Author: Bruno Donaggio

Monday afternoon the Grands Crus de Bordeaux held their annual tasting of the current vintage of Grand Cru Bordeaux, in this case the 2010 vintage. These are the new releases. 2010 is reported to be an excellent vintage and the wine pundits have said that the wines are built for long-term aging which means to say that they have a lot of tannin. With that I was expecting the young wines to be tannin bombs.

In general I would say that the vintage produced wines with lots of concentration and structure, or at least with the better wines. Would definitely love to drink these wines five years down the road. The event was held at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

I started the night with a couple of Pomerals: The 2010 Chateau Clinet was black with dark berries on the nose, young and silky with green olives on the finish and moderate tannin. The 2010 Chateau Gauzin was dark red with a nose of ripe berries, tight and chunky with lip-smacking tannin on the long finish. The 2010 Chateau La Cabanne was black with toast and barnyard on the nose with good fruit and nicely balanced on the moderate-long finish.

From Saint Emilion the 2010 Clos Fourtet was black with a pretty nose of berries and stewed prunes with a chewy fruit, good structure and mouth filling tannin on the finish. The 2010 Chateau Grand Mayne was black with a sweet perfume of red roses and cherry, silky fruit with firm tannin on the finish.

From Margaux I had the 2010 Chateau Brane-Cantenac. It was dark with a very perfumed nose of red roses with dusty fruit and prunes on the long finish. The 2010 Chateau Pieure Lichine was black with dark stone fruits on the nose with concentrated dusty fruit and good structure with full tannins on the finish.

From Saint Julien I had the 2010 Chateau Beychevelle. Dark red with a nice perfumed toasty nose with silky dusty fruit, nice balance and moderate tannin. Drinkable now. The 2010 Chateau Gruaud LaRose was black with a perfumed nose of toasted nuts. The 2010 Chateau Leoville Poyferre was black with a nose of stone fruit, concentrated with big tannins on the long finish.

From Paulliac the 2010 Chateau D’Armailhac was black with some smoke and dark berries on the nose with sweet chewy fruit with moderate tannin on the long finish. One of my favorites of the night. The 2010 Chateau Lynch-Bages was dark with a pretty perfumed nose of red cherry and earth with red cherry fruit that dropped a bit at the end. The 2010 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was black with mint and dusty black berries on the nose that needs time for things to come together but with great structure and manageable tannins. Another favorite of the night.

Usually when it’s a good vintage in Bordeaux it’s so-so for the sweet wines. I tried a dozen Sauternes/Barzac wines and none thrilled me. I thought they were sweet and syrupy and lacked finesse.

Tuesday night I attended a sit-down tasting of seven Rhone wines. This was a MeetUp group of fellow wine drinkers. The group met at Sojourn restaurant on the Upper East Side. All of the wines were served blind and we were to vote on our favorite and least favorite wine.

It was a very nice tasting. All of the wines were from the Northern Rhone and six of the seven bottles were vintages from the 1990’s so it was an opportunity to try wines with some bottle age.

My favorite wine of the night and as it turns out, the all-around favorite at the table and the youngest wine at the tasting was the 2006 Franck Balthazar-Cornas Chaillot.  I had guessed it as the youngest wine on the table, it had a nose of plums and dirty black cherries with dusty lip smacking fruit and some barnyard on the finish.

My next favorite was the 1998 Domaine du Columbier Hermitage. I thought it had meaty and bacon notes on the fruit with a great grip on the long finish.

Another favorite was the 1999 Auguste Clape Cornas. The brambly nose started out a little closed but began to open up in the glass, with tight dusty velvety fruit and herbs on the finish.

The 1997 Tardieu-Laurent Cornas Cuvee Coteaux had a toasty, dried leaf nose with some good fruit which dropped a bit at the end.

 

The 1995 Guigal Hermitage had a slightly jammy closed nose with blackberry and plum notes on the finish.

The 1998 Lesec Hemitage Cuvee Emile was the contriversial wine of the night. I thought the wine corked if ever so slighty but I was getting that on the nose as well as on the finish. Some people in the group agreed and some did not. The finish was fairly harsh so I think the wine was on its way out.

The 1997 Rostaing Cote Rotie was another wine that I felt was on the back end of the drinking curve. Nothing enjoyable about this juice.

When I go out to the wineries out East I have my favorites. But I go back to try all of the others as well. I know that vintages change, owners change, and wine makers change so I go back to see how the new wines are going, and besides, it would be boring to go to the same wineries all the time.

I started my wine tour at Palmer Vineyards located at 108 Sound Avenue in Aquebogue. Palmer is one of the founding fathers of the industry established in the ’80s. He was one of the first guys to push Long Inland wines outside the region. He got American Airlines to carry his wine. I have to admit I’ve been a little disappointed in Palmer’s wines the last few years but I always go back to try the new vintages.

Wine making duties have been taken over by Spanish-born winemaker Miguel Marting. Today I started with their Barrel fermented flight. Three white wines that see a good amount of oak. The 2010 Pinot Blanc was medium gold with a nose of pineapple and ripe peaches with creamy fruit and firm acids and oak on the finish. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc had a very dark gold color with a petrol, oily nose. It wasn’t as ripe as the color suggested and was dry with tight fruit. The 2009 Reserve Chardonnay was dark gold with a nose of butterscotch and was ripe and buttery with toasty fruit and tongue tighting tannin on the finish. These were all big, ripe wines.

The last couple of wines were some of the most exciting wines I’ve tried on the Island for a while. The 2011 Albarino is very limited in production and is served in a 500ml bottle . I believe that Palmer is the only winery growing this Spanish varietal on Long Island. It was light gold with a clean citrus nose, moderate fruit with a clean and crisp finish. Nice wine that was completely different from the wines in the flight I had earlier. Another wine that has a small production and served in the 500ml bottle format was the 2011 Aromatico. A blend of Muscat Canelli and Malvasia, a couple of grape varietals that you don’t see often out East, the wine was light gold with a big perfume of ripe peaches and tasted much drier than the nose would lead you to believe. It had some nice orange peel notes on the crisp finish.  Very unique wines and well done and they used decent glasses too.

I next stopped at Osprey’s Dominion located at 44075 Main Road. One of the off the radar wineries, I had some nice juice this afternoon. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was dark with warm dark plum and camphor on the nose, dusty fruit with some astringency on the finish. They opened one of their library wines to taste, the 2000 Cabernet Franc, it was medium red to dark in color with a nose of smoky dried herbs, tight silky fruit with a firm long finish.  Very nice, it was from a just opened bottle would have liked to air it out for a few minutes. I tried their award-winning 2009 Pinot Noir. Light red to dark, unfiltered so some cloudiness in the glass, it had a nose of cinnamon and black cherry with chewy fruit and a nice balanced finish, it was a nice glass of wine.

This past Wednesday I took a road trip to Boston to attend a Guild of Sommelier seminar on wines of the Roussillon region of France. Roussillon is a wine producing region in South East France bordering the Mediterranean on one side and Spain on the other. The region is famous for their fortified wines called vin doux natural. In fact the region produces over 90% of France’s fortified wines, several of which we tasted at the event.

 The event was held at Moksa restaurant in Cambridge which despite the name, is a sushi restaurant just a stones throw south of Harvard University. It was a sit-down tasting with about a dozen people.

We tried ten wines and we started with a white. The 2009 Domaine Gauby Vielles Vignes is a blend of five grapes and was light yellow with a nose of sweet mushrooms. Medium weight fruit with mineral and candy undertones with nice acidity on the finish. It smelled sweeter than it tasted, interesting.

We then had a flight of three dry reds. The 2010 Domaine Piug-Parahy Georges was a blend of four red grapes and was medium red with a purple robe with a nose of cherry cough drops with bright juicy fruit and some earth on the crisp medium to long finish. Very drinkable. The next wine was the 2010 Chateau Saint Roch Chimeres. A blend of three grapes, it was black purple in color with stemmy cinnamon and black fruit on the nose, it was chunky with some oak and dark fruits on the chewy finish. The 2008 La Coume Del Mas Quadratur was also a blend of three red grapes. It was black purple in color with a nose of barnyard and black cherries and oak with velvety but tight fruit with alcohol peeking through at the end. I though the alcohol made the wine unbalanced.

We tried the fortified wines next. First up was the 2009 M. Chapoutier. Mostly Grenache it was dark red with a nose of stewed dark fruit. Chewy with restrained sweet coffee and chocolate on the finish and great balance. Very tasty. The 2009 Domaine La Tour Vielle was mostly Grenache as well and was black with a slighty closed nose of fresh figs with juicy sweet fruit. The 1998 La Coume Du Roy was amber in color with a nose of caramel, dark chocolate and dried figs. Nutty and mouthfiling with great balance. Very nice. The Mas Amiel Cuvee Speciale 10 Ans D’Age was brown with a nose of chopped nuts and figs with nuts and iron minerality on the finish. The 1999 Domaine Cazes was 100% Grenache Blanc and was similar to a 20 year Tawny. Amber in color with an oxidized, nutty nose and almonds on the finish.

Thursday night I attended a wine tasting at Union Square Wines located at 140 Fourth Avenue. The evening consisted of tastings of the wines of Robert Foley. Mr. Foley who was in attendance this evening, bottles wines under his label and has a hand in a few other labels as well.  The tasting began with a sit-down tasting of six wines followed by a walk around tasting of about a dozen others.

At the sit-down tasting we started with the Red Hook Winery 2010 “Macari Vineyard” Chardonnay. Golden in color with a nose of honey with vicious fruit of pineapple and honey with nice acids on the finish. If I would have tasted it bling I would have picked Cali. I thought it was a big wine.  The next wine was the Engel Family Vineyard 2008 Napa Valley Merlot. It was dark red with a bright dark cherry cocoa nose, very tight with an astringent finish. The 2006 Shelter Wine Company “The Butcher” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was black with a nose of herbs and black cherry, juicy and chewy with nice balance on the long finish. A very fruit forward, big wine.

The 2009 Dos Lagos Vineyard “Atlas Peak” Cabernet Sauvignon was dark with a nose of black cherry,  slate and baked bread with tight velvety fruit with a dusty and long finish. Very tasty. The 2008 Robert Foley “Claret” Napa Valley was dark red to black with dried herbs, black cherry and mint on the nose with firm and silky tannins on the finish. And the last wine at the sit-down portion of the event was Switchback Ridge 2004 Petite Sirah. Black in color with a huge nose of slate and black licorice, chewy and dusty with a nice mouthful of tannin at the end. Very big wine.

After the sit-down tasting food was brought out. It was a fine spread, BBQ ribs, Mac & Cheese and mashed potatoes, all delicious, hearty food that went well with the big wines we were drinking.

For the walk around part of the event we got to sample wines from various wineries that Foley has a hand in. Red Hook Winery poured their 2009 Seneca Lake Riesling, their 2009 Petit Verdot (Long Island) and their 2008 Cabernet Franc “Split Rock (Long Island).

A couple of excellent reds from Switchback Ridge, the 2008 Peterson Family Vineyards Merlot was dark with spicy fruit with a touch of oak and great balance while the 2008 Peterson Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon  was dark red to black with a nose of dark chocolate with tight silky fruit with great balance on the long finish. Very nice.

 

Robert Foley poured his 2010 Carneros Pinot Noir which was very extracted, dark and chewy for a Pinot with lots of cola flavors. Not my style of Pinot. I did enjoy the 2010 “Griffin” red blend. Black with a nose of bright stewed fruit, tight and velvety with a long finish.

I did try one white this evening, Shelter Vineyards 2009 Roussanne which was crisp with notes of herbs and green apples with the 15% alcohol peeking through at the end.

Overall it was a nice tasting of some big wines.

Wednesday afternoon I decided to take a road trip to the wineries out East. It’s been a while since I spent a weekday afternoon at the wineries and the vibe was much different than a weekend outing. For one thing many of the tasting rooms were closed Wednesday and at the ones I stopped by, I was the only customer in the place. But that’s OK since I don’t have to elbow my way to the tasting table and the pourers weren’t frazzled and cranky and I can have a chat with them about the wines.

 

First stop was at Shinn Estates Vineyards at 200 Oregon Road in Mattituck. There is a house dog, in the tasting room, a border collie who is very friendly and likes to chase things. On the weekends she has plenty of people to play with but since I was the only person in the tasting room this day, she was very attentive and frisky. While I was tasting the wines, she kept bringing whatever she could find around the room like branches in order for me to throw.

 

I had their 2011 unoaked Chardonnay which had nice tight fruit with crisp acidity on the finish. I also had their 2009 Estate Merlot with was dark in color and had a nose of cooked black cherries, smoky chocolate fruit with tongue tingling tannin and acids on the finish.

Next stop was Mattebella Vineyards at 46005 Main Road. It’s one of the newest tasting room to open out East and the room is a small cottage, a very small cottage and the flight consisted of six of their wines. I had the 2009 & 2010 Chardoannay. Both with minimal oak aging and I prefered the ’10 which had a nose of vanilla with a clean, crisp easy drinking finish. The 2011 Rose which is mostly Merlot with a bit of Cabernet Franc was Salmon colored with a nose of cherry pixie-stix with a clean, neutral finish. They poured the 2007 & 2008 Old World Blend which is a Bordeaux Blend.

Driving West bound the next winery was Raphel Vineyards at 39390 Main Road. Another of the newer wineries, this winery has the most distinctive tasting room out East. The place was built to look like a Tuscan Villa and it’s no accident that a lot of wedding receptions are held hereif fact every time I tried to stop by on a weekend the place was closed for a private affair, it’s a huge place.  I had their “Library Tasting”. The 2006 Petite Verdot was black with a nose of dusty, dark chocolate. The 2006 Malbec was dark with very tight fruit and a balanced finish and the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was black with a nose of dusty black cherry with very tight fruit with dropped at the finish.

Last stop was Pugliese Vineyards at 34515 Main Road. Pugliese is one of the founding wineries out East established in 1980. It’s a family run operation and there’s always a family member pouring in the tasting room. This day the matriarh and her daughter were doing the honors. It’s a quirky little winery that produces some decent sparkling wines usually poured out of hand-echted bottles and the only Sangiovese that I know on the island. The 2003 Blanc de Noir was crisp with good fruit and drinking nicely and the 2008 Estate Sangiovese was dark red with some juicy fruit.

This past Wednesday I attended an excellent tasting of wines from Napa Valley California with the Oakville designation. Oakville is a sub AVA of Napa Valley and has some prime real estate to grow good juice. Almost all of the wines at the event were red and most of those were Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Sauvignon based blends. The event was held at Carnegie Hall and there was a tasting for the trade in the afternoon and a consumer tasting later that evening.

I enjoy these theme tasting, all of the wines poured carried the “Oakville” AVA and it’s fun to try wines from various producers from a specific area. In general the reds were all big wines, dark and concentrated but not all were fruit bombs. Many showed some tight restraint with all that concentration. They were all good wines but I enjoyed some more than others, my favorites included:

 

 

 

 

Ramey Wine Cellars which poured their 2008 and the 2009 “Pedregal Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. Both nice wines with differend styles, the ’08 was tighter than the ’09 which was more fruit forward. Far Niente poured their 2005 and 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Robert Mondavi poured some nice juice, their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon “Reserve” and the 2009 Opus One were both excellent. Groth Vineyards poured their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon as well as their Reserve 2008 & 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Nickel & Nickel produces several single vineyard designation Cabernet Sauvignon, today I enjoyed the 2009 “Rock Cairn”. Turnbull poured a nice 2009 “Black Label” Cabernet Sauvignon. Spoto Vineyards poured their 2010 “Cuvee Lenore” Cabernet Sauvignon from a magnum and Franciscan Vineyards poured their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. Oakville Ranch Vineyards poured one of their library wines, a 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon which was drinking beautifully at this point

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Most wineries poured Cabernet Sauvignon but there were a few other varietals as well. Detert Vineyards poured a nice 2009 Cabernet Franc and Paradigm poured a 2009 Cabernet Franc as well. Swanson Vineyards poured a 2008 Merlot while Gargiulo Vineyards poured their 2009 “Aprile” which is mostly Sangiovese. This wine was definitely the lightest colored wine in the room, with a hint of the tar and violets that you would get from an Italian Sangiovese but with Cali fruit. It was a very nice wine in a roomful of outstanding California juice.

This past Wednesday afternoon I attended a tasting organized by the Rhone Rangers. According to their website the Rhone Rangers are a non-profit organization “dedicated to promoting American Rhone varietal wines and American rhone-style wines made from the same grapes that have flourished for centuries in France’s Rhone River Valley”. To become a member of the Rhone Rangers  the winery has to apply for membership and bottle a wine in which at least 75% of the wine content include one or more of the twenty-two traditional Rhone grape varieties as approved by the French government for the wines of the Cote du Rhone.

Most of the wineries were from California but Virginia and New York State were represented as well. The event was held at City Winery which is located at 155 Varick Street. There was a trade tasting in the afternoon and a consumer tasting later that evening. I attended the trade tasting and there was no better place to be during a snow storm than in-doors drinking good juice. The storm did keep people away though, the event wasn’t very crowded and I was told that the consumer tasting wasn’t very crowded as well. For eats they served the usual trio of salami, cheese and bread.

I like wines made from the Rhone varietals especially New World wines. Something different to drink than the usual Cabernet or Chardonnay. I tried whites made from Grenache Blanc, Roussane, Marsanne, PicPoul Blanc and Viogner. A lot of wineries bottle a Viogner but the other grapes aren’t bottled as a varietal too often and are used in blends. Some of the wines I liked:

From Tablas Creek Vineyard I had the 2011 PicPoul. It had a slightly closed, interesting nose of burnt rubber. Stark Wine 2011 Grenache Blanc”Saarloos Vineyard” had a nose of peaches and mango with moderate fruit and a smoky finish. Cypher Vineyards 2011 Grenache Blanc had a nose of white flowers and peaches, very dry with a crisp lemony finish. Villa Creek Cellars 2010 Roussanne had a nose of green fruit and mango and a full body. The  2009 Qupe Roussanne had a big nose of mango, peaches and hazelnuts. The 2008 Kenneth Volk Roussanne Paso Robles had a big nose of mango and cinnamon with full, firm fruit.

On to the reds. Ridge Vineyards poured a few of their reds. They source from old vine fruit and are know for their blends. I tried the 2010 Carignan “Buchignani Ranch” which is 100% old vines Carignan. I thought it was dry and tight with bright fruit. The 2010 Petite Sirah “Lytton Springs”  is a blend of four grapes and was black with a dry, dusty finish.  The 2008 Syrah/Grenache “Lytton Estate” had a nose of sour cherry and dried rosemary with balanced fruit and dried herbs on the finish. The 2007 Syrah “Lytton Estate” was black with a big nose of red roses and slate with silky fruit and great balance. Very tasty.

Tablas Creek Vineyard poured a 2010 Counoise. An obscure blending varietal from Southern Rhone that I’ve never seen bottled on its own, it was medium red with a nose of spicy cherry with tight fruit and a mouthful of tannin and acid. From Petrichor Vineyards the 2009 Syrah Blend “Les Trois” was chunky with silky tannins, black fruit and firm acids on the finish. From Qupe the 2009 Syrah Lindquist Vineyard “Sonnies” was medium red with a nose of new oak vanilla and pickles, with a velvety long finish.

Most of the wines were from Cali but a couple that were not stand out. Damiani Vineyards from the Finger Lakes in New York and Tarara Winery from Virginia. I’ve been to the Damiani’s tasting room on Seneca Lake a couple of times and I’ve enjoyed the wines especially their Pinot Noir. Today the poured their 2011 Syrah and their 2010 Reserve Syrah. The Reserve which was decanted was very nice, not in a big and lush Cali style but with tight concentrated fruit. Tarara Winery poured their 2010 “Leap XII” which is a GMS blend (grenache, mourvedre, syrah). Very old world with a big nose of smoky bacon fat, dried mushrooms and leather with silky, earthy fruit and great balance. Another tasty wine.

Makes me want to take a road trip to Paso Robles.

On Wednesday I attended Spain’s Great Match trade wine event which was held at the Metropolitan Pavilion located at 125 West 18th Street. The Met Pavilion hosts many events and I’ve attended many a wine tasting at this space.

The trade event was in the afternoon and there was a consumer event in the evening. I attended the trade portion of the tasting. It was a huge event with the usual charcuterie and cheese laid out for the trade, though the trade must have been very hungry since there was always a line at the food tables. One small room on the side was dedicated to wines from the Ribero del Duero, a wine region about 75 miles north of Madrid. Tempranello (local name Tinto Fino) is the big grape varietal in the region. Some of the Ribero del Duero wines I enjoyed included the 2007 Montecastro, the 2006 Callejo Reserva, the 2008 Tinot Pesquera Reserva, the 2006 Pagos Quintana Reserva and the 2001 Alenza Gran Reserva. At that part of the room they had a table with someone slicing bits of Iberico ham off a hock. That ham is outstanding and I spent a good part of the evening with a glass of red in one hand and a sliver of ham in the other.

I decided to sit-in at the Rioja seminar. It was hosted by the enthusiastic Steve Olson and they poured some very good juice. Eight Rioja wines were tasted as well as a sparking wine as a starter.

The starting sparkler was the 2011 Bodegas Muga “Muga Rosado”. It was light pink, dry and crisp. A nice wine to cleanse the palate after drinking all those reds at the main tasting.

The 2006 Bodegas CVNE “Contino Graciano” made with the Graciano grape which I was told represents only 2% of the plantings in Rioja. It was black with dusty, floral and oak on the nose with dry juicy fruit and good balance.

The 2008 Bodegas Palacios Remondon “Propiedad” was medium to dark red in the glass with a nose of sour graphite, tight fruit and sour black cherry on the finish.

The 2005 Baron de Ley Siete “Vinas Reserva” was one of my favorites of the flight. Dark in the glass, big nose of black fruits and slate, silky firm fruit and a long finish. Interesting and complex, very tasty.

The 2006 Familla Martinez Bujanda “Finca Valpiedra” Reserva was black with sweet mint and stewed fruit on the nose with tart fruit and a mouthful of tannin. I thought it was a little unbalanced.

The 2005 Bodegas Luis Canas “Hiru 3 Racimos” was another of my favorites. It was black with a slightly closed nose of pickle juice it was thick, juicy and silky with nice acids on the long finish.

The 2006 Finca Allende “Calvario” was black with a nose of black fruit and toast, tight plums on the long finish with a touch of heat at the end.

The 2005 Bodegas LAN “Culmen Reserva” was another favorite.  Black with a stinky nose of slate and pencil shavings with chewy, velvety fruit and great balance and grip on the long. Very nice.

The 2001 Vina Ardanza “Reserva Especial La Rioja Alta” was the last of the flight had a brick color with a nose of pickle juice with tart and tight fruit.

Last Saturday I attended the Grand Tasting event at the Food Network Food & Wine Festival being held around town. The event was held at the Hudson River Park Pier on W 15 Street. The place was huge, the size of an aircraft hangar and it was packed with thousands of festival goers. It was a zoo. Sort of like the subway during rush hour only more crowded.  I usually don’t have high expectations for these consumer events since they usually have a lot of mediocre wines. There were many restaurants serving bit size portions of food but you had to fight you way in to grab a bite. What food I got my hands on were pretty tasty though.

There were some decent wines at the event. I enjoyed the 2009 Goldeneye Pinot Noir and the  2009 Duckhorn Merlot.  Jordan Vineyards poured their 2010 Chardonnay and their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon which I enjoyed as well. Silverado Vineyards poured their 2007 Mt George Vineyard Napa Merlot which was excellent.

Afterwards I headed to the Standard Hotel to attend a vertical tasting of Fontanafreddas single vineyard “La Rosa” Barolos. Compared to the mostly mediocre wines at the fest, these wines were outstanding.

Six Barolo were poured.

The 2006 Barolo La Rosa  was medium red to dark red with a nose of dried rosemary. Big fruit with firm tannins I thought it could use some more time to balance out.

The 2005 Barolo La Rosa had a big nose of tar and leather with silky fruit with great balance on the finish. Delicious

The 2000 Barolo La Rosa was dark red to black with tar and black cherry on the nose. Unusual to get black cherry with a Barolo but that’s what I was getting. I thought the wine was drinking at its peak right now with good acidity on the finish.

The 1999 Barolo La Rosa was dark in color with a nose of stewed fruit and roasted nuts with firm tannins on the finish. I thought it was a little unbalanced.

The 1996 Barolo La Rosa was dark with a slightly closed nose of dried herbs and mint. Tight fruit with a long finish with crisp acidity.

The 1982 Barolo La Rosa was dark in color with a nose of stewed fruit and dried leaf. The fruit was big and silky with balanced tannins and acids. Wouldn’t hold on to it much longer but was drinking nicely now.

All the wines were excellent Barolos made in a fruit forward, new-world style. That’s not such a bad thing since Barolos can be tannin bombs when they are young.