Bruno&nbsp;Giacosa and&nbsp;Giacomo
Conterno at&nbsp;Della Notte Della Notte [Closed]

810 Eastern Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21202

tel. (410) 837-5500

January 2007

There are few things I look forward to more than a meeting
of my tasting group. In January we gathered at Della Notte, located in downtown
Baltimore. Any one of these wines we had could easily have been the centerpiece
of an unforgettable evening. Needless to say were incredibly fortunate to drink
so many towering Barolos and Barbarescos at one dinner. The menu Della Notte
prepared for us was delicious and worked beautifully with the wines. We enjoyed
a roasted vegetable platter followed by pappardelle with rabbit sauce, which is
one the restaurant’s best dishes. The main courses were Osso Buco and braised
lamb shank.

We started with a flight of Bruno Giacosa’s mythical
Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva that covered the great 1982, 1985, 1989 and
1990 vintages. Giacosa’s 1982 Barbaresco
Santo Stefano Riserva is always a wine I look forward to as it is among my
all-time favorites from this legendary producer. I was amazed at the color of
the 1982 as it was poured from the decanter. A deeply colored red, it looked
more like a wine from a recent vintage rather than a wine that is 25 years old.
It boasted huge aromatics and a powerful personality, with enough fruit, length
on the palate and underlying structure to drink well for at least another
decade. 1982 remains a phenomenal vintage for this wine and a benchmark for
first-class Barbaresco. The 1985
Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva was not as monumental or fresh as it can
be. This bottle showed a slightly faded color and mostly resolved tannins along
with ethereal notes of prunes, dried figs and spice cake. Still, it provided
much pleasure. With the 1989 Barbaresco
Santo Stefano Riserva we returned to another massively-proportioned
Barbaresco. Fresh, vibrant and powerful, with endless layers of flavor, it is
another stunning wine from Bruno Giacosa that is sure to provide much pleasure
for years to come. Our first grouping closed with the 1990 Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, which I can only describe as
pure magic in a glass. Expressive in its aromatics and generous on the palate,
it was extraordinary in its overall balance and poise, with a characteristic
note of sweetness that lingered on the finish. On most occasions when I’ve had
them together I’ve had a preference for the 1982 but on this night the 1990 was
utterly seductive.

1978 is one of the all-time legendary Barolo vintages. An
irregular flowering resulted in the plants carrying very little fruit that
year. The grapes were thick-skinned and yielded massively tannic wines, many of
which are still quite youthful today. It was also a defining vintage for Bruno
Giacosa, who released a number of extraordinary wines, three of which we
tasted. This bottle of the 1978 Barolo
Rocche di Castiglione was the finest I have ever had. Many tasters actually
preferred it to the Red Label Riservas from the same vintage that followed,
perhaps because it is the closest of these 1978 Barolos to being ready to
drink. It showed the open, generous aromatics that are typical of the Rocche
vineyard along with beautifully delineated layers of fruit that provided much
enjoyment. The Rocche di Castiglione has always been the most accessible of Giacosa’s
1978 Barolos and we were fortunate to catch it at a glorious peak of its
expression. It was simply breathtaking. Our bottle of the 1978 Barolo Villero Riserva was the only letdown of the evening. On
its own it would have probably been outstanding, but we had recently enjoyed a
perfect bottle, so we had an admittedly lofty standard. Our disappointment was
quickly forgotten when we moved on to the 1978
Barolo Collina Rionda Riserva. Structured and powerful, it presented masses
of fruit and was incredibly nuanced for such a big, primary wine, easily living
up to the 99 points I scored it about a year ago. It remains an infant.
Well-stored bottles have another two decades of life ahead. Not knowing exactly
where to place it, the 1989 Barolo Collina Rionda Riserva was next. Mere words
can’t do this wine justice. It showed a perfect balance between its fruit and
its structural components, with stunning detail, great length, and fine
tannins. I can’t ask for anything more from a wine, except for another bottle,
which is exactly what we had. The second bottle was perhaps even better than
the first, but they were both perfect. I have always had a fondness for the 1989 Collina Rionda Riserva as it is
the wine that taught me to appreciate the genius of Bruno Giacosa. Ironically,
I had been among those who did not think this wine had a place in the evening’s
lineup. Thankfully someone had the good sense to ignore my suggestion that we
save this wine for another occasion. If I could only have one wine from Bruno
Giacosa it would be the majestic 1989 Collina Rionda Riserva.

Giacomo Conterno’s
1961 Barolo Riserva Monfortino was an unexpected last minute surprise.
Stylistically it belongs to an earlier period in the winery’s history when the
wines were made from purchased fruit as opposed to the Conterno Barolos that
followed, all of which were produced from the estate’s Cascina Francia vineyard
in Serralunga. The 1961 was superbly elegant and delicate, with a lovely core
of soft, ethereal fruit, fully resolved, fine tannins and an eternal finish. It
struck me as very slightly passed its prime. It would have probably been better
appreciated if served alongside wines of a similar age, or even better, simply
enjoyed on its own. Nevertheless, it was a magical, completely unforgettable
bottle.

One of the qualities of truly profound wines is the
seamlessness they present, from the nose to the palate and carrying through to
the finish, a characteristic the 1978
Barolo Riserva Monfortino has in spades. There was really no need to
actually taste the 1978 Monfortino, its aromatics alone were spellbinding. On
the palate it offered layer after layer of flavor, with stunning length and a
finish that seemed to last forever. If I could only have one Monfortino the
1978 would be it. The 1982 Barolo
Riserva Monfortino has also typically been one of my all-time favorites
from Giacomo Conterno but it wasn’t especially expressive on this night. The
competition was pretty stiff, however, and the 1982 remains an awesome,
youthful and structured Monfortino that will offer much pleasure to those who
are fortunate enough to own it. Well-stored bottles such as this one come
across as needing further cellaring. Perhaps the 1982 suffered by being placed
next to the decidedly opulent 1985
Barolo Riserva Monfortino, which was simply breathtaking in its
juxtaposition of fresh, vibrant flavors and the ripeness of the warm vintage.
What I love most about Monfortino is how it engages all the senses, from the
intellectual to the purely sensual, and 1985 is a vintage that captures all of
those qualities to the fullest. It was without question the most pleasurable
wine of this flight. At a mere 17 years of age, the 1990 Barolo Riserva Monfortino came across as a baby. On its own it
has almost always been phenomenal, and I am confident in time it too will offer
the level of pleasure of the other vintages in this flight. For now the 1990
Monfortino is all about potential. Readers who want to experience the full
range that this wine has to offer might want to hold off for a while, as
impossibly hard as that may be.

After dinner, a group of us reflected on how phenomenal the
wines had been. A second bottle of the 1985
Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino was perhaps even more seductive and
captivating than the first. Bruno Giacosa’s 1985 Barolo Collina Rionda was more
delicate, but it too captured the essence of the vintage in its sweet, open
aromatics and soft core of generous fruit, showing outstanding length, fine
tannins and a gorgeous, lingering finish. While both of these two 1985s have
enough freshness to last at least another decade I can’t imagine they are
likely to ever deliver much more pleasure than they did on this evening.

Food:

Roasted vegetables

Pappardelle with rabbit sauce

Osso Buco

Braised lamb shank

Wine: 

<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 1982
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 97
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1985
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 94
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1989
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 96
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1990
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 97
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1978
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Rocche di Castiglione
 </td>
 <td>
 96
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1978
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 91+?
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1978
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Collina Rionda Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 99
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1989
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Collina Rionda Riserva
 </td>
 <td>
 100
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1961
 </td>
 <td>
 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino
 </td>
 <td>
 94
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1978
 </td>
 <td>
 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino
 </td>
 <td>
 100
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1982
 </td>
 <td>
 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino
 </td>
 <td>
 98
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1985
 </td>
 <td>
 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino
 </td>
 <td>
 97
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1990
 </td>
 <td>
 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino
 </td>
 <td>
 97
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1985
 </td>
 <td>
 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Collina Rionda
 </td>
 <td>
 96
 </td>
 </tr>
</tbody></table>

--Antonio Galloni

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