Category Archives: Barolo

2007 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco

I can’t believe it but this is my 100th post since Moby and I started Grapestorm last year…thanks to everyone who has followed us! I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have. On to the wine:

Last week we went into town to check out a Polish deli and Pig Fest at a local restaurant. We got kielbasas and blood sausage then went and had a great pork themed meal. We started with meatballs and pork belly then I had roasted suckling pig while moby had the braised pork and garlic polenta. A delicious meal and a fun evening.

colonelgrape: 75. Let me start by saying that this is not a bad wine…I just think it’s mislabeled. If I were drinking this blind I would have said it was a very nice Nebbiolo for $20-$25 a bottle. Great nose and flavor profile I like in Nebbiolo: licorice, leather, earth, red fruit however it was really lacking in body and finish. It was good up until you finished the sip then it just disappeared. I like my Barolo to be big, robust, and have a long finish and I like my Nebbiolo to taste similar but be a “smaller” wine. If this were a $20-$25 Nebbiolo I’d have given it a 92 however as a Barolo it falls short. Tasty wine, just not worthy of being a Barolo or $50+.

MobyGrape: 93. This is the cleanest dirty wine I’ve had in a while. Smelled a bit licorice-y and leathery and musty. Had a velvety texture with a little tannic kick at the end, it was very pleasant with a pork-centric dinner. Can’t seem to go wrong with this producer, The Rat makes a great everyday Barbera, and a great Barolo to match.

Dinner Grape Style Part II

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The gang was back together again at Aunt and UncleGrape’s house on Saturday night for another spectacular dinner. We were joined by CousinGrapette, BoyfriendGrape, as well as SisterGrape who took a trip from school to join us. Fresh off our trips to Union Square, Eataly, and of course the Wine Library we got to work on dinner. Here was our menu:

Appetizers: Smoked duck breast, wild boar salami, goat cheese with rosemary olive sourdough bread, daikon radish with hummus or spicy brown mustard and Hawaiin volcano sea salt.

Main Course: Roasted boneless leg of lamb infused with garlic and rubbed with spicy brown mustard.

Dessert: Italian cookies with pistachio cream spread and assorted chocolates.

With the appetizers we decided to go with French whites. We started with the NV Guy Larmandier 1er Cru Champagne which was crisp, light, refreshing and had just the right amount of bubbles. That was followed by the 2011 Gilbert Picq Chablis which was similar to the Champagne w/o the carbonation. I probably favored the Champagne over the Chablis and Moby did for sure. I learned that Vielles Vignes means old vines after I butchered trying to say it in front of UncleGrape who speaks fluent French. While the duck and boar probably could have stood up to a light red the whites went well with everything. The duck was tender with just the right amount of smoke and the boar had an interesting sweetness to go along with good texture. The goat cheese paired well with the bread for a creamy mouthful of food. The daikon was very interesting…to me it tasted like a crunch wafer made of mushrooms and onion but it worked well with the smooth hummus and red volcano salt. All the appetizers were promptly destroyed and it was time to move onto the main course.

Since I got my hands on some 1995 Chateau de Beaucastel recently I brought a bottle and we decided to go a horizontal tasting of 1995 Chateauneuf du Pape.

1. 1995 Domaine de Beaurenard Boisrenard

2. 1995 Chateau de Beaucastel

3. 1995 Domaine de la Janasse

We started the meal a little bit later than anticipated because we didn’t realize the lamb was still partially frozen in the center. Not a problem for the Grape family as we had plenty of wine to keep us busy. We started with the Boisrenard which was surprisingly still tight. UncleGrape explained that 1995’s were historically tight but while it still had solid fruit coming through a bunch of us thought this was a bit too tight still. I’d love to try it again in 5-10 years.

We then moved on to the Beaucastel which had a very distinct old bandaid smell to it. Sounds appetizing right? It was delicious! UncleGrape filled us in on the smell…it’s called “brett”. Brett is a type of yeast called Brettanomyces that can be found on the skin of fruit and therefore in wine. Small amounts of brett are generally regarded as good for the flavor of the wine however large amounts can cause problems. That being said the Beaucastel was very bretty. AuntGrape is notorious for loving bretty wines so it’s no surprise she loved it the most. We enjoyed it too and it was an educational experience.

Lastly we had the Janasse. Our last trip we had the 2000 which was good but not the best of the night however I’d argue for the 95 taking the show this time. I thought it had the most balance but not everyone agreed with me.

We couldn’t come to a consensus on the Chateauneuf like we did last time with the 2000 Charvin stealing the show. Here’s how we ranked them:

colonelgrape: 3-2-1

MobyGrape: 3-1-2

UncleGrape: 1-2-3

AuntGrape (brett lover): 2-3-1

Since Moby and I write the blog we’re going to declare the Janasse the winner but it was a split decision for sure. The one thing we all agreed on though is that the 1989 Parusso Bussia Barolo was the wine of the weekend. The Chateauneuf was great but the Barolo outclassed them all.

Last but not least AuntGrape treated us all to a very rare (and previously illegal in the United States) Italian digestif…Cocchi Barolo Chinato. Having never heard of it Moby and I were all in. We learned that Barolo Chinato is a standard barolo infused with spices and most importantly quinine which why it was illegal in the United States as that’s a drug found in prescription medications! The spices and quinine give it a gin like, piney taste to go along with some sweetness. On it’s own we weren’t huge fans but when paired with dark chocolate it was spectacular. Something about the combination worked wonders. We also had the Italian cookies and pistachio cream spread which was crazy good. The spread was a honey like consistency but had a sweetness to go along with the strong pistachio taste. We liked the wine much better with the chocolate than the cookies and spread but we both would have eaten the spread right out of the jar it was that good.

We concluded our trip next morning by making breakfast with the duck, turkey, and pheasant eggs which was great. The duck was probably the most different having a huge yolk and slightly different texture, the others tasted similar to a chicken egg just different sizes. We learned about brett and Barolo Chinato, had great food, great wine, and spent time with family so all in all it was a great trip. Keep an eye out for that 1989 Parusso!!!

Dinner at 3Guys

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Our first night visiting with Aunt and UncleGrape lead us back to 3Guys. Their food is always excellent and it’s BYO so it’s a perfect low key dinner to get the weekend started. Before heading to dinner we had some aperitifs at the house and went with two Italian whites. First the 2011 La Scola Gavi Bianco Secco which is made primarily from Garganega grapes. Not a big hit across the board, kind of hollow/boring, I wouldn’t recommend it. Next we had the 2011 Fattoria di Magliano Pagliatura which is made primarily from Vermentino grapes and it was excellent. Tart and flavorful, this was a nice alternative to the standard Chablis or Sauvignon Blancs of the world but with a similar flavor.

SisterGrape met us at the restaurant and we brought along some Nebbiolos. For starters we had clams casino, sausage and broccoli rabe, garlic bread with mozarella, and potato croquettes. Being our usual selves I had the veal parm and Moby had the gnocchi. It all paired wonderfully with the Nebbiolos.

2010 Sottimano Langhe Nebbiolo: A Barolo/Barbaresco from outside of their respective regions. Very young wine and UncleGrape pre-dinner decanted it for a couple of hours which was necessary. Still tannic but approachable. Great buy for under $20.

2004 Paride Iaretti Gattinara: Interesting story from UncleGrape about this wine. It was unavailable for purchase online so he went on facebook and became friends with the producer. From there he was able to track some at a local store in the city. I haven’t been on facebook in years but that’s a cool way to track down some rare wine. I liked this better than the Sottimano, it was more approachable. Another great value wine…if you can find it.

This brings us to the star of the night…the 1989 Parusso Bussia Barolo. Absolutely fantastic Barolo that opened up beautifully after a quick 20 minute decant. As you’ll read in our next few posts we sampled 11 bottles this weekend and this was the clear favorite. I’d love to have a case but the 89′ has vanished from the internet. I’m not sure how many bottles UncleGrape has left in his cellar but if you’re lucky enough to be able to get your hands on some 89′ Parusso…do it. It certainly won’t be a value but you will be rewarded. Don’t sit on it though, it’s ready to drink!

2007 Guido Porro Barolo Vigna Lazzairasco

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Hello Piedmont, I’ve missed you. This bottle is another treat from Ian at Wine Library. Last time we spoke I mentioned I was looking for some good value Barolo’s and this bottle is $40. Normally I’m pro trying wines just by buying and trying with basic knowledge but like Bordeaux’s it’s important to do some research on a Barolo before you buy it because you can easily overpay for a lesser bottle. With typical prices ranging from $40-ridiculous I’d recommend talking to a trusted friend at the store or a trusted website (Grapestorm!) thinks before you buy. Everyone should drink Barolo, it’s that good, just be sure to do your homework!

colonelgrape: 93. One thing I enjoy about a Barolo is the color. Swirling, smelling, and inspecting Barolo’s is a lot of fun. This bottle has the classic translucense and brick red color of aged Nebbiolo grapes. Leather, red fruit, tar, and anise come through. It’s a young wine so the tannis are still firm but there’s enough acid and flavor to make it approachable now. We only decanted it for about 20 minutes but I’d recommend decanting a solid hour. This should get better with time in the cellar and for $40 it’s a fantastic bargain.

MobyGrape: 89. It was up to me to pick the Barolo for the evening so naturally, the one named Guido was the obvious choice. I’ve gotten so used to wines that look muddy it was weird to pour a clear brick colored one. It didn’t decant for long, and may have been a bit tannin-y up front, but it mellowed out after a while. As much as I want to insert an obvious Jersey Shore joke about tanning, I’ll restrain myself. If you’re looking for a solid wine for a solid Italian meal, this Guidette wouldn’t look much farther. GTL.

2007 Aurelio Settimo Barolo

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This was our second wine of our Saturday dinner. We were eating Italian so we decided to stick with Italian wine. We enjoyed shrimp cocktail and stuffed mushrooms with garlic, onion, mushroom, baby shrimp, butter, and breadcrumbs along with lasagna and garlic bread. Once we polished off the Chianti we dove right in:

MobyGrape:86. I liked it. I don’t really remember what it was like, I couldn’t really get a handle on the smell but it was smooth with some sort of meh taste at the end. Super helpful, I know! I should really try it again and take notes.

colonelgrape: 93. I will try and be more helpful than Moby on this one. Only being 5 years old this is a young bottle. Up front it had a very sophisticated smell of earth, spices, and dark fruit. The tannis gave the wine structure but didn’t overpower it. The fruit taste really came out while the wine was on the palate with tastes of black cherry, citrus, strawberry. There were acids on the palate but it went well with the fruit. It went down very smoothly leaving an earthy, leathery, dark, minerally taste on the back end. This wine was extremely complex and structured. It offered something different every step of the way and I enjoyed it from start to finish. There was enough tannin there that I think this wine would only grow after a few more years in the bottle…I’d love to try it again in 2015-2017.

Guest Opinion: This was touted as a good wine on it’s own, and it delivered. I felt like it smelled of nail polish, although the Colonel would surely tell me do smell past the alcohol. I liked the complex flavor and smooth aftertaste.