I read my tasting note after standing this wine up and given how unenthused I was, I was going to open it for a weeknight dinner. I thought better of it and that was the right decision!

This was a very nice wine. It even got the thumbs up from my wife, a good sign. It was a very old world presentation with mostly structure and acid, with some lively spicy notes and a little cinnamon/cloves. Kind of no fruit and that worked really well. Lots of impact. Not a shy wine. No sign of modern anything. Reminds me of the 1990 Marchesi di Barolo Sarmassa made by Sandrone in it's burgundian style and also of the deft winemaking here. Rereading the original tasting notes and based on my recent experience, I can see a description of a wine in transition, one that is still too young and hasn't come together yet. Expresses the vintage well. The last Monvigliero I had (1990 Terre del Barolo Riserva) was super-ripe by contrast - an expression of that vintage.

So pleasantly surprised by this wine. This wine could hang on for a long time and improve, I think. A few sips the next day were not degraded in any way. While writing this, I noticed there was one drop left in the bottle, a week later. It is pretty darn good! Improved. Sebaste no longer sources these vineyards - I hear that there was a conflict of some sort and he had to start over with new sources of fruit.

Paired with partridge in some sort of a colonial recipe - was just fair.

Thanks
Fraser