Elio Grasso, Barolo, Ginestra Casa Mate

Good solid Barolo, drinking well and offering up a nice drink. Classic earthy fruit profile with a pretty rustic edge, entering mid life. Drink or hold.

2008 vintage

90 minute decant. Nose of dark cherry, rose water, damson, and a touch of nail polish. Tongue coating palate of cooked plum, chocolate, rhubarb, beef jerky, and gentle oak. Firm tannins, tanned leather, fig, and baked earth on the finish. Nice wine, albeit not gentle or caressing. Paired well with a rich mushroom risotto, with score based on tang. Liked it less on its own.

2008 vintage

Tasted blind. Didn’t immediately present as barolo for me, but the colour roses and tar give it away ultimately. Having said that this style is very much full bodied noting that the tannins are fully resolved and yet it could go on for a number of decades I expect.

2008 vintage

1.5 hour decant, showing well. Youthful but open.

2008 vintage

Other posts are correct. 2-3 hour decant was perfect There is still a lot of time left here. Acids were singing, the structure remains strong with lots of fruit character still present. Thrilled with this wine, drinking well now and over the next 10 years without a doubt

2008 vintage

Stood up for weeks, decanted off a small amount of sediment. Light-med ruby; high intensity aromatics, strawberry, roses, elegant; palate is light bodied, high alcohol (a bit showy), high intensity tannins but very well integrated, high acidity, youthful strawberry fruit, just slight soy/mature character; finish is medium-plus. A very nice Barolo, showing the elegance of the 2008 vintage with a slight bit more heat than expected but still very nice. The aromatics are really nice here. 93

2008 vintage

This is a lovely wine - soft and elegant but still holding true to its Barolo core. Soft tannins that only really show up on the finish. Medium-plus acidity. Black plum, black cherry. A nose of cherry and menthol. The nose was more subdued than expected. Decanted for two hours and it improved the wine. Great fun to drink.

2008 vintage

Stood up for weeks, decanted off 1-2oz fine sediment. Light-medium ruby, clear; aromatic, red fruited, slight spice, some floral; light bodied, high integrated tannin, high alcohol (15%) but well balanced, high acidity, integrated fruit, very slight savory soy but still largely fruit driven; medium length finish. This is a very nice barolo, at a good age, defined by its impeccable balance and structure, lacking only a bit in the complexity that I would look for from a wine that needs …

2008 vintage

Just excellent. Classic Barolo. End of drinking window now. Showing tons of age.

2000 vintage

1.5 hour decant. Nose of dried black cherry, rose petals, wet slate, and notions of birch bark. Palate delivers layers of black fruit skins with dried mint, tobacco leaf, and lush velvety tannins with a touch of hard candy. Red currant, a touch of blueberry, and granite on the finish as the tannins dry out and get thinner, with light leather and oak as the currant lingers with acidity. Singing!

2008 vintage

Piemonte (Barolo & Barbaresco) tasting (at Etti Lavian) : Aromas: rich multifaceted bouquet, notes of licorice, tar, menthol, spices, and crushed rocks. Additional layers include pine, smoke, anise, new leather, and violets, contributing to its aromatic complexity. Palate: full-bodied and juicy, intense flavors and a long finish. It exhibits a mineral and stony character, with hints of volcanic salt, adding to its distinctive profile. Finish: long fleshy finish, flavors of tar, menthol, licorice, and spices wrapping around the palate, leaving …

2008 vintage

Double decanted and taken to dinner at Lola’s Bistro in Key West. Amazingly silky and smooth. Wonderful nose that just goes on and on with menthol, cherry, roses, and layers of earthy elements. Such length and depth and an amazing finish. Very Pinot Noir-ish. Wonderful purity and precision. Gorgeous moderate decant is sufficient.

2000 vintage

Oxidized af.

2000 vintage

Very happy with this wine. And probably a step up from the Gavarini. In a big mixed lineup but put up next to the 07 Casa Mate in a flight. Both were wonderful and hard to pick. The 08 is more structured and serious and was winning early but the 07 caught up to it. Very good fruit and spices. Open for business but could improve for sure. I wouldn't hesitate to crack one now if you have multiple, just …

2008 vintage

Incredible bouquet of crushed cherry candy, strawberries, flowers, tarr, pipe tobacco. Very smooth, sweet, round palate, ripe red berries, fine tannins and some freshness, quite soft with air and on day two, nice sweet, tannic, bitter and salty elements on the finish. Great Barolo, probably even better in 3-5 years (or with a long decant / split across two days).

2008 vintage

Very impressive, classy Barolo. Surprisingly primary in color and flavor profile. Wonderful fruit, excellent balance. A full body that glides across the palate. The tannins appear at the back end but are integrated so well. Drinking perfectly now and will continue to develop beautifully. My only bottle sadly.

2008 vintage

This wine surprised me because I expected it to be over the hill. Man, it definitely was not. The nose was intoxicating with a really solid element of fruit still. Strawberry, red currant, mushroom, tar, and a hint of truffle are apparent here. This wine is at its peak. Drink now or forever hold your peace.

2000 vintage

Consistent with previous note. Lovely elegant floral character on the nose of this. Beautiful dry fine tannins. Gorgeous, very fine.

2008 vintage

2008 Barolo Tasting : The Grasso seems like it's going to age into a nice Barolo, but I found it a bit difficult to approach right now. There is a lot of fruit in this wine, but I find quite a bit of oak influence in the aromatics that is distracting. I know that this wine doesn't actually see new wood, but supposedly Grasso strips the barrels in between uses. I find these oak-like notes to be more apparent on …

2008 vintage

This is killer. Super aromatic, fresh, wonderful acidity (and therefore balance). Incredible.

2008 vintage

Deep garnet, emanating scents of candied rose petals, leather, molasses, grilled black cherries, menthol, sweet tobacco, and granite. Sweet and intoxicating. The medium bodied anise and spicy cherry syrup-leather palate is perfect with cured meats and pungent foods. Drinking nicely at present.

2008 vintage

Leather cherries and roses on the nose, a bit leathery in the palate. Still some red fruit as well but this is developed a little more than I expected. Still a tasty mature Barolo that I’m not sure is destined for future greatness. Vintage weakness or bottle variation?

2000 vintage

Large Coravin pour in 2 glasses served blind with a friend. Tasted after 30 minutes or so in the glass and over about another 90 minutes. This bottle seemed a little tired compared to my previous notes. It showed some bricking, and a raisin/prune overtone that did fade a bit with air. Some metallic notes on the nose, perhaps iron or rust. Floral essence only come out a little later in the period. Acidity is decent but palate texture is …

2000 vintage

Notes of rose, leather, and dark cherry. Decanted for 2 hours. Still fairly big, and much better with food.

2008 vintage

Enjoyed this more than my prior bottle. 6-7 hours in the decanter ahead of dinner. Certainly rich and ripe in this vintage but with good floral and balsamic accents. Plenty of structure remaining, so still lots of peak drinking ahead, but this was just right with the air and pairing with roast lamb.

2000 vintage

W og meg🍷😀

2005 vintage

Gorgeous nose, floral spice and wood, pure cherry fruit. Elegant on the palate, lots of acidity, fine tannins, lots of energy. Superb.

2008 vintage

90 minutes to open at Oakleaf with Stuart, then beautiful

2008 vintage

PnP, consumed over 4 hours. Appearance: Clear, medium garnet - solid from core to the rim, no edge bricking. Nose: Clean, medium+ intensity with developing aromas of sour cherry, cranberry, cinnamon, tar, venison, leather, and rose petal - complexities abound here. Palate: Dry, medium+ acid, medium+ tannin shows some delayed grippiness, medium body, medium+ intensity, 15.0% abv is noticeable but not distracting with developing flavors of sour cherry, cranberry, game, and spice with a medium+ finish. Balance: Excellent - hard …

2008 vintage

What a stunning bottle of wine. Gorgeous, lifted aromatics and a wine that just floats across your palate. Fantastic elegance and persistence. Early drinking window, I think there's still room for development and for the tannins to resolve a touch more. Straddling secondary and tertiary right now. If you have a bunch, there's no harm in enjoying one now. Drink over the next 10+ years. 96+, may eventually move a notch or two higher.

2008 vintage

ESTG does Piemonte (West Seattle, WA, USA) : Herbal, cherry, tar, explosive, just wonderful, really fantastic. One of my favorites on the evening.

2000 vintage

Opened the bottle around lunchtime and drunk over dinner with family next to the Gavarini Chiniera of the same vintage. From memory. For this the tarry character was dominating the nose, at the beginning in an almost unpleasant way. But with time it improved and even acquired some grace. On the palate this was bold, firm and powerful. At the beginning I enjoyed the elegance of the Gavarini Chiniera more, but the last sips after dinner of this one showed …

2008 vintage

Drinking beautifully now.

2008 vintage

This was outstanding. tannins attenuated. compared to Vietti Rocche and Brunate from 2005 which were very tannic even on day two.

2008 vintage

From 750ml. Pretty disappointed with this showing. Might be bottle variation as this bottle was procured from the secondary market. That said, if you are sitting on some in the cellar it might be time open a bottle and make a determination for yourself. To my taste it is time to drink up.

2005 vintage

An absolutely beautiful bottle of aged Barolo. Crushed berries, plums, anise, and a beautifully perfumed bouquet. Wonderfully fresh while still showing maturity. The tannins were still there, but well integrated.

1989 vintage

The 2000 Grasso Casa Mate is a gorgeous wine that I believe is drinking at around peak today, but is unlikely to fall off a cliff anytime soon. On the nose, I found dark fruit, balsamic, sweet spices, menthol, and dark chocolate. On the palate, I found a similar flavor profile with a rush of dark fruit and balsamic spice, leading into notes of licorice and menthol on the finish. The wine was medium to full-bodied and concentrated but with …

2000 vintage

Translucent rusty ruby color. Nose of rose petal, ferric notes, tar, earth, leather. Foundational and layered on the palate with blackberry, sweet plum, asphalt, and lots of gravitational pull. Freshening acidity and firm tannin. Long finish of granite-like structure cut with blue fruit and lashes of firm grip. The end with Domino’s pizza on the prom at Seaside, OR.

2000 vintage

undoubtedly a well made wine - a big wine with a substantial tannic floor, I find it difficult to assess where it will go from here

2005 vintage

Very nice, semi-mature Barolo. Delicate and aromatic. A little low on the fruit, wouldn’t wait too long.

2005 vintage

San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline al tartufo, 1/18/2020 (Solare Restaurant, Liberty Station, Point Loma, San Diego CA) : Clear dark ruby-garnet red color. Glorious bouquet of pomegranates, cherries, blackberries, leather, mocha, dark baking spices, stony soil. Similar on the palate, full body, seamless, beautiful balance, polished tannins, lingering finish. At prime now with a decant, with decades of potential. My #2.

2005 vintage

Private evening with friends : Glass: Zalto Bordeaux Perfect bottle (fill level, cork). Clear, beautiful glowing ruby tawny color. Clean, medium+ intense herbaceous nose at its full peak. Rose petals, red fruit, menthol. Dense, complex and multi layered. On the palate also a wonderful experience: Acidity, tannin and alcohol are beautifully balanced. Very juicy and drink animating Barolo. Lots of red fruit, cooling menthol, herbs. Dense and long. This bottle was for me at its full peak, but no need …

1989 vintage

Great window, still very fresh. Very floral; lavender, anise and classic tar flavors and aromas. Beautiful Barolo.

2000 vintage

Nice wine, but I waited too long for this one.

1989 vintage

has hit a nice drinking window cherries/dark fruit and mild spices with a nice earthy backbone others liked the 2005 lascombes better, but what do they know?

2005 vintage

Complex nose of ried flowers, rose petal, red berries, and burnt orange peel. Tart cherries with lingering acidity on the palate. Tannins are soft but extremely drying and present. Good finish. Needs some time to integrate the tannins, right now they are too dominant to fully enjoy the wine by itself (may be better with food, though). 92-93+

2005 vintage

Another great bottle of this wine. Decanted about an hour before the first tastes and drunk over the next several hours. Medium to dark garnet color with no sign of age. Nose is effusive with red fruit earthy mushroom and rose petals. Tannins are fully integrated with decent acidity remaining. Silky smooth mouth feel with cherry, raspberry, red plum and so many earthy nuances ranging from mushroom and truffle to cedar and pipe tobacco. Very long finish as well. Gorgeous!

2000 vintage

Nice. Mostly tar and leather and dark fruits. Tannins surprisingly integrated, but still quite present. Holds onto the finish well.

2005 vintage

this wine was singing, lovely complexity, great pairing with the pork loin.

2005 vintage

In the midst of its preferred plateau; youthful, vigorous and complex. Some tawny at the med+ garnet rim. VA for the first 10 minutes, then red, chalky fruits tinged with soil and light savory notes. The palate is med>full, well-lifted and rather structured for the vintage. Classy entry offers a gentle, subtle sweetness to the core of pure, fresh fruit; good>very good length. By the final glass, some pomegranate and citrus has developed on the nose, along with some added …

2000 vintage

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Elio Grasso, Barolo, Ginestra Casa Mate

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