West Coast Wine Network
Vineyards & Wineries
Promise Cabernet Sauvignon
Muscadine Wines
Three coins wine
Hooker wine
Another view from Chappellet
The view from Chappellet
Hooker Wines - Wine for Rugby lovers
Garnet Vineyards
Lawer Family Wines - Vineyard Estate Rentals in Calistoga
Chappellet Winery
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Topic Options
Rate This Topic
#387212 - 04-23-2017 08:55:54 TN: F. Pittatore - Azienda Agricola Ponte Rocca Vino Barolo 1971
fraser Offline
Local

Registered: 02-25-2004 00:27:03
Posts: 1111
Loc: Seattle
F. Pittatore - Azienda Agricola Ponte Rocca Vino Barolo 1971

13.5% / 720 ml

From the Ponte Rocca farm, produced by Francesco Pittatore. My informations tells me that Ponte Rocca is part of the Brunate vineyard that spans the towns of La Morra and Barolo. Ceretto made a Pittatore Cannubi around this time. Not sure if it is related or not.

Bottle looked pristine, with a graphic of a bridge or gate (Ponte Rocca) and vines beyond. I wonder whether this gate/bridge is still beside the Brunate vineyard today? The fill was good. Stood up for quite some time and opened and recorked several hours beforehand. Decanted just as we ate.

On opening, the nose was savory,with roses and strawberries in the mix with a hint of decay. A good start.

The first taste didn't really remind me of barolo, only mature red wine. It was ripe and tannic.

Later, it was very smooth, earthy with re-occurring cinnamon notes. Very nice. Concentrated nose/poignant. Extremely smooth, cool, warm, structure, cool again and more cinnamon. At the end, rich, lean and concentrated. Tons of thick sediment at the bottom.

Despite the notes this never really cracked the upper echelon of wine. A good not great wine that is on the downward slope, I think. Rather feminine and smooth, to the point of not being very barolo-like. I don't recall it being tannic despite the initial note. It lacked a bit of an edge and therefore wasn't quite the foil to the dinner (seared venison medallions) that barolo usually is. I have one more of this wine from the same source and I will decant it for an hour or two as this did improve as it was opened. Not alot but some improvement. It was fun to try a 1971 as I've never had much luck finding any.

Thanks
Fraser



Edited by fraser (04-23-2017 09:17:00)

Top
#388142 - 01-15-2018 11:23:59 Re: TN: F. Pittatore - Azienda Agricola Ponte Rocca Vino Barolo 1971 [Re: fraser]
fraser Offline
Local

Registered: 02-25-2004 00:27:03
Posts: 1111
Loc: Seattle
I had this again and despite my note below, it wasn't open as long as it should have been before dinner. This one was oxidized. I did not pour it out but bet that it was would get better with air. It did but it never lost the oxidized taste.

My wife called, "Chewy" and I called, "Savory". It was a one note wine. Smooth and somewhat interesting. Not as good as last time.

I probably won't be trying this producer again at this rate.

In the Wine Atlas of the Langhe by Slow Foods, they reference a Ponte Rocca that forms the NE (?) corner/boundary of the Brunate vineyard on the way to the Bricco Rocca vineyard to the East or North. It's not clear whether Ponte Rocca was actually in the Brunate vineyard or bordering.

Thanks
Fraser

Top


Misc. Stuff
Muscadine winegrapes
Muscadine wine collection
2010 Garnet Pinot Noir - Rodgers Creek Vineyard
Promise Wine
Dom Perignon
Chappellet Wine
Lawer Family Three Coins Wine
13 Blackbirds
Old Wine
2009 HdR Last Seminar
Newest Members
Jplotty, mws941, Emily, samishra, PippoMura
1693 Registered Users
Top Posters
Brad Harrington 13966
JFO 13065
TomHill 12127
Marshall Manning 10482
Florida Jim 7733
David Andreozzi 7157
blil 6251
Marc Hanes 5639
BEB 5444
Dave Dyroff 4867