Thanks for the fine notes on some outstanding wines Adrian.
'13 is a beautiful vintage. The fruit is fresh, with great perfume, but with hidden structure. It lacks the gravitas of '10 but has great lift and hard to describe it better than there is a harmony and freshness to the wines. Not powerful or solar, but rather radiant fruit with clarity and depth. From reading your notes over time, I would suspect that '13 is a vintage you particularly will enjoy. '11 is pretty ripe, but some producers made beautifully balanced fleshy wines that avoid overripeness. I found a lot of '11s have less focus and more breadth. Not as broad as '07, and certainly not as bad as '09, but still plush, sometimes in a very good way, other times showing heat, especially in some of the more powerful areas or historically favored vineyards in the Langhe. That said, usually great producers will make great or at least overachieving wines, and Cappellano fits that bill. I am starting to like the '11 vintage more as they lose their baby fat. I suspect it ill be a very good, passively enjoyable vintage that will may or may not develop the amazing long term perfume and intrigue that great vintage Barolo can achieve. '13 on the other hand, I adore.
Ashish,
I would serve it as a digestive after dinner. A small pour, like 1-2 oz will be plenty. I like drinking it in a glass with some cross sectional area rather than a tiny glass to allow the aromatics to shine. Zalto universal size, not big bowls like Bordeaux or Burgundy stems. In a really wide bowl you will get the alcohol. Start at cellar temp and let it warm up in the glass. Set aside preconceived notions as it is weird and unique. I hope you like it. At a minimum it will be conversation sparker at the table.
FWIW, It also can age. I’ve had some Cappellano Chinato bottled 40+ years prior to drinking and the rough edges mellow out into a pretty harmonious drink. Certainly not for everyone, but it is for me.
Was offered the 2011, 2012 and 2013 last week. Got the 2011 and 2013 and was wondering on ideal drinking windows for these. Have not had any experience with Cappellano.
Good find John. It does bring to mind a question though. How do traditionalists remove/replace botti in their cantina? As you can see from my photos above those Stockinger botti aren’t decades old, or at least they don’t appear to be. So how does Cappellano rotate out old botti and replace them in the cantina with newer ones? My expectation is that they approach them the same way Bartolo Mascarello does. Specifically, new botti are seasoned (for lack of a better term) with Barbera to soften the new wood signature before the botti are slated for use for Nebbiolo/Barolo.
I had a look at my photos from Cappellano this morning before coming in to work and I definitely didn’t see any barrique. There were a few Puncheon sized barrels (that’s a guess btw, I’m not 100% sure they were specifically Puncheons) but that’s as small as it got.
Todd, thanks for your thoughts on the vintages. I’m in broad agreement with you that the 13s will be excellent wines – I had the Bartolo and Monprivato previously and thought them both to be outstanding (the Bartolo one of the best young nebbiolos I’ve ever had). The 13 Vajra Bricco Boschis was also one of the best Vajras I’ve had.
The 2011s have never offended me as much as I would have guessed they should, given the riper reputation of the vintage. It is an easygoing vintage, and since I generally avoid the modernists I’ve done quite well there.
I haven’t checked in on 2011 since release – it was stunning then. I suspect that this would be open for business still, either with a pop and pour, or a 24-48 hour decant.
The 2013 is very beautiful, but it feels a little dumb right now. 2013 isn’t as ripe as 2011 was, and this is a more subtle, perfumed wine. I’ve no doubt it will be a beauty, but not now. Now that I have acquired a comfortable amount of the 2013, I would consider opening my first bottle in five years (even though that will obviously be nowhere near peak).
I had the 2011 Rupestris a few weeks back and it was delicious. Very fragrant and loads of red fruit - not too ripe for my taste. Tannins were present but still very drinkable at this early stage. Don’t see this getting better with more cellar time - just different. Top notch wine.