TN: Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina 1989

Posted by: fraser

TN: Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina 1989 - 10-18-2019 19:19:54

TN: Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Corda della Briccolina 1989

13.5% Imported by Winebow, NY

Batasiolo has a reputation as a lower tier large producer. The 1995 Barolo from them was really great 3 or 5 years back - I would been happy had I paid twice the amount. A great blend like from the old days.

From the label: "The Briccolina vineyard is on a south-west exposed hill in the Commune of Serralunga d'Alba - 400 metres above the sea level.
Since 1987, its grapes are vinified separably. At the end of malolactic fermentation, part of the new wines got refined in Allier oak Barriques for two years before being bottled in April 1989"

The "A Wine Atlas of the Langhe" says, "deserves to be recognized as an outstanding cru....the vineyard includes a superb plot, known as Corda della Briccolina, all of which is south-facing...the nebbiolos of Briccolina are excellent. For many years they were purchased by Dottor Giuseppe Cappellano, who admired their ability to imbue the wine with a remarkable intensity of aroma". Borders the Ornato vineyard. There are now a few other producers making Briccolina.

The backstory is that I had the 1990 Briccolina early on and found it so bifurcated/bifurcating. Because half the wine is made traditionally and half was made in a modern/new world style and then mixed together, one sip was my absolute favorite style of barolo (classic Serralunga) and the next was a new world taste that was sometimes good but anonymous and other times very dissipated and dull.

So 19 years later I wondered what I would think of the 1989.

"Nose - concentrated, sweet, fresh w/ rose and cinnamon. Wine - picks up quickly from light & slightly intense to more full-bodied, balanced, elegant, no oak.

Takes on more depth all around. Cool menthol. Very nice but a bit thin. Very smooth. Black cherry. Slightly dry & austere. A couple of "whoa" moments. Getting concentrated. Very nice, very smooth & resolved. Not typical. Intensity & concentration is up. Mouthfeel - mouvedre-like. Gaining complexity. Fantastic combo with meal."

I'm not sure why I didn't mention it in my notes above but this wine also was very bifurcated - some "whoa" moments and some "non-traditional" or thin moments - back and forth the whole bottle. Not sure I would have recognized it as barolo tasted blind. But if you check out the pictures of this wine, it could really have a storage problem. Looks like a Katrina wine. So maybe a badly treated bottle. So, hard to make a call on this wine based on this bottle. I have two more in similar shape. We'll see.

I recently read in the United flight magazine about Jean Georges Vongerichten and he said his Mom taught him to make a sauce that was three times as flavorful as the meat/fish it would be paired with. My sauces are usually a weak point so for this dinner I really reduced the sauce much further than usual and this was one of my most flavorful dinners ever, reminding me of a great restaurant. The dinner, boneless quail stuffed with porcini, sage and prosciutto was riveting and pre-occupied me for quite some time, especially with the wine, which matched perfectly. Fantastic experience.

Thanks
Fraser