Saturday afternoon I was in Scarsdale, and stopped by Zachys for some sale 2000
Bordeaux. While there, took advantage of a tasting of Neil Empsons Piedmont
portfolio. I actually was in a hurry, and tasted/spit pretty fast. Between that
and the difficulties of tasting barrel samples of big wines, read with even
more skepticism than normal.

2002 Einaudi €œVigna Tec€� Dolcetto di Dogliani (16.99)
Dark fruit, moderate tannins, clean tasting. B

2001 Monti Barbera dAlba (31.44)
Ive never heard of this producer, but a nice smooth (though nicely acidic)
and spicy modern Barbera. B/B+ But $32?

2002 Conterno Fantino €œVignota€� Barbera dAlba (21.24)
Earthy, but muted fruit.B/B-

2001 Bongiovanni €œFaletto€� Rosso del Langhe (31.44)
Oaksoup, a blend of nebbiolo and barbera. C+

2001 Conterno Fantino Monpra (42.49)
Also oaky, but at least theres some offsetting acidity and fruit. B/B-

2001 Ca Rome Barbaresco (46.75)
Nice lighter Barbaresco, clean and elegant. B+

2001 Ca Rome €œMaria di Brun€� Barbaresco (55.25)
Bigger, more apparent oak, but good fruit and long finish. B+

2000 Marcarini €œBrunate€� Barolo (46.75)
Very good, ripe fruit, tobacco, and lots of tannins. B+/A-

2000 Marcarini €œLa Serra€� Barolo (46.75)
Surprisingly, this seems bigger than the Brunate (not what I expect). Big
tannic wine, needs lots of time, but great fruit, violets, and tar underneath,
seems very good. A-

2000 Einaudi Barolo
Nice balanced medium-bodied Barolo. B/B+

2000 Einaudi €œCannubi€� Barolo
More oaky/modern,.spicy, big. B+

2000 Bongiovanni Pernanno Barolo (59.50)
Modern at least as far as oak, but still has very hard tannins. B?

2000 Rome €œRapet€� Barolo
Definitely modern, but really quite nice with ripe red fruit and flowery nose.
B+/A-

2000 Conterno Fantino €œSori Ginestra€� Barolo
Closed, big. Not showing much.

2000 Monti €œBussia€� Barolo (93.50)
Dense and monolithic. Modern but will probably age well. B+

2003 Marcarini Moscato dAsti (10.19)
Sweet and easy, just the thing to wash away the tannin buildup. B

The La Serra was the one I was tempted by. In general I've been able to get
Marcarinis for less than $40. Will that happen with these? Between WS hype and
exchange rate, maybe not. But I hold off and just get the Bdx I came for.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B
a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party
where it was only choice
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Last year I was invited to an exclusive wine tasting where 8 aged barolos
were sampled. I believe the oldest was from the late 60's and the youngest
was 1984. As I said before, I dont know much about wines of the world but
the oldest wines were just about undrinkable. They were extremely oxidized
and smelled like acidic acid. The color must have dropped from them years
ago. While the company I was with was raving about how exciting and
flavorful they were I kept my mouth shut and was thinking to myself 'if a
winery outside of the Piedmont region and didnt have a reputation they would
have to dump this stuff down the drain'. The younger wines were fairly good
big reds. I recently drank a '97 barolo (not sure of the winery) but, to my
tastes, it was better than any of the aged wines.

Dale Williams > wrote:

: Saturday afternoon I was in Scarsdale, and stopped by Zachys for some sa=
le 2000
: Bordeaux. While there, took advantage of a tasting of Neil Empson=E2=80=99=
s Piedmont
: portfolio. I actually was in a hurry, and tasted/spit pretty fast. Betwe=
en that
: and the difficulties of tasting barrel samples of big wines, read with e=
ven
: more skepticism than normal.=20

<notes snipped>

Thanks Dale! I was going to ask if you were going to this and to post=20
notes if you did.=20

Mark S

Hi Dale,

Beginning March I was in the Alba region and I had the pleasure to meet
up with Manuel Marchetti of Marcarini. I tasted his Barolo La Serra and
Brunate of the 2000 vintage aswell. The Brunate was more closed than the
La Serra. I usually experience this with his Barolo's. I had exactly the
same sensation with the 1998 and 1999 vintage. The Brunate is somewhat
difficult to handle, but therefor more interesting. The La Serra is more
aproachable, masses of fruit and a long finish!

I also tasted the Barolo 2000 at Bartolo Mascarello. To my opinion; this
is a big wine! The best Barolo from this winery since 1995

Next to that I was invited by Chiara Boschis at her home, and I she gave
me some of her Canubbi 2000. Very modern Barolo. Normally I stick to
traditional Barolo's, but this Barolo is really outstanding. Maybe
Chiara's charme did the trick ;-) but I will defintately look for this
wine for putting into my cellar.

Ciao, Gio