Following 2007 Elio Grasso Barolo Case Maté

I just spent the entire day following this wine. Opened it at 9am, with a small glass poured and tasted immediately. From there, I left the bottle sit for three hours until I had a glass at 12pm and then followed it every two hours after.

My impressions; This bottle was drop dead gorgeous with its first glass. It was very feminine and pretty with fresh strawberry, sour cherry, roses, cedar and cinnamon stick and little of its structure poking through. The palate was nearly weightless. Then it shut down through the next six hours, where each taste showed a painfully young, structured Nebbiolo. However, at 4 PM, it reemerged as a beautiful bruiser with a ripe dark fruit and spice profile. The nose was marred slightly by the noticeable presence of heat but it was still lovely, and on the palate, it was firing on all cylinders with wonderful focus of red fruit. At every taste, the finish was amazingly long with staying red fruits that seemed to penetrate and saturate the taste buds. However, around 6pm, this bottle started to show a lot of its alcohol on both the nose and palate and I started to pick up on a lot of the Port-like notes that I’ve read about in other’s tasting notes. The fruit turned candied and the mouthfeel showed like a weighty-velvet with glycerol notes.

Honestly, I feel like today left me more confused than before I started. At the beginning of the day, through the early afternoon, I would rate this wine an easy 94 - 95 points, but what I saw near the end of the day would probably warrant nothing more than an 88. If I average my scores, I still find myself with a 93 point wine… but there’s no more left to see if it would go up or further down hill.

Lastly, I have very little experience with young Nebbiolo. I’m hoping this roller coaster I experienced is normal. And how can someone gleam the future of a wine from what I tasted today?

When I think of how this tasted at its 8th hour, I’m not surprised by the negative comments I’ve heard. Yet, for the first half of the day, I was smitten with the wine.

Maybe only time will tell?

Eric,

That sounds like a pleasant way to spend a day.

Did you try the wine with food during the day? Did that affect your perceptions at all?

Cellar it for 15 years, then check. Seriously, I don’t think that air when young maps reliably to performance when aged. The only thing that concerned me in your notes was the reference to heat, candied flavors, etc. Grasso is, IIRC, fairly modern and in my experience the modernists can make wine that is very nice when aged, but usually not stunning, at least for my palate.

Another option is to simply drink this young and pop and pour it so you get the initial flavors. To ME, those wouldn’t be what I want in Barolo (the cedar makes me think “barrique” etc), but if you love it like that consider just drinking it young. However, in your place, I’d put it in the cellar and see what it’s like after 2020.

It really was, my pours were small and shared with my wife through lunch and dinner. However, the tasting notes I was writing were done with nothing but the wine and glass of water. The food I was eating today wasn’t necessarily Barolo oriented fare and so very little was actually drunk with food. I usually don’t taste with food, unless I have to.

I agree 100% about young Nebbiolo, I hardly ever open them young. However, with 2007 I’ve been really on the fence about how much I should buy and all I keep hearing is “Taste, taste, taste”. I guess that’s what I’m confused about, I can’t begin to tell anyone what this wine will age into. However, the Grasso Case Maté is aged in large botti, not small oak. It was really beautiful in the beginning. More like an elegant barbaresco or highly quality langhe Nebbiolo.

Interesting. I’ve heard similar things about the 07s… I guess if I had more of that wine I’d age it 15 or so. If not, then honestly, I wouldn’t buy more - there’s too much good wine to invest serious money in wine I’m on the fence about and WS shows that wine at $65-70.

Eric – I can see how this might happen with an 07. When I was over there two months ago, some of the 07s were extremely appealing, but there was a slightly diffuse quality to some that I associate with that level of ripeness – they seem a little less focused and seemed to lack a little depth in the middle palate.

Tasting young nebbiolo without food is hard, I think, because of the high tannin levels. I can see how one mouthful would be good and the next less so.

  • 2007 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (12/7/2020)
    Decanted for 30 minutes before serving with triple mushroom gnocchi. This is really in the zone, and would be a great bottle to introduce someone to the beauty of Barolo. Scents of truffles (but that could be part of my dinner), dried cherries, and dried floral notes. The palate is lush, but structured, bold & big, but well framed by the acidity & tannin. Flavors of cherry, red plum, and blood orange linger on the palate as the finish stretches out a bit…a lovely drop of wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

I’m glad you liked it! Just before Covid, someone mentioned to me that they didn’t think they’d ever tried a Barolo that was “ready”. This was the wine that came to mind as something appropriate that I had. Of course, if it’s a while before I see that guy, the wine will still be in good shape, I expect. '07 might still turn out to be a long-aging vintage, but this one is surprisingly open at this early stage, and has been for over a year.

1 Like