It is with the end in sight that we file into the Ampelion for Thursday's penultimate tasting of the trip: seventy-or-so Baroli from La Morra and Monforte. As I sit down and leaf through the wines to come, I am expecting a stark contrast between the two communes, juicy and luscious from La Morra and bigger, more structured wines from Monforte. The only two 2007 Barolis I've had in America so far have been from La Morra and both have been extremely delicious, punchy wines with both lovely, elegant fruit and life on the back end. The prognosis for today's tasting is very positive.
But what happens, of course, is a lot more complicated. La Morra, like apparently the rest of Barolo, is a mixed bag. Ripe, underripe, overripe.....2007, despite the press, was no slam dunk.
What most had in common, interestingly enough, were descriptors involving coffee...in fact, by the end of the La Morra portion of the tasting, I was calling today 'Starbuck's Thursday.'
There was burnt coffee, espresso, roasted, spiced coffee, fig coffee, cherry coffee, peach coffee and even something I called celery coffee (don't get any ideas Starbuck's- it's not a good combination). There was latte, chai, even the odd caramel macchiato. And, no, I wasn't particularly in need of a cup a Joe when I sat down this morning. I don't even drink the stuff.
All that coffee seems to be a feature of these wines no matter the relative ripeness. Early in the tasting, as we plowed through lesser crus and village wines, that coffee in the nose and its related coarseness on the palate was very pronounced. It was in the early going where celery coffee and the peach macchiato were created! It was as we crawled into the better sites from top-quality producers where descriptors like fig, marzipan, cherry confit and cinnamon began to supplant all that damned coffee. But, even then, the coffee merely became mocha! Having said all this- and not being a coffee drinker myself- I liked if not loved- a lot more wines today than previously. The best have that bright snap I find myself craving when the fruit gets riper and more dominant. In fact, my list of favorite La Morra wines is quite long:
2007 Mario Marengo Barolo La Morra: I actually have this one in the shop already and, today, it is the first after nine straight ho-hum wines that I could call complete. Stylish, classically La Morra and very well balanced. ***
2007 Renato Ratti Barolo Conca: no surprise here. ***
2007 Bosco Agostino Barolo La Serra: Who? Here come the figs and if you can get around some big tannins, this is a very good wine.***
2007 Cascina del Monastero Barolo Bricco Luciani: Another new one on me. Complete and balanced. ***
2007 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Monfalletto-Gattera: Earns a mention here even though its roasted coffee tannins seemed to detract from an otherwise stylish wine. Revisit. **+
2007 Michele Chiarlo Barolo Cerequio: This too gets a mention because it is indicative of a problem I see around Barolo where the wines are 'good' but simply lack panache. Well balanced, perfectly ripe, nice oak but........ **+
2007 Rocche Costamagna Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata: This lover boy and the Gagliasso below make me wish I could taste more wines from this absolutely great spot down the La Morra hill. ***
2007 Mario Gagliasso Barolo Rocche dell'Annunziata: Dark, dramatic, a Turkish coffee blend where everything else is 'Bucky's ***
2007 Ceretto Barolo Bricco Rocche Brunate: Now here is the flair I've been missing. fig coffee and all the condiments too!***
2007 Vietti Barolo Brunate: Knocked down by big tannins and what I suspect will be a big price. Outsized and made to be reckoned with. **+
2007 Andrea Oberto Barolo Vigneto Brunate: The third wine so far from this ultra modern producer who is clearly in love with his French barriques, is the charm. This one has enough fruit to be delicious. ***
What a difference a few kilometers makes. Down the La Morra hill and up the other side is Monforte d'Alba. Gone are La Morra's blue clay, pebbles and sand and say hello to redder, harder stuff that makes, well, redder, harder wines! I am not sure what to make of the Monforte lineup today as there are so many important wines from this appellation not represented today. Here's Grasso's Gavarini, for example, but not Case Mate and the absence of producers like Clerico, Conterno-Fantino, Scavino and host of others makes it hard to establish in my mind how much Monforte has actually achieved in 2007. Still, the descriptors are there. I wrote used words like ferrous, blood, fennel seed, scorched earth, cinnamon, cloves, tar and bitter almond (no, not cyanide) at one time or another over the next couple of dozen wines and, with the caveat that we won't taste Serralunga until tomorrow, these might be the best-structured wines for the longer haul in Barolo. As I taste through, I get hints of 1996 with flashes of the rounder but even-keeled 1998s thrown in for good measure. But, again, some are short on style...that panache that makes them memorable. Again, if only there were some benchmarks in here, we'd know better. My stand outs included:
2007 Abbona Marziano Barolo Pressenda: Oaky for sure but here is the Monforte Barolo carved in beautiful relief. ***
2007 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera: This has always been my third favorite of the Grasso wines and if it is this good, what must the Case Mate be like? *** (I don't know if they are making a Runcot in 2007-forgot to ask)
2007 Mauro Veglio Barolo Castelletto: I search each category for a benchmark wine, one that shows all the attributes- positive or negative- of the area and this is it for Monforte. Not the most stylish wine in the world but the pieces are all there. **+
2007 Prunotto Barolo Bussia: Juicy, intense, balanced- even silky- and very easy to love.
2007 Parusso Armando di Parusso Barolo Bussia: Oak contributes rather than hinders here as it's a ruddy, brooding wine with an almost too intense array of Monforte flavors. ***
2007 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Vigna Cappella di Santo Stefano: This is a big boy that will blow your doors in if it ever grows into its outsized tannin. ***?
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