2001 Barolo Thoughts?

Any views on quality, drinkability, General chacteristics of 2001 Barolo as compared to, say the 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006? What vintage does ‘01 most closely resemble? Are they currently in a decent place?

Just wondering as I have a good handful of these but never hear much mention of the vintage…I’m assuming it’s something of a”middling”’vintage as I hear a lot about the great ones and the terrible ones.

FWIW, I just popped an ‘01 Clerico Ciabot Mentin Ginestra and it’s quite good with not as much oak as I expected but more tannin than I expected. Still seems quite young. I’d expected an over-oaked, over-extracted modern wine. If it has a flaw it’s that the fruit is not quite in balance with the still-heavy tannins, so the wine has a fairly drying finish. All that said, it’s a solid, pleasurable wine with tasty fruit, the sweetness of which helps reduce the impact of the tannin somewhat…just not a great value at the price paid.

It was generally considered a very good vintage. It was kind of overlooked in the US market because the Wine Advocate never reviewed it. There was some issue between Parker and Daniel Thomases, who he had hired to cover Italy, and Thomases’s reviews never ran. (Thomases also worked for Veronelli in Italy and gave very strong scores to a number of wines there.) Without WA reviews, the wines sat on the shelf for a long time, even though '02 and '03 were poor years.

I’ve had the 01 Produttori Rio Sordo and Montefalco this year. The former was pretty approachable and quite good (and it’s generally seen as the weakest of their crus) while the Montestefano was still pretty closed up (it tends to be one of the slowest to evolve.) The Produttori normale is also very good.

Other '01s I’ve had in the last 18 months that I thought were excellent include Fratelli Alessandria - Gramolere and Marcarini - Brunate.

2001 is a very good, or better, vintage in my experience. Seems like 2004 and 1999 are more highly regarded, but 2001 is probably just a step behind those. It seems like 2001 is also coming around in terms of readiness. Overall I’m still buying 2001, and will keep buying it for another decade or so as long as prices don’t go too crazy.

In the last couple of years I’ve opened a lot of gorgeous bottles - Giacosa Falletto and Asili (Barbaresco), Massolino VR Riserva, Elio Grasso Casa Mate, Sandrone Vigne, and Aldo Conterno Cicala, among others. All ready, enjoyable, and showing appropriate Nebbiolo character, though of course with variation among the producers. I’d think they all would be wines (traditional) Barolo lovers would be delighted to drink now and for the next few decades. I’m sure other can chime in with their experiences.

In the past 18 months I’ve had the Giacosa Villero, and the Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. Both were pretty open for business.

Second the ‘01 Produttori. I’ve also had the Giacosa Barbaresco Asili, drinking well.

On the other hand, the Cavallotto Riserva Bricco Boschis was pretty shut down back in Feb this year. Likewise the 01 Monprivato and Cappellano Pie Rupestris.

Generally I really like the 01s, but they are still pretty young to my palate (same for the 04s).

I assume it must have been another Giacosa, right? The last Villero was 1996.

2001 is a very good vintage–I think on a par with 99 and 2004. 2001 went thru a very dull phase that was prolonged and some folks wrote the vintage off because of this, but that was a mistake (and an opportunity to back fill) It is still a bit young for some wines, (as is 99). 2004 is enjoyable currently but almost still primary, so a bit hard to compare.

I’ve enjoyed the couple 01s I’ve had, including a Scavino with the oak dialed down.

I’d put 2001 on par with other good/great vintages. 1990, 96, 99, 01, 04, 06, 10, 13.
I’ve had a few over the last 5 years, general impression is that the big boys (Giacosa, G Conterno, etc) are not close to ready but you can drink and enjoy the producers that make earlier drinking Barolo

Thanks all!

In the past year, I’ve opened a Brovia ca’mia, which was gorgeous after a long decant, and a Cavallotto San Guiseppe, which was still very tannic and unyielding. I will not open another of the latter for several more years.

Just opened the 2001 Brovia Ca’mia last nite. It was drinking very well after a 4 hr decant. “Giacosa like” which is a great compliment

Whoops, you are correct - went back and looked at my notes and the Villero was a ‘95.