Barolo 1999 VS. 2001 Blind at New York Vintners, NYC (9/12/2014)
This dinner was organized though the discussion forum on
Antonio Galloni's Vinous
by Tony Kim who made all the arrangements for the venue and the excellent food
(prepared by Chef Ryan Smith).
Everyone sent me a list of Barolo in their cellar so that I could create a theme.
Looking at what people had, I saw an opportunity to compare two highly regarded Barolo vintages:
1999 and 2001. There had been some negative reports on 2001 and some positive on 1999, so
I saw this as a chance to see for ourselves with many of the best producers.
The venue was the cellar room two floors down from the main shop of
New York Vintners.
Our wines and food service were managed by
Sommelier Charles Springfield
who did a terrific job.
We all had a great time eating, drinking, and conversating.
A word about "blind" in the title.
Everyone knew that the wines were all Barolo from the 1999 and 2001 vintages.
They also knew that each flight corresponded to one producer and one wine from
that producer in these two vintages.
The one exception was that the 2001 Ca was included in the Monprivato flight along
with the 99 and 01 Monprivato, but no 1999 Ca was made, so we had 3 in that flight.
So for each wine someone brought, he knew that one flight contained his wine and
its peer from the other vintage, but he did not know which flight that was until the unveiling.
We did 2 unveilings: one after Flight 4, then another at the end.
In theory, anyone who brought Giacosa knew there had to be one flight of Giacosa in the
last two flights, but I'm not sure anyone but me knew they were both Giacosa.
In my case, I knew all the wines and all the flights, but
once I organized which wines went into each flight,
I had Charles choose the order within the flight, so I did not know which was the 99
and which was the 01 in each flight, but I was able to guess correctly in most cases knowing
the character of these two vintages.
All wines were double decanted around 10am with some left open longer.
Dinner began a little after 7pm and ended close to midnight.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Leaving my hotel and seeing the new World Trade Center.
The front of NY Vintners. Our dinner was two floors below.
Marc & Tony setting up in the spacious cellar room.
More people photos are together at the bottom of the page.
Appetizers with Champagne and the First Two Flights
The lower right is a Hudson Valley Foie Gras Mousse with Sea Salt and Gingered Apples on top.
Champagne Starter
NV Gaston Chiquet Champagne Tradition Brut 1er Cru - France, Champagne
[Tony] [Magnum disgorged in April 2013.] Big yeasty nose. Light and full in the mouth.
Quite complex and delicious. I like this a lot. (94 points)
Flights 1 and 2
Flights 1 and 2 were served together with the appetizers pictured above.
I told everyone that the first 2 wines were
Flight 1 and the last 3 formed Flight 2.
Flight 1: Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
2001 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Iggy] Dark black cherry nose. Tight, tannic, but with gorgeous complex red fruit.
An ethereal wine with just enough structure and harmony that should drink well for
at least 20 years more. I correctly guessed that this was the 2001. (96 points)
1999 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Tony] Gorgeous black and red fruit nose. Full in the mouth, sweet and juicy.
A yummy juicy wine, thicker and softer than A, so it was easy to guess that this was the 1999.
(95 points)
Flight 2: Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo Monprivato
2001 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Ca d'Morissio Riserva Monprivato -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Ben] Really tight and backward nose, but so complex with the brooding black fruit characteristic
of the Ca bottling. I correctly guessed that this was the Ca, and hence the 2001 since there
was no Ca in 1999. This will probably be best in 10 years and beyond. (96 points)
1999 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Tony] Incredibly dark black fruit nose. Brooding and backward.
I had trouble guessing whether this was the 01 Monprivato or the 01 Ca,
but never thought it was the 99.
I guess the Ca fruit went into the 99 Monprivato making it more like the Ca.
Anyway, this is probably the most backward of the 99's so far. A terrific wine.
(95-97 points)
Flights 3 and 4
Risotto with Italian Summer Truffles
Flights 3 and 4 were served together, but everyone knew that the first 2 wines were
Flight 3 and the next 2 formed Flight 4.
Flight 3: Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste
1999 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Jamie] Heavenly nose of earth mulch, black fruit and truffles. Rich and expansive in the mouth.
Maybe the best of all the great wines so far. Great stuff.
I correctly guessed that this was the 1999. (97 points)
2001 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Ken] Black cherry and truffle nose. Very tannic and structured.
A backward beast, but there is plenty of fruit here.
A wine to leave alone for 10 years or more. (94-96 points)
Flight 4: Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia
1999 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Ben] Sweet red fruit nose. Perfumed and exotic in the mouth. A complex melange of flavor.
A stunningly great wine giving a load of joy tonight. WOTN so far.
I correctly guessed that this was the 1999. (98-100 points)
2001 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Iggy] Very tannic and backward. The first wine that is actually hard to drink tonight,
but the potential is great. (95-98 points)
Flights 5 and 6
Cinnamon Braised Osso Buco with Milled Polenta and Black Truffle
Flights 5 and 6 were served together with everyone knowing that the first 2 bottles were
Flight 5 and the last 3 bottles formed Flight 6. Only I knew that they were all Giacosa.
Flight 5: Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto
1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Ken] Earthy mulchy nose. Tannic and backward, but there is some gorgeous fruit hiding in there.
This one I was sure was the 01 given how tannic and unyielding it was. (94 points)
Flight 6: Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto
1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
There were 2 bottles of this same wine.
Bottle 1:
[Ben] Heavenly nose. Sunning in the mouth. Sweet and forward, this must be the 99.
Huge upside for this wine.
Bottle 2:
[Eric] Very backward at first and quite tannic. Long, long finish. Cardamom and other spices.
At first this was much tighter than the first bottle, but slowly it got more and more
similar as it opened. (95-? points)
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba -
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
[Mike] Oh my my. Sweet black fruit. Incredible depth and richness. This must be the 01 Riserva.
Still very young, but so complex and vibrant. WOTN for me. I could drink this forever.
A hint of chocolate. Could this have seen a bit of not-too-old oak? (100 points)
Sides
These were served with Flights 5 and 6, but I waited until after to try them.
These were delicious, but not so wine-friendly.
Broccolini with Espelette and Castelmagno Cheese.
Olive and Herb Heirloom Fingerling Potatoes.
Dessert
Served with Cookies and Chocolate Truffles.
1989 Château Doisy-Védrines - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
[Iggy] Amber color. Huge honey-cinnamon nose. Delicious, thick. Long finish. (93 points)
Conclusion
This was a truly great tasting. It was well-organized, and I will take credit for organizing
the wine theme and the choice of producers, but it was the participants who dug deeply in their
cellars to bring these great wines and who provided the very enjoyable comradery and
knowledgeable conversation.
Both vintages, in fact all the bottles, showed very well. In this regard, we were simply lucky.
14 bottles of Barolo, not one tainted.
As far as these two vintages go, by and large the 2001's are more backward and tannic, but
both vintages produced terrific wines that should live a long time.
I still find the 2001's more classical, but the 1999's are great too, for the most part a little
more lush but still with great structure.
There is some parallel to the 1990 and 1989 vintages, with 1999 being more like 1990 and 2001 being
more like 1989, but the difference isn't as great. It seems to me that 2001 is not quite as
structured or classical as 1989 was, while 1999 is not quite a lush or forward as 1990 and will
probably age even better than 1990.
The first 5 flights before the unveiling. (Photo by Eric Guido.)