Massolino, Barolo

Decanted couple hours before, showed very well. Red and black cherry, rose petal, anise, and just a hint of tar. Easy tannins, moderate acids, good length. B+

Brittle cork (ah so to remove it), fine deposit of some volume. Medium red, bricking on the edge. Opened clean though restrained. Ditto palate, though showed good nebb weight. Good balance. Probably contains a good chunk of Vigna Rionda. After an hour, showing lovely, complex richness. Ubiquitous rose petal perfume emerging. Middle palate fruit has filled out nicely - to my surprise. Whilst 1984 is a hallmark year for other reasons, it was considered a poor year for Barolo. 1/5. …

Absolutely over-delivers for the year. Smells of Indian spice, rusty nail, decaying rose and leather. The palate is so savoury, showing plant matter, blood, meat and soil characters. It has some balsamic lift, is gently astringent and such and engaging wine that draws you in with each sip.

At a wine dinner in NYC @ Marta. This was definitely showing some age on the color, with intense bricking all through. While the wine clearly had the tertiary aromatics of an older wine, it was totally alive and didn‘t fall apart over the course of the evening. Notes of dried flowers, leaves, some herbal notes, mushroom, also some soy sauce/loveage. It‘s medium-full bodied, lacks the depth of the very very best vintages, but is showing nice freshness with medium-high …

This was drinking beautifully. Pop-n-pour. The nose was powerful and filled with scents of rose potpurri, eucalyptus, spices, mineral scrub, and dried cherry. On the palate, the tannins were firm but weren’t harsh and the spiciness/herbal notes on the nose followed the palate. Nice length on the finish. This is in a lovely place right now.

I gave this an hour or two in decanter before returning to bottle. Lots of tannin, but not harsh, moderate acids. Good black cherry fruit, tar and flowers, good finish. No apparent oak . This was young and needs time, but enjoyable. B+

Super wine, I am surprised no one has rated this since 2007. I think this is approaching peak drinking now with a classically restrained nose of rose petals, licorice, and cedar. Wine is still high on the tannins, and the acidity is in balance with the fruit which is not overly present. While this is a "modern" producer by reputation, this wine would pass for a more traditional producer as all elements are very well integrated at this point. Despite …

Modern style, huge wine and still massively tannic but the fruit is there and this will be excellent in a few more years I think.

Trip to Italy 2006 (part 4); 6/19/2006-6/22/2006 : Nose of raisin and prune. Young, vibrant. Very dark and thick for a barolo, but still clearly a barolo when you get to the nose and palate. Not integrated at this pount but clearly has years to run. Cedar, cherries, and bigger fruit.