1990 BAROLO: TRADITIONAL VS. MODERN
A Private Home outside NYC (10/9/2010)

1990 BAROLO: MODERN VS. TRADITIONAL

The Kinights got together to taste 1990 Barolo, focusing on a comparison of so-called modern producers vs. so-called traditional producers. All wines were tasted single blind. That is, we had discussed what each of us was bringing ahead of time, but we did not know which wines were which.

The wines were served in pairs in the beginning, but over time there were all kinds of patterns and wines were saved over time where possible and interesting. So I have lumped these wines into one flight. The order is the order of original service.

As you can see from the photos, we were served a wonderful meal including lots of white truffles to complement the wines.

• 1990 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Vignolo
  Classic nose. Quite mature. Very traditional and very good. (92 pts.)
• 1990 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato
  Cloudy appearance. Muted nose, but expansive the mouth. This is a terrific classic Barolo! (94 pts.)
• 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto
  Funky nose. Light and sour in the mouth. Very tannic. Needs time. After 1 hour, starting to open up. Incredibly backward compared to the other wines so far. 92-94 points. (92 pts.)
• 1990 Fratelli Brovia Barolo Monprivato
  Tight bitter corky (NR/flawed)
• 1990 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric del Fiasc
  Gorgeous nose of red fruit. Lots of sour cherry in the mouth. Quite youthful, but still showing to much oak at this point. Try again in 5 years. (91 pts.)
• 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba
  From magnum. Mind-blowing nose that makes my head swim. Huge in the mouth with loads of tannin. An exquisite sense of balance. Expansive. A great wine. Far and away the best wine so far. With poached egg and white truffle, this is orgasmic! (98 pts.)
• 1990 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate
  From magnum. Heavenly, complex nose. Tight and thick in the mouth. Needs to open up. Long and expansive. Clearly modern in style with a great sense of harmony and balance. Superb. (95 pts.)
• 1990 Elio Altare Langhe Nebbiolo Vigna Arborina Langhe DOC
  Oak and nebbiolo nose. Tannic but simple. Sour cherry. Clearly modern, but not a good example. (88 pts.)
• 1990 Elio Altare Barolo Vigneto Arborina
  Much more expansive nose. Delicious cherries. Expansive. Great potential. Modern, but so much better than the last one. [1990 Vigna Arborina!] (93 pts.)
• 1990 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigneto Rocche
  Gorgeous black cherry nose, but the palate is ruined by some corkiness. Sad. (NR/flawed)
• 1990 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
  Way too mature. Oxidized. Sad, again. Especially once I knew which wine it was. :( (NR/flawed)
• 1990 Giovanni Manzone Barolo Le Gramolere
  Distinctive celery nose. Nasty in the mouth. (NR/flawed)
• 1990 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala
  Lovely nose of tar and licorice. Sour cherry in the mouth. Nice. (92 pts.)
• 1990 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Riserva Brunate
  Nose of black cherries and orange peel. Seriously tannic. Classic structure. A terrific traditional Barolo. Great length. (95 pts.)
• 1990 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Riserva Vigna d'la Roul
  Ethereal nose. Complex. Very tannic. (93 pts.)
• 1990 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia
  Tarry chocolate and ammonia. :( (NR/flawed)
• 1990 Gaja Barolo Sperss
  Gorgeous clean nose of black cherries. Ethereal, heavenly nose. Thick rich, a great, fairly modern style. Wow! (98 pts.)
• 2006 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste
  Delicate, ethereal. Wow! Incredibly complex. Amazing length. Very young. [A ringer that had been open for a while.] (94 pts.)
• 1990 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis
  Very tannic yet sweet. Tarry, long, weird. Interesting, but I really don't know what to make of it. Maybe it's still too young? (93 pts.)
• 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva
  Exquisitely delicate. What a treat. Such lightness and harmony. Terrific! Archetypal Barbaresco! (96 pts.)
• 1990 Cappellano Barolo Otin Fiorin Collina Gabutti
  Amazing nose of balsam, soy, black cherries. Rich balanced. A stunning wine of great complexity. Amazing length. A great, great wine! WOTN for me. [No score given due to winery request.]
• N.V. Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Chinato
  Intensely herbaceous in the nose and mouth. Not for me.

A few bad bottles did create some disappointment (notably the Bartolo and the Cascina Francia), but the best bottles were glorious.

It's hard to draw conclusions from one tasting, especially considering that bottles of several key producers were off in one way or another. There were clearly great bottles of both types: traditional and modern.

Unfortunately, there were also bad bottles of both types:

Traditional wines that didn't show well (imo) included: Brovia Barolo Monprivato, Bartolo Mascarello Barolo, Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia.

Modern wines that didn't show well (imo) included: Scavino Barolo Bric del Fiasc, Altare Langhe Nebbiolo Vigna Arborina, Corino Barolo Vigneto Rocche, Manzone Barolo Le Gramolere, Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis.

Given that one stated purpose of the modern movement was to reduce funky flavors, it's not clear that it does this. Of course there is no way to know for sure when, where or how these bottles were damaged. I have had great bottles of the Corino and Scavino before, in fact this Corino was from the same case as those bottles.

Back to the best wines, here is a list of my top 1990s from this tasting:

1. 1990 Cappellano Barolo Otin Fiorin Collina Gabutti
2. 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba (magnum)
3. 1990 Gaja Barolo Sperss
4. 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva
5. 1990 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Riserva Brunate
6. 1990 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate (magnum)
7. 1990 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato
8. 1990 Elio Altare Barolo Vigneto Arborina
9. 1990 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Riserva Vigna d'la Roul
10. 1990 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis
11. 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto
12. 1990 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala
13. 1990 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Vignolo

You can see modern wines among the top wines (e.g. Gaja Sperss, Voerzio Brunate, and Altare Arborina). So, this tasting proves (to me) that great wines can be made by thoroughly modern methods, even in a fairly ripe vintage like 1990.

What is less clear to me is whether the source of the greatness is in the vineyard or in the winemaking. What this tasting cannot answer is whether these wines would be as great (or even better?) had they not (for example) seen so much new oak?

Moreover, as great as these wines are, do they lack the authenticity of true Barolo? To me, ultimately there is a truth in the Cappellano and the Giacosa that is lacking in the Gaja.

The Gaja is a great wine. The Cappellano is a great Barolo.

If you have a subscription to eRobertParker.com, you can read Antonio Galloni's notes on this dinner here (along with a few of my photos).

All original content © Ken Vastola