Notes from a tasting hosted by Aldo Vacca in August-2002.
Langhe Nebbiolo 2000
Brick-red colour. Fruity nose, lightly floral and earth. Good body. Quite fruity nebbiolo with good concentration. More tobacco-scented in the mouth. High in acid. Medium to little tannins in the back for this grape. Very good QPR.
Barbaresco 1997
Lighter and more brown than the Langhe nebbiolo. At first a bit shy nose. Hints of wet forest, quite warm fruit and some VA. Medium bodied. Lower concentration than the Langhe. Some developed complex wet forest-aromas. Good acidity. Some tannins in the back. Good, but not impressive. Drinks fine now.
Barbaresco Riserva Pora 1997
Brick-red. Darker than the "normale", browner than the "Langhe". Nice cherries and stoney fruit. Light earth and tar. Fuller in the mouth than the "normale", but this was the lightest of the riservas. Nice sour-sweet cherry-fruit. Kind nebbiolo with good acidity and light tannins. Nice wine and drinkable now.
Barbaresco Riserva Rabaja 1997
Same colour as the Pora. Lightly cherryish nose with hints of earth. More concentrated in the mouth than the Pora in a quite sweet and fruity style. Light hints of forest. Backed with good acidity and some more tannins. Very good. Needs a bit more aging. The most fruity of the riservas.
Barbaresco Riserva Asili 1997
Same colour as the Rabaja. Lightly cherryish and quite cooked nose. Light spices. Good body. Very soft entry in the mouth. Fruity, but warmer, not so well focused as the Rabaja. Less acidity. Some tannins in the back. Try to age it another 2-3 years, but this was very disappointing.
Barbaresco Riserva Paje 1997
Less brick, more pink colour, than the others. Quite intence nose of cherries, light minerals, red berries. Good body. A bit closed in the mouth. Good concentration. Nice focus. Highest acidity of all the wines gives this a particular long taste. A bit simple, fruity now, with some minerals behind. Needs more time. Not very tannic. Very good.
Barbaresco Riserva Moccagatta 1997
Brick-red colour. Typically "cool-fruit"-nose. Actually the only 97 that did not show signs of a very hot vintage. Elegant and very mineral nose. More stoney than earthy. Lightly floral and hints of cherries. Good body. Good concentration. Elegant. Floral (roses) and stoney fruit. Greatly balanced with fine acidity and quite tannic end. Needs time. The most impressive wine of the day with a solid margin.
Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo 1997
Brick-red colour, a tad more browning than the Moccagatta. A bit closed in the nose. Slighly hot fruit. Some minerals, more earthy, some cherries. Good body in the mouth. Good concentration, but a bit simple and too hot. Good acidity. Quite tannic end. Needs time, a little disappointing.
Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 1997
Brick-red colour, a tad bluer than the Rio Sordo. Closed nose at first. With some time this showed hints of darker fruit and quite much tar. Some earth. Closed in the mouth. Good concentration. Fruity, but with darker fruit. Good acidity. Tannic end. The most tarry wine of the night. Therefore the one that reminded me most of Barolo. Hard to judge at this stage.
Barbaresco Riserva Montefico 1997
Same colur as the Ovello. Closed on the nose. With time showed more minerals and some tar, but less than the Ovello. Hints of spices. Powerful and tannic in the mouth. A bit simple fruit at this stage, but more mineral and better focus than the Ovello. Lower acidity. Seems to have a good balance. Perhaps a bit too overripe, but could develop nicely with 5 more years of aging.
Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano 1997
Same colour as the Montefico. The most closed and tannic wine of the evening. This was very hard to judge, but the fruit seemed to be a bit more earthy than the Montefico and with some hints of cherries. A bit cleaner and purer than both the Ovello and the Montefico. Good acidity and very tannic end. Needs 5 more years. The second best wine of the day, but a huge step after the Moccagatta.
Arnt Egil Nordlien
August-2002