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Sunday, January 17, 2016

'96 E. Pira (Chiara Boschis) Barolo Cannubi and '96 Prunotto Barolo Bussia

Decent stemware but not ideal for Barolo at a restaurant. Wines were slow-o'd for several hours but not decanted at the restaurant (but they should have been to help them open up).
Preferred the Cannubi from Chiara Boschis over the Prunotto Bussia. The Prunotto was darker in color and overall a bit more monolithic. Very nice fruit, earth, tar, roses but just seemed a bit heavy handed. Maybe with more bottle age it will evolve. 
The Cannubi was reticent at first, then began to blossom gracefully. It has that lightness of being that I look for in my favorite wines from Piemonte. Lilting florals, well balanced fruit. It continued to improve over the evening. 
The '10 Clerico Arte was the first time I've had that wine. Nice, well balanced but young.
To be honest, I am becoming more and more enamored of Barolo from the younger 2004 vintage in general, which I believe may eventually rival the classic 1990 vintage. 
Also poured was a very interesting white wine from South Africa, a '12 Sadie Family Old Vines T Voetpad. This is a heritage field blend of Semillon, Palomino,  Chenin Blanc and Muscat. An elegant, lighter bodied wine full of character. It reminded a bit of Borgo del Tiglio (again with lightness of being),  except the nose was sweeter with even a very slight hint of petrol.
The big surprise was the '05 Pax Syrah Alder Springs The Terraces from Mendocino. Co-fermented with 3% Viognier.  This was a pop and pour late in the dinner and it performed more than admirably - in fact, I loved it!  Gorgeous hints of iodine on the nose. Beautifully mellow fruit with just the right amount of game notes. Balanced at 13.9% abv. This is the second impressive showing I've had from older Pax syrahs in the past month (the first being the rare '03 Pangea bottling).

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