Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate 1996
L. 07-99. A bottle I opened for Fredrik and my parents. Reportedly from a yield of only 22 hl/ha. Incredibly fresh-looking ruby-black with a purple hue, very slight pink-orange at the rim. Ridiculously youthful and fresh. My parents immediately exclaimed how much more youthful they find this than Voerzio’s 2000 Rocche del Annunziata. Highly concentrated black cherry and rose petal, very minerally for a Brunate, finesse notes so far only of truffle and licorice, almost indiscernible and super-fresh asphalt note. Huge lightly austere, but finely-grained and perfectly ripe tannin, what great and refreshing acids. Most impressive, mouth-cleansing tannin quality for a barrique-aged Nebbiolo (which one would hardly be able to guess in contrast to e.g. the overtly new-oaky 1990). Full body, great grip and cut, perfect balance, great length. Not a hint at overripeness whichever way one looks at it, no jamminess to the fruit whatsoever. Voerzio’s more Lafleur-like 1997 Brunate offers greater fruit density (as does the 1997 Cerequio), but qualitatively, the two are difficult to separate. The 1996 is the great classic (where is the new oak here, by the way?) with the greater long-term potential – as Fredrik says, it seems out of the question that it will enter reasonable maturity before the age of twenty. A phenomenally structured wine that should not be decanted (nor in fact opened at all) at this stage – it started to close down after about three quarters of an hour, as if it were about two to four years old. As to the archetype Brunate, I will be referring to this from now on. Rating: 96++
Disnzókö Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 1999
Thanks to Fredrik. Full yellow-gold. Brown bread botrytis (a bit too bready-dry at first, but integrating rather well with airing until a day or two later). Dried porcini right after the cork was pulled, too. Lemon rind-based fruit mainly, some semi-dried quince, a tiny raspberry top note, different but still reminiscent of Loire Chenin Blanc. Well-concentrated and -balanced, quite viscous. Soft tea-like complexity, quite good depth, but not too finesseful. Nicely firm acidity, pretty little volcanic soil bitter note. Typically smooth 1999, more elegant than the more intense and minerally-powerful 1993. Not quite that wine’s complexity, focus or harmony either, Fredrik says. My mother liked this a lot, but she knows enough about Tokaj already she remembers having tasted a greater one from Vince Gergely (his 1993 AE). Rating: 92(+?)
Disnzókö Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Kapi 1999
Thanks to Fredrik. Kapi is a vineyard directly adjacent to the Disznókö cru, not on the Mád side but along the National Route 37, combined in fact of two historic vineyards, the Virginás and the Nagyhangács. A touch more orange to the golden colour. TCA taint that put me off from the start, but that got worse with airing, too. Tasted it right after the cork was pulled, exceptionally (virtually never taste cork-tainted wine, and if so, at the end of the day when there is nothing else attracting my attention). More roasted but also more complex fruit than the “standard” 1999 6P, a deeper and more finesseful wine, unfortunately this time muted and cut short on the finish by the TCA taint. But a safely outstanding wine worth searching out. Rating: N/R
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti