sometimes get an aroma off high-quality Barolo and Barbaresco on the traditional end of the scale that on very first impression strikes me as TCA and then it turns out not to be so. I get this sometimes with Brovia and G. Mascarello wines. It's something about the aromatics I can't really pin down.
 
originally posted by Bwood:

You know, I sometimes get an aroma off high-quality Barolo and Barbaresco on the traditional end of the scale that on very first impression strikes me as TCA and then it turns out not to be so. I get this sometimes with Brovia and G. Mascarello wines. It's something about the aromatics I can't really pin down.
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Are you referring to the bottle stink that smells like a mix of dried horse sweat, dust, and the interior of a 1960 Jaguar Mark IX that had been driven by someone who enjoyed the occasional Montecristo 3? I get it from older Brunellos and bottles of Piedmontese nebbiolo with lots of age on them. Sometimes it blows off, other times I explain to my guests that "it's sposed to taste like that" and everyone is happy. I also usually experience a bit of bret in older wines from these regions, but I like that sort of thing and don't see it as a flaw unless it's way out of hand.

originally posted byJeff Grossman:

Even cilia than that!
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You nose it!

-Eden (a hair's breath away from grammatical perfection)
 
originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
originally posted by Bwood:

You know, I sometimes get an aroma off high-quality Barolo and Barbaresco on the traditional end of the scale that on very first impression strikes me as TCA and then it turns out not to be so. I get this sometimes with Brovia and G. Mascarello wines. It's something about the aromatics I can't really pin down.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the bottle stink that smells like a mix of dried horse sweat, dust, and the interior of a 1960 Jaguar Mark IX that had been driven by someone who enjoyed the occasional Montecristo 3? I get it from older Brunellos and bottles of Piedmontese nebbiolo with lots of age on them. Sometimes it blows off, other times I explain to my guests that "it's sposed to taste like that" and everyone is happy. I also usually experience a bit of bret in older wines from these regions, but I like that sort of thing and don't see it as a flaw unless it's way out of hand.
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You know, I was going to refer to somewhat more poetically to volatile whiffs of minerally, floral and fennelly wines, but I think your explanation may be more to the point.
 
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