TN: Neb Vinous Blind 1989 Barolo & Barbaresco Dinner

NEB VINOUS BLIND 1989 BAROLO & BARBARESCO DINNER - Buona Notte, NYC (4/18/2019)

The Nebbiolo group created through the Vinous website met at Buona Notte on Mott Street in Little Italy to taste 1989 Barbaresco and Barolo. Brad Bonnewell, owner of La Pizza Fresca (which is currently looking for a new location), set us up at Buona Notte, where his La Pizza Fresca chef Enrico Florio was our guest chef. Enrico did a terrific job on the food which was delicious and plentiful.

I organized the flights, but the wines were ordered randomly within each flight. So a few others and I knew which wines were in each flight, but not which was which. While the rest of the group knew only that the wine they brought was somewhere in the tasting.

Photos and more details can be found on my website.

Starter

Flight 1: Barbaresco

  • 1989 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double decanted around 10am.] Mulchy nose. Tannic with restrained dried red fruit. Juicy, tarry red fruit. 89 points, but I don’t think this is a sound bottle. NR (flawed)
  • 1989 Prunotto Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double decanted around 11:45am.] Probably the biggest surprise of the evening. This was gorgeous with elegant, smoky sweet red fruit. Long finish. Fully mature with great purity. I thought this was the Pajé. (93 pts.)
  • 1989 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pajé - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
    [Double decanted around 10am.] Gorgeous rich red and black fruit nose. Sour cherry, long and delicious. Long bright cherry finish. (94 pts.)

Flight 2: La Morra & Barolo

  • 1989 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 11:45am.] Sweet, juicy red fruit nose. Rich, tar, vanilla and black fruit on the long finish. Modern, elegant. (93 pts.)
  • 1989 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Cannubbio - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 1pm.] Dried red fruit nose. Tarry black fruit. Long and tasty. Still has tannins, but they’re soft. Licorice. Very tasty. (94 pts.)
  • 1989 Paolo Scavino Barolo Cannubi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted for 5 hours around noon.] Bright cherry nose. Big, tannic, cherry-vanilla fruit. Sweet red fruit. Elegant. Somewhat modern, but the 89 vintage balances it out with its great structure and tannin. (93 pts.)
  • 1989 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 3pm.] Juicy, tasty, tannins, red fruit. Very nice. A lovely wine. (92 pts.)

Flight 3: Castiglione Falletto

  • 1989 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Bricco Rocche - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 3pm.] Smoky red fruit nose. Tarry, a bit dried out, but still elegant. (88 pts.)
  • 1989 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 11:30am.] Wow! Sweet red fruit in the nose. Long, expansive, gorgeous in the mouth. A stunning wine. This can only be the Giacosa Villero with its complex red fruit and that distinctive fruitcake flavor. Such purity. My WOTN and group WOTN. At peak, but no rush. (98 pts.)
  • 1989 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted for one hour at around 10am.] Big smoky nose. Cherry and tar on a medium length finish. A bit disappointing given how this showed young. (92 pts.)
  • 1989 Vietti Barolo Rocche - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted for an hour around 12:30m.] Cloudy, not properly decanted. Perhaps moved too close to decanting time. Big smoky nose. Sweet cherry on the mid-palate. Long, sour cherry finish. Very good, but I’ve had better bottles. (93 pts.)

Flight 4: Serralunga d’Alba

  • 1989 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 10am.] Stunning, ethereal nose. Jammy, tight, still a bit backward. I guess I should have decanted this longer. A great wine with a long life ahead. The finish is amazing. (97-99 pts.)
  • 1989 Massolino Barolo Riserva Margheria - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 8am.] Muted nose. Tarry, juicy, long. Big, backward complex. Terrific! What greater compliment than that I had trouble telling this apart from the Giacosa Falletto Riserva. (97 pts.)
  • 1989 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Prapò - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 3pm.] Big, beefy, cherry nose. Beautiful sweet red fruit. Impressive. (93 pts.)
  • 1989 Gaja Barolo Sperss - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    [Double decanted around 10am.] Bright, medicinal red fruit nose. Sweet black fruit, tar, and vanilla in the mouth. Juicy, sweet, thick. Still very young, so the new oak is not well-resolved. 93-96 depending on how well the oak integrates. If your bottles are well-stored, I would wait another decade to drink it. (94 pts.)

Once again, the greatness of 1989 shows itself.

Posted from CellarTracker

Awesome. Thank you

Fantastic lineup!

Thanks for sharing :smiley:

Thanks for the compliments. BTW Eric Guido’s notes on this dinner are here:

https://morrellwinebar.com/1989-barolo-a-promise-delivered/

Great notes Ken! Thanks!