Day 38 of MCO.
I am attracted to the concept of single vineyard wine. Barolo and Barbaresco have become a bit of a hobby since discovering this thread, so opening this single vineyard Barbaresco was a bit of an occasion.
2012 was reported as a good vintage, I was genuinely excited to try my first Barbaresco. The stars seemed aligned.
A half glass each straight from the bottle to get some first impressions and the rest in the decanter
From the bottle it immediately had some serious funk. Dried porcini mushrooms, some earth and that damp forest floor style thing. Zero primary fruit, no sign of sweetness. On the palate, no fruit and crazy acidity. Without the fruit, it was way out of balance.
Shell and I both agreed some time in the decanter would let the wine open up. If the fruit came forward, it would be interesting at minimum.
Half an hour later the wine in the decanter had collapsed into vinegar. The initial interesting funk was nowhere to be found and there was nothing but acid. The palate was terrible, undrinkable.
Obviously a faulty bottle, my initial thoughts are severe heat damage but I am open to other opinions.
My Nebbiolo journey seems less a fairy tale and more a Brett Easton Ellis novel.
I have contacted the retailer (the same who replaced the Elio Altare with the leaking cork), not for a refund but more to express my concerns. I have several Fiorenzo Nada wines from them, the Barbaresco, Rombone, Montaribaldi and Seifile. I am seriously worried that if this bottle was badly heat damaged, the entire shipment has suffered the same fate.
The journey continues.
The night was not a disaster. we opened a great Chainti Classico to have with dinner. Hand made pasta with Italian sausage meat.
