DAWGS OFFLINE WITH MATTACH AND PURPLEHAZE - Mi Piaci's in Addison, TX (6/5/2006)

Tonight a few of the DAWGS had the priviledge of offlining with both mattach and PurpleHaze. The venue for our offline was Mi Piaci in Addison, TX. Our theme for the tasting was “Barolos and Barbarescos”.
Arrive
Everybody started off with this excellent Chenin Blanc from producer Baumard to prime our palates for the feast to come.

• 1969 Domaine des Baumard Coteaux du Layon Clos de Sainte Catherine - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon
  WIML94,WA93,NOWS
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Riedel Champagne flute. Yellow color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Slightly closed nose of lemon and cinnamon. Flavors of lemon curd, crème, a touch of pineapple and some apricots. Still somewhat lively acidity on the palate, quite a pleasure to sip as an aperitif. Drink now. The only pricing I can find on this wine currently is at the $150.00 mark so even at that I’d still say the value here is acceptable if not agreeable. If you were lucky enough to have bought this shortly after release then you likely got yourself a highly recommended wine. (94 pts.)
  

1993 Barolos and Barbarescos
Although 1993 was a moderate vintage in terms of overall quality I was pleased to see that the two Gaja and the Roagna showed well at the 13 year mark.

• 1993 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  WIMLNR,WA86,WS94
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Light plum color in the glass, dusty hue throughout. Nose of black licorice, pepper, some leather with a little black beries. Flavors of red berries and maybe some raspberry dominated by an overall earthiness. Light acidity with integrated tannins. Past peak and seems to be past the drinking window as well. Drink now. No value recommendation or rating since past the drinking window.
  
• 1993 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
  WIML90,WA87,WS92
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened 9 hours beforehand but left in the bottle throughout before serving in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Dusty rose color in the glass with a fairly clear hue throughout. Leathery nose with some notes of black cherries, pepper, blackberries and a floral component. Flavors of Bing cherries and red berries over an earthy frame. Light acidity with fully integrated tannins say drink this wine over the next two years. No value recommendation. (90 pts.)
  
• 1993 Gaja Barbaresco Costa Russi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
  WIML90,WA87,WS93
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Reddish plum color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of leather, anise, blackberries and dried herbs. Flavors of Bing cherries, red berries and a touch of red licorice on the earthy finish. Light acidity with integrated to velvety tannins. Just a smidge better than the Sori San Lorenzo at the same tasting even though not reflected in my numerical rating. Drink over the next two years. No value recommendation. (90 pts.)
  
• 1993 Roagna Barolo Riserva La Rocca e La Pira - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  WIML91,NOWA,WS93
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Light reddish plum color in the glass with a slightly dusty hue throughout. Nose of backberries, pepper and melted red licorice later giving way to some notes of black currants. Flavors of red cherries, bitters and red berries. Surprising fresh acidity and velvety tannins on this Riserva. Drink over the next 2-3 years. Considering this wine can still be purchased for close to $40.00 a bottle I’d say the value here is recommended. Hard to find an aged Barolo at this price point. This was my number one wine of the 1993 flight. (91 pts.)
  

Intermezzo
In order to cleanse the palate for the next flight we all had the opportunity to partake of this lovely champagne. One of my favorites from this vintage it did not disappoint around the table. Many thanks to PurpleHaze for providing this wine.

• 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon - France, Champagne
  WIML95,WA98,WS93
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Riedel Champagne flute. Light yellow almost straw color in the glass, clear throughout with solid medium bead. Nose of biscuits, apples, pears, a touch of citrus fruits and some almond paste. Flavors of pears and yellow apples dominates with a splash of orange and a little cherry fizz on the finish. Refreshing acidity begs for another pour. Very well balanced and a pleasure to drink. Sticking with my previous two ratings of 95 points. Can be drank now but should drinking well for upwards of 20 years. Value recommendation based on a current price point of approaching $110.00 a bottle is still highly recommended. If you were lucky enough to have bought this around the $90.00 a bottle price point before the ratings came out you got yourself an outstanding value. (95 pts.)
  

1996 through 2001 Barolos and Barbarescos
Grouped together as a separate flight all of this single vintage bottles provided for the tasting showed quite well and comparably as a flight.

• 1996 Prunotto Barolo Cannubi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  WIML90,NOWA,WS91
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of back cherries, anise, white pepper and blackberries. This very youthful wine was unyielding on the palate eventually giving way to mostly black cherries with a little bitters on the finish. Big tannins with good acidity say let this one continue to sit in bottle for another year couple of years to hopefully finish rounding out. Assuming you can still get this wine in the $50.00-55.00 a bottle range I’d say the value here is agreeable, possibly recommended if it improves with more time in the bottle. (90 pts.)
  
• 1999 Azienda Bricco Asili (Ceretto) Barbaresco Bernardot - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
  WIML90,NOWA,WS90
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Light plum color in the glass, slighty opaque throughout. Nose leaning heavily towards Kirsch with some notes of spice, melted black licorice and pepper. Later I thought I got a faint whiff of cocoa as well. Flavors of black cherries and earth dominate with some notes of black licorice as well. Silky tannins with a balanced acidity. This wine seems to be at the point of hitting it’s stride. If you own it I’d pop a bottle sometime over the next year and judge for yourself. Should drink well for the next 5-7 years. Considering this wine can still be found in the low $30s pricewise I’d say the value here is recommended. (90 pts.)
  
• 2001 Damilano Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  WIML91,NOWA,WS92
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and spent about 4 hours in the decanter before returning to bottle and serving in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Ruby color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Peppery nose with some aromas of red berries, plums and thistle. Flavors of red berries, red licorice and some raspberry. Crisp almost lively acidity yet rounded tannins say hold this value play for 3-4 years before trying again. Considering this wine is still readily available and can be purchased for less than $30.00 a bottle I’d say the value here is highly recommended. This was my number one wine of the mixed vintages flight. (91 pts.)
  

1998 Barolos and Barbarescos
Our final flight of Barolos and Barbarescos for the evening heavy hitter Sperss continues to amaze while the Altare turns in an excellent performance.

• 1998 Gaja Barbaresco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
  WIML91,WA91,WS92
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Light garnet color in the glass, pretty clear throughout. Nose of “sweet dill” at first smell followed by some red currants, red cherries and a potpourri/perfume finish. Still fairly primary on the palate mostly giving way to notes of red cherries and red licorice with perhaps some raspberries as well. Well balanced velvety tannins and crisp acidity say you can drink this wine now but I’d likely wait another year myself to see if the palate perks up a little more. It is in no danger of dying anytime soon; it should drink well for the next 8-9 years fairly easily. No value recommendation. (91 pts.)
  
• 1998 Elio Altare Barolo Brunate - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  WIML93,WA92-94,WS93
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet color in the glass, fairly “dusty” looking throughout. Nose of melted black licorice, black berries and potpourri with an interesting aroma I’ll call chamomile. Flavors of blackberries, black licorice, plums and black currants. Clean, crisp acidity with rounded tannins. This wine is just starting to enter it’s drinking window in my opinion so can be drank now with an hour or so in the decanter to jump start it but should also drink well for the next 8-9 years. I have no idea on pricing for this wine so no value recommendation. (93 pts.)
  
• 1998 Gaja Langhe Sperss - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe
  WIML94,WA94,WS94
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Opened and served immediately in a Spiegelau Authentis Magnum glass. Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of melted licorice, tar, red cherries and spicebox. Flavors of red currants, plums, red licorice and red cherries. Fresh acidity with big tannins say hold this wine a while longer. Should age easily another 15 years. This is my third tasting of this wine and I’m sticking with my two previous ratings of 94 points. No value recommendation. This was my number one wine of the 1998 flight. (94 pts.)
  

Sauternes
As with any other complete tasting the evening wraps up with a couple of Sauternes and some excellent conversation about the wines of the night.

• 1986 Château Filhot - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  WIML87,WA87,WS83
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Tasted from 375ml. Opened and served immediately in a Riedel Champagne flute. Yellow color in the glass, clear throughout. Nose of orange marmalade, apricots and spiced pears carry straight through to the palate with the exception of the spice pears. Crisp acidity. Light bodied on the palate. No value recommendation. (87 pts.)
  
• 1998 Château Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  WIML94,WA91-94,WS90-94
  
  Tasted June 5, 2006 at an offline. Tasted from 375ml. Opened and served immediately in a Riedel Champagne flute. Yellow color in the glass, clear throughout. Nose is still pretty tight on this wine giving way to some notes of apricots, honey and almonds. Flavors of apricot, pear, honey and cloves. Viscuous feel on the palate yet still retains good cleansing acidity. Very good effort for the 1998 vintage. Considering this wine can still be purchased for $30.00 per 375ml I’d say the value is recommended. Tasted three times with consistent notes. (94 pts.)
  

All of the wines were very good to outstanding throughout. Everybody had a great time and the DAWGS look forward to being able to visit with these to fine gentleman at another tasting, hopefully in the near future.
Posted from CellarTracker

Joe,

I think current price on the Baumard is around $75.00. There are quite a few available out here at that price that I have tried.

Thanks Jason. I did a wine-searcher and the listing was at $150.00. That sounds like a really good deal to me.

nice write-up WIML. I see you have perhaps whetted the Italian appetite of Purple Haze, eh? Grazie!

That's a bunch of good Neb. Thanks for the notes.