La Rei

Il Boscareto Resort & Spa,

Strada Roddino 21, 12050

Serralunga d'Alba (CN), Italy

Tel: +39.0173.613036

Few topics have polarized locals in the Langhe as the recent construction of Il Boscareto, a new luxury hotel in Serralunga. This ambitious project was vociferously protested by many, who dubbed the huge building an “eco-disaster.” Take it from someone who has visited Piedmont regularly for over a dozen years, the region has long needed a full-service, high-end hotel near the vineyards of Barolo and Barbaresco, of which there is now exactly one. That said, it is impossible to ignore Il Boscareto’s massive visual impact on these bucolic hills. The hotel’s exterior appearance is indeed atrocious and totally out of scale, something that is surprising given the Italian penchant for design.

Things are better in La Rei, the hotel’s restaurant, which is beautiful in design and conception. Chef Giampiero Vivalda, owner of the celebrated Da Renzo oversees the kitchen. This was my first dinner at La Rei, and it was sublime. We opted for fairly simple, straightforward dishes, as the focus was on the wines. Still, making a perfect plate of tagliolini is much more difficult than it appears – trust me, I had some horrendous versions on this trip – and the kitchen excelled in everything from the simplest to the most complex of preparations. The braised veal cheek with San Remo shrimp was a playful combination that worked beautifully. The aforementioned tagliolini were utterly divine, and the roasted veal was cooked and seasoned to perfection. The Agnolotti al Plin were rich, salty and not as delicate as they can be. Wine service was very professional, and of a level I have rarely encountered in Piedmont.

This tasting of 1989 and 1990 Barolos and Barbarescos is one I will not forget anytime soon, perhaps ever. All of the bottles were breathtakingly beautiful as they came directly from the producers’ cellars. From the moment the first wine was poured everyone at the table looked at each other recognizing the uniqueness of the moment. Even though the first wines were brilliant, things kept getting better with each subsequent flight.

Giuseppe Rinaldi’s are among the rarest Barolos made. Because Rinaldi has long sold to large list of private consumers, the wines tend to disappear into the cellars of seasoned collectors and hardly ever appear on the secondary market in large quantities. The 1989 Barolo Riserva Brunate is insanely beautiful. Sweet, balsamic aromatics literally jump out from the glass, then meld seamlessly into an expressive, layered core of fruit. Delicate and powerful at once, the wine reveals superb balance and a long, fresh finish. The 1990 Barolo Riserva Brunate is very much a mirror image of the vintage; fat, rich and opulent, with gorgeous inner perfume and superb balance. It is awfully hard to pick a favorite here, as both wines are drop-dead gorgeous. Wow.

Bartolo Mascarello’s 1989 Barolo (magnum) reveals incredible richness and density in a fresh, layered style. Plums, prunes and sweet spices are some of the nuances that emerge from this awesome, mythical Barolo. The 1990 Barolo (magnum) is fat, rich and fuller-bodied, with exceptional richness and length. Stylistically the wines are a touch understated relative to the decidedly muscular wines from Rinaldi but they are both utterly captivating.

I have had the privilege to drink – not just taste – Giuseppe Mascarello’s 1989 and 1990 Barolo Monprivato on several occasions this year, but that notwithstanding I am frankly not prepared for the sensational showing of these bottles. The 1989 Barolo Monprivato is staggering in its freshly cut roses, spices and hard candy. The wine possesses a level of inner sweetness and kaleidoscopic, multi-dimensional aromatics that sends everyone at the table into near-ecstasy. Still vibrant and fresh, the wine has enough richness to last another ten years. The 1990 Barolo Monprivato is every bit as exceptional. Rich, sweet and intense, the wine flows onto the palate with an opulent, caressing core of perfumed fruit. The 1990 is slightly more forward than the 1989, but for this typically long-lived wine that isn’t such a bad thing.