Dinner with mauro

• May 2009

  I've been documenting much of my days here via posts on the Snooth Forum but to add some color I thought I'd do a little blogging so without further ado, a few photos from the top of the boot. You can follow along my travels in more detail here, but I'll briefly put a few of these... Read moreI've been documenting much of my days here via posts on the Snooth Forum but to add some color I thought I'd do a little blogging so without further ado, a few photos from the top of the boot. You can follow along my travels in more detail here, but I'll briefly put a few of these photos in context When I arrived in Italy I went basically from the airport to the Sella estate in Lesson, Northern Piedmont. We tasted a few wines with Cristiano the winemaker before visiting the summer home of the Sella family, now siting preserved but unused. A photo from thetop floor balcony shows the warmth here, check out the palm tree, as well as the encrouchment of housing that has virtually replaced the vineyards in this area. Sella makes wines from Lessona and Bramaterra, The soil in Bramaterra includes sand of volcanic origin and some decomposed porphyr but the sand, and rock it's derived from accounts for the significant differences between the two wines. both wines are made in a very traditional way and are aged in the Sella cellars in large, neutral wood, though some new oak has been used on some wines. I'll of course add tasting note for the sella wines soon but we had a great visit and i know a shipment of wines is on way to the US as we speak so I hope you al keep an eye out for them. Our Next day began with a visit with one of my favorite producer, Mauro Mascarello of Giuseppe Mascarello. We tasted the line-up chez Mascarello along with renowned Italian journalist Franco Ziliani. As usual this was a high point of my trip. The wines were great, as they tend to be. We toured the cellar after the tasting where, among other gems, lay future vintages of the famed single vineyard Monprivato aging comfortably in their large wood botte. Of course it could be argued that these large ovals aren't really large botte. I don't think that Franco and Mauro were actually arguing that while we took a look at these really large botte, out of commission for over a decade but still a fixture in the winery! The botte are not the only contains that are throwbacks to another era found in the Mascarello cantina. Both 13.5 liter quarter brentas and these awfully attractive damigiane, look at those tin labels, how cool is that, are still used regulalry to help manage quantities of wines. i want to manage one right into my cellar. Heck, I'ld even take one empty! Afer the cellar tour we went to da Felicin for a great lunch when we had the chance to blind taste a few great and very surprising bottles of wine. A very humbling experience for all involved as no one really got any right.My guesses from left to right:  1993 La Morra from Rivalta, a 1988 Barolo from Monforte, a 1978 Barolo from Barolo, and finaly a 1974 from who knows. the wines totally outperformed and that was probably due to the fact that they've spent all the life in one place after having been moved a few kilometers. What a lovely lunch and a humbling experience. After lunch we were treated to a tour of the cellar where we got a chance to see some of the wines we didn't drink. Suffice it to say we had a blast taking a look around at treasures like these. After lunch, it was a long lunch so after lunch it was 5, we headed back to Alba for the welcome reception for the Alba Wine Exhibition. Along the way we stopped by to take a look at Mauro's Monprivato vineyard. I have another shot of the vineyard from Cannubi that I'll post tomorrow but looking north from Monprivato  one can see the wonderful Bricco Boschis estate of the Cavallotto family.  The winery is centered on the top of the ridge and all you see is Bricco Boschis, well pretty much. Further to the west and a bit further north is Alberto Racca's tenute Montanello. certainly a new operation but one with roots going back over a hundred. the facilities were once the Cooperative winery for the village of Castiglione Falletto and occupies a wonderful vantage point overlooking some of the great crus of Castiglione. I'm cheating a bit now as we jump ahead a day to Monday night when we ended up in the village of Barbaresco for an afternoon tasting and dinner at Antica Torre. Since we had about 90 minutes to kill between the tasting and dinner we decided to take a walk out of the south of the village to visit some rather renowned vineyards. For example here we are looking back towards the village and you can see Moccagatta under the houses that line the top of the ridge and beneath that Paje. Here's a closer look at Paje. You might notice how lush and verdant the vineyard in the middle is. That's Roagna's organically grown vineyard producing exceptional wines while in totally harmony with the naturally occuring ground cover that help to prevent the landslides that have plagued this region recently. Good for the wine, good for the environment and good for the terrain. Why doesn't every vineyard look like this? We continued down the road until we came to the fork that divides Faset on the right from Asili on the left. We went up the right hand road and walked up to the top of Bricco Faset. We then went down through the vines and turned back to take this picture of Bricco Asili, just the crown of this hill. We made it over to the road that heads down through the vines and under Bricco Asili and went around the corner where we ended up under Martinenga with Asili to the left and Rabaja to the right. Perhaps the most important slope in all of Barbaresco and that's the photo that did not come out! I did however get a photos of these unusually high pruned old vines that lay at the bottom of this famed slope separating these vineyards from the Rio Sordo  which lies just beyond the stand of trees on the background. We climbed up through Rabaja and Asili and let me tell you I will never forget how steep these vineyards are. It has been a great start to this trip and I have alot more to come. I've got some great video of the vineyards as well so help put them all in context. I hope you enjoyed this little bit and I look foward to my next installment. Until then Ciao! Gregory Dal Piaz Community Manager Snooth    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Views from Italy by Gregory Dal Piaz

  
  

• May 2009

  Views from Italy I've been documenting much of my days here via posts on the Snooth Forum but to add some color I thought I'd do a little blogging so without further ado, a few photos from the top of the boot. You can follow along my travels in more detail here, but I'll briefly put... Read moreViews from Italy I've been documenting much of my days here via posts on the Snooth Forum but to add some color I thought I'd do a little blogging so without further ado, a few photos from the top of the boot. You can follow along my travels in more detail here, but I'll briefly put a few of these photos in context When I arrived in Italy I went basically from the airport to the Sella estate in Lesson, Northern Piedmont. We tasted a few wines with Cristiano the winemaker before visiting the summer home of the Sella family, now siting preserved but unused. A photo from thetop floor balcony shows the warmth here, check out the palm tree, as well as the encrouchment of housing that has virtually replaced the vineyards in this area. Sella makes wines from Lessona and Bramaterra, The soil in Bramaterra includes sand of volcanic origin and some decomposed porphyr but the sand, and rock it's derived from accounts for the significant differences between the two wines. both wines are made in a very traditional way and are aged in the Sella cellars in large, neutral wood, though some new oak has been used on some wines. I'll of course add tasting note for the sella wines soon but we had a great visit and i know a shipment of wines is on way to the US as we speak so I hope you al keep an eye out for them. Our Next day began with a visit with one of my favorite producer, Mauro Mascarello of Giuseppe Mascarello. We tasted the line-up chez Mascarello along with renowned Italian journalist Franco Ziliani. As usual this was a high point of my trip. The wines were great, as they tend to be. We toured the cellar after the tasting where, among other gems, lay future vintages of the famed single vineyard Monprivato aging comfortably in their large wood botte. Of course it could be argued that these large ovals aren't really large botte. I don't think that Franco and Mauro were actually arguing that while we took a look at these really large botte, out of commission for over a decade but still a fixture in the winery! The botte are not the only contains that are throwbacks to another era found in the Mascarello cantina. Both 13.5 liter quarter brentas and these awfully attractive damigiane, look at those tin labels, how cool is that, are still used regulalry to help manage quantities of wines. i want to manage one right into my cellar. Heck, I'ld even take one empty! Afer the cellar tour we went to da Felicin for a great lunch when we had the chance to blind taste a few great and very surprising bottles of wine. A very humbling experience for all involved as no one really got any right.My guesses from left to right:  1993 La Morra from Rivalta, a 1988 Barolo from Monforte, a 1978 Barolo from Barolo, and finaly a 1974 from who knows. the wines totally outperformed and that was probably due to the fact that they've spent all the life in one place after having been moved a few kilometers. What a lovely lunch and a humbling experience. After lunch we were treated to a tour of the cellar where we got a chance to see some of the wines we didn't drink. Suffice it to say we had a blast taking a look around at treasures like these. After lunch, it was a long lunch so after lunch it was 5, we headed back to Alba for the welcome reception for the Alba Wine Exhibition. Along the way we stopped by to take a look at Mauro's Monprivato vineyard. I have another shot of the vineyard from Cannubi that I'll post tomorrow but looking north from Monprivato  one can see the wonderful Bricco Boschis estate of the Cavallotto family.  The winery is centered on the top of the ridge and all you see is Bricco Boschis, well pretty much. Further to the west and a bit further north is Alberto Racca's tenute Montanello. certainly a new operation but one with roots going back over a hundred. the facilities were once the Cooperative winery for the village of Castiglione Falletto and occupies a wonderful vantage point overlooking some of the great crus of Castiglione. I'm cheating a bit now as we jump ahead a day to Monday night when we ended up in the village of Barbaresco for an afternoon tasting and dinner at Antica Torre. Since we had about 90 minutes to kill between the tasting and dinner we decided to take a walk out of the south of the village to visit some rather renowned vineyards. For example here we are looking back towards the village and you can see Moccagatta under the houses that line the top of the ridge and beneath that Paje. Here's a closer look at Paje. You might notice how lush and verdant the vineyard in the middle is. That's Roagna's organically grown vineyard producing exceptional wines while in totally harmony with the naturally occuring ground cover that help to prevent the landslides that have plagued this region recently. Good for the wine, good for the environment and good for the terrain. Why doesn't every vineyard look like this? We continued down the road until we came to the fork that divides Faset on the right from Asili on the left. We went up the right hand road and walked up to the top of Bricco Faset. We then went down through the vines and turned back to take this picture of Bricco Asili, just the crown of this hill. We made it over to the road that heads down through the vines and under Bricco Asili and went around the corner where we ended up under Martinenga with Asili to the left and Rabaja to the right. Perhaps the most important slope in all of Barbaresco and that's the photo that did not come out! I did however get a photos of these unusually high pruned old vines that lay at the bottom of this famed slope separating these vineyards from the Rio Sordo  which lies just beyond the stand of trees on the background. We climbed up through Rabaja and Asili and let me tell you I will never forget how steep these vineyards are. It has been a great start to this trip and I have alot more to come. I've got some great video of the vineyards as well so help put them all in context. I hope you enjoyed this little bit and I look foward to my next installment. Until then Ciao! Gregory Dal Piaz Community Manager Snooth    (hide)

  From the article Views from Italy

  
  

• May 2009

  So i typed up a more detailed update and posted it but I don't see it here! In any event I arrived safetly in Milan yesterday and pretty much immediately set off for the sella Estate in lessona. I had a wonderful visit and really got to understand the unique soil differeneces that... Read moreSo i typed up a more detailed update and posted it but I don't see it here! In any event I arrived safetly in Milan yesterday and pretty much immediately set off for the sella Estate in lessona. I had a wonderful visit and really got to understand the unique soil differeneces that make Lessona and Bramaterra such different wines. I also was able to try a barrel of Croatina to see how this unusually tea scented variety affectsthe Bramaterra. Wines from Sella are on their way to the states as we speak. Be on the look out for the great, transparent and nervous 2007 Orbello. Barbera based yet with a complex array of notes coming from the Nebbiolo, Croatina, Vespolina and Cabernet in the blend it's a 12.5% winner! After Sella we drove down to Alba and had dinner at Piazza Duomo. Pretty brilliant food paired with the wines of cerretto. The 2008 Balnghe Arneis was precise yet rich, a very slid showing. We followed that with a 204 Barbaresco Bernadot which had too much sweet spicy oak on the nose for me, a 2003 Le Strette Barolo from the Novello estate of Cerretto's winemaker which showed a fair amount of date and fig character on the nose but was a very round and supple 2003. We ended the dry reds with Cerretto's 1999 Barolo Brunate, big and powerful with the superb tannin of 1999 paired with the almost opulent character of Bruante. Still a baby but with excellent potential. We then moved on to the 1971 Toro Arbala PX which was it's usual viscous, molasses, dried fruit, cocoa and spicy self. Delicious and incredibly long it was a fine way to end a meal. Well now I am off to survey damage in some vineyards, the recent rains which were the worst in 200 years have caused many landslides, and then taste through the wines of Mauro Mascarello. I'll report back with more info later and hope to post some photos and video this evening!    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Italy update 1 by Gregory Dal Piaz

  
  

• May 2009

  Ok, so I am delinquent. I have been so busy preparing for my trip to drink wine, in Piemonte, that I neglected to get this going properly! I have also been delinquent in posting my notes in general so I'll take this opportunity to go ahead and add a few nebbiolo notes. Starting off... Read moreOk, so I am delinquent. I have been so busy preparing for my trip to drink wine, in Piemonte, that I neglected to get this going properly! I have also been delinquent in posting my notes in general so I'll take this opportunity to go ahead and add a few nebbiolo notes. Starting off the Guiseppe Rinaldis fan-fricken-tastic Langhe Nebbiolo. Now this can be pricy but then again it's 100% Barolo juice that simply doesn't fit into the final blend. Ravera juice I've been told. In any event the 1999 starts out with some lovely savory notes on the nose, chicken stock comes to mind, melded with tar, black spices, steaming hot limestone, dark rose notes and a hint of prosciutto. In the mouth there are cutting acids right up front that are followed by a taut, nervy package of pure black berry and black cherry fruit. There are some soft insinuation of fennel and earth but ultimately this is simple a crisp, pure mouthful of sweet berry fruit applied to the palate by laser! Drinking very well today with about 2 hours air. 91 pts 2009-2017 http://www.snooth.com/wine/giuseppe-rinaldi-nebbiolo-langhe-1999/ Next up are several wines from a recent Nebbiolo Night out! We begin with the 1957 Monsecco Gattinara which opens with a very evolved nose of sweet tea, leathery autumnal notes balanced by a sharp, spiced, sandlewood notes. There is a touch of cassis lurking and notes of roasted pear and even a hint of rubber here. In the mouth this is light and bright with tons of wild strawberry and sour cherry fruit still in evidence. There is a decided jolly rancher character to the fruit with the bags of acid here keeping everything very fresh and lively. This is still going dtrong and was a surprising treat 2009-2001 89pts http://www.snooth.com/wine/le-colline-gattinara-monsecco-conte-ravizza-1957/ Then onto the rather familiar twisted bottle that is Traviglini, in this case a 1971. Very reticent at first with a sweet and astringent fruit note over oystershell with a touch of cigar ash. The roasted cherry fruit does come to life but remains a bit low key on the nose. In the mouth this starts out a bit clumsily with good chewy fruit and nicely nuanced black pepper and smoke notes framing the fruit. It gains sweetness to the fruit but not tremendous length. A solid yet uninspired showing. 2009-2011 86pts http://www.snooth.com/wine/travaglini-gattinara-selezione-1971/ We then changed speeds and popped a baby, the 1989 Conterno Fantino Vigna del Gris. This is not only a younger wine but a fairly modern style at that, none the less the nose offers rather classic notes of camphor, licorice, and mint notes with a gamy edge. There's a sandy element here and the fruit recalls roasted strawberries with a touch of spice from the wood treatment. In the mouth this is cool and composed yet a bit raspy on the midpalate and attenuated on the back end. The fruit is nice but a touch anonymous and simple and there is a hint of bitterness on the finish that detracts from the experience. 2009-2014 85pts http://www.snooth.com/wine/conterno-fantino-barolo-vigna-del-gris-1989/ With the Conterno Fantino we enjoyed the painfully traditional 1990 Scarpa. The nose here starts out with decidedly oxidized notes and lovely hints of salame and caraway with spicy mint and herb undertones. There's an odd sweetness to the nose that recalls fishermens friend cough lozenges and sweet flowers. the nose does clean up with air but remains savory. In the mouth one is greeted by a rush of wild strawberry fruit with mint top notes that is followed by a wave of bracing acidity. Nicely meshed tannins take over on the midpalate then yield to a fine, precise strawberry/rhubarb backend that leads to a long if simple finish. Amazing freshness and acidity for a 1990. 2009-2021 90pts Now that we were warmed up we got to the meat of the line-up; a pair of 1985's. Up first was Guiseppe Rinaldi's La Brunata Riserva which had a stinky touch of funky slavonian oak notes right out of the bottle and a touch of oxidative sweetness that reinforced the sweet anise tones that initially dominated the nose. Growing elements of earth, sand and iron added to the aromatics with a touch of menthol lurking. In the mouth this was rich and round with chewy, slightly matte fruit that was dark and spicy with licorice, earthy and savory notes adding to the wild frutti del bosco palate. Nice length and sustain on the finish added to the appeal. A solid showing but this may be slipping a bit as this lacked some of the richness of previous bottles. 92pts 2009-2019 http://www.snooth.com/wine/giuseppe-rinaldi-barolo-brunate-riserva-1985/ Up next, one of my favorites: 1985 G Mascarello Monprivato. As usual a wonderful wine with a rich forest floor tone on the nose followed by minty and light clay notes with a lingering hint of cigar smoke. This is wonderfully fresh and soil driven on the nose with hints of camphor and icy mint setting off the precise spicy fruit. Entering with a wave of sweet, ripe fruit and then transitioning to a layered mid-palate with forest floor and spice toned framing the wild strawberry notes that play out on the finest in a coy and sneaky way. One of the best of 1985. 2009-2024 95pts Sticking with the vintage we then moved on to 1985 Bruno Giacosa Santo Stefano Riserva with it's sweet perfumed nose of seared fruit and flowers over background notes of celery seed, rust and braised fennel that is exceptionally aromatic and precise. There is a subtle gaminess to the fruit on the palate which is sweetly fruited with wild raspberry fruit and hints of mica and fireplace ash. This is elegant and succulent though it seems to have suffered from less then ideal conditions at some point in its life. Still delicious 2009-2014 90pts http://www.snooth.com/wine/bruno-giacosa-barbaresco-santo-stefano-riserva-1985/ We then sampled from a pair of Roagna wines. Luca Roagna was in town, and along with Mauro and Giuseppe Mascarello, joined us for this dinner. Up first, the 1999 Paje Barbaresco which had a captivatingly spicy nose full of caraway, cardamon and tumeric with a stemmy notes and dried floral tones. In the mouth this was slightly jammy yet had the sweet/astringent quality of my beloved lingonberries, though the actual flavor profile was dark berry fruit over blue shale/clay and a return of the middle eastern spice notes found on the nose. There is a bit of VA here, which may be off putting to some people but for me it really just added a little lift to the nose. 2009-2019 91pts http://www.snooth.com/wine/roagna-barbaresco-paje-1999/ And on this note I have to go, but I will return with more notes soon. In the meantime I would love to hear about your Nebbiolo experiences!!    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Post your Nebbiolo GTi notes... by Gregory Dal Piaz

  
  

• April 2009

  Greg, What a great dinner. Thanks for organizing it and including me. Sorry for the delay in posting - I've been traveling and haven't had a chance to post my notes until now. In any event, here are my notes: 1982 Monprivato - beautiful, earthy, rose, dried cherries; great, sappy... Read moreGreg, What a great dinner. Thanks for organizing it and including me. Sorry for the delay in posting - I've been traveling and haven't had a chance to post my notes until now. In any event, here are my notes: 1982 Monprivato - beautiful, earthy, rose, dried cherries; great, sappy palate; strong acidity; beautiful now, but plenty of time to age. 94 points. 1981 Monprivato - older, musty nose; dustier, with some roasted meat notes; rustic and still tannic; chocolate and slightly roasted fruit with some sour flavors. Definitely benefited from food. 87 points. 1980 Monprivato - rusty and roasted; grilled meats; good acidity and length; nice long finish; great combination of primary fruit quality and secondary nuance; slight greenness/grassiness; celery sand tobacco. 90 points. 1979 Monprivato - beautiful berries and tar on the nose; clean; loads of minerality and still quite youthful; soft tannins; good acid; slight chalkiness; not as fleshy as the 80 or 82 but very pretty with a sweetness on the finish; gains an ashy quality (in a good way) with time in the glass. 93 points. 1979 Vigna Rionda - Very perfumed; menthol character; great, polished, very complex; fruit in background but nicely framing the secondary qualities; very long finish. 95 points. 1971 Monprivato - very rich, thick palate; still tannic; decaying roses; very long finish. 90 points. 1971 Barolo Normale - slightly corked, but still drinkable, 1970 Monprivato - floral, forest floor and some pine; very tannic and young; great concentrated fruit, pomegranite and pepper, a very intriguing combination and very well-balanced. This is a wow wine. 95+ points. 1978 Monprivato - Wow! What a nose. Smoke and roasted meat; great fruit, coffee, very concentrated; rich, open, expressive, and very long. Bravo. 96 points. 1964 Barolo - much lighter color (almost rose); great grip, viscosity and glycerine; surprising; bandaid, roses, clover on the nose; great mouthfeel and very long. 96 points. 1961 Barolo - much darker with a heavy perfume, almost cotton candy; very ripe, concentrated and mineral-filled; kirsch. Another great surprise. 95 points. Thanks again Greg and to Mauro and Giuseppe for sharing the history of their wines with us. A truly great eveing. Josh    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Dinner with Mauro and... by Josh L

  
  

• March 2009

  This was a remarkable dinner. Certainly one of the best nights of wine that I have experienced. Many thanks to Greg for his generosity and to the Mascarellos for their commitment to their craft. At best, I can narrow may favorites down to maybe a half dozen wines. There were so... Read moreThis was a remarkable dinner. Certainly one of the best nights of wine that I have experienced. Many thanks to Greg for his generosity and to the Mascarellos for their commitment to their craft. At best, I can narrow may favorites down to maybe a half dozen wines. There were so many great wine for different reasons. The 78 and 82 were standouts for their balance and precision. The 61 and 64 for their longevity. But I also really enjoyed the 80 and 81; though they were generally overshadowed by other wines from superior vintages. They were still very rewarding, and they demonstrate that cellaring Baroli made by the great winemakers is a safe bet regardless of the vintage. Thanks again to everyone, especially Greg, Mauro, and Guiseppe.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Dinner with Mauro and... by 97mjr

  
  

• March 2009

  Thanks guys! I had a blast too. Next year we will definitely move on and continue with the rest of the Monprivatos and even some Ca! What a superb evening, company included. I only regret I can't drink like that every night!

  Forum post in the topic Dinner with Mauro and... by Gregory Dal Piaz

  
  

• March 2009

  Reply by Marty Neschis Greg, Many thanks for arranging what was truly a very memorable evening and donating from your collection some of the greatest Barolos I know I will ever encounter. For me, two of the evening's "amazings" were the '61 and "64---47 and 44 years old,... Read moreReply by Marty Neschis Greg, Many thanks for arranging what was truly a very memorable evening and donating from your collection some of the greatest Barolos I know I will ever encounter. For me, two of the evening's "amazings" were the '61 and "64---47 and 44 years old, respectively, and still floating on their tertiary nuance plateau with no hint of when they're going to start descending. About the Monprivatos, should the Barolistas ever decide to classify their wines, this is a Grand Cru that belongs at the top of the list...Now, about next year's tasting with the Mascarellos. How about finishing the Monprivatos and then going on to the cru within the Monprivato cru, Ca d'Morissio. Ha! Again Greg, mille grazie. Marty Neschis (aka Dr. Marty)    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Dinner with Mauro and... by Marty N

  
  

• March 2009

  Greg, fantastic notes as usual, and I am so grateful to have participated in such an incredible evening. Just extraordinary. As promised, i will have my tns up here as soon as i type 'em up...hopefully over the weekend. BTW, i like how that pic of you looking at the color of the '79... Read moreGreg, fantastic notes as usual, and I am so grateful to have participated in such an incredible evening. Just extraordinary. As promised, i will have my tns up here as soon as i type 'em up...hopefully over the weekend. BTW, i like how that pic of you looking at the color of the '79 in the two glasses got in there...nice! For me my favorite wine of the night was the '64....just profound....and that's with me getting over a cold....i hope to have the chance to try a great bottle of this again with my olfactory skills in better form....but i still had enuf going on to realize how profound that bottle was. Grazie mille!! My other favorites were the '70 and '78. be back soon with more impressions....thanks again for an insanely great evening.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Dinner with Mauro and... by Daniel Tisch

  
  

• March 2009

  What as fantastic evening this was. The wines were remarkable, across the board, and i Mascarelli, padre e figlio, were delightful, as always. The 82 was a great way to kick off the evening, but really only a warm-up. It's at a beautiful moment in its evolution -- early middle-age,... Read moreWhat as fantastic evening this was. The wines were remarkable, across the board, and i Mascarelli, padre e figlio, were delightful, as always. The 82 was a great way to kick off the evening, but really only a warm-up. It's at a beautiful moment in its evolution -- early middle-age, I'd say, without any gray hair yet. Just softening up. It improved less in the glass than some others, though. The 1981 and 80 really show the greatness of the vineyard and the winemaking. The 81 was pretty tough, with lots of hard tannin, but still decent with food. I preferred the 80 slightly, though it had a coffee note that I usually don't care for, and a trace of caramel. The two 79s were a big step up, with more power but finesse as well. The Rionda was more masculine than the Monprivato (as you'd expect from Serralunga), and was my favorite of the two, but only by a hair. Both were so, so fresh and young. The 71 normale was slightly corked but I nonetheless preferred it to the 71 Monprivato, which seemed ever so slightly tired. (Perhaps was just after the extraordinarily young-tasting wines that preceded it.) The wines of the night for me were the 78 and 70 Monprivato, which narrowly edged out the 79s to my palate. Both were extremely youthful -- much more than the 71s -- and powerful, but with exquisite balance. I'd give these both 95+ points. The 64 and 61 normale bottlings were plainly older, but still noteworthy for their freshness, intensity and balance. The 64 was fairly pale in color (Mauro says that was the vintage character) but had great grip; the depth in the mouth came as a completely surprise given the color. This had almost an oaky sweetness. Yum! The 61 was surprisingly dark, and in this case the flavors correlated with the color. Very ripe fruit here, but fresh, fresh, fresh. Thanks to Greg for organizing this and digging so deep into his cellar. The winemaking and the storage conditions made for a very special night!    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Dinner with Mauro and... by John E Morris

  
  

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