Burlotto and Giacosa red label at the River Cafe, London W6

[Comte Flaneur]

The River Cafe is a trendy West London restaurant which opened in the late 1980s. The last time I went there was over 30 years ago for a dinner with Ludovico Antinori to taste his 1988 Ornellaia, which was just super. It only went down hill after that.

Last Wednesday a group of us tested out some Giacosa red labels with some 2013 Burlottos as the support act. And some fizz, with a crazy vin Santo which is more expensive than d’Yquem.

Aperitif

David L'éclapart L'Alchemist rose champagne - really vinous serious and unsettling
1990 Bollinger Grand Anne 1990 - a bit over the hill

Starter/Antipasti

2013 Burlotto Cannubi
2013 Burlotto Monvig
2013 Burlotto Acclivi

Pasta

2006 Mascarello Monprivato Ca d’Morissio Riserva
1996 Giacosa Asili

Main

1990 Giacosa Collina Rionda
1990 Giacosa Falletto
1989 Giacosa Falletto

Dessert

2005 Avignonesi Occhio Di Pernice Vin Santo Di Montipulciano
2007 Billecart Salmon, Cuvee Louis Salmon Blanc De Blancs

Unlike the 2016s we tried last May, which were still very much open, the 2013 Burlottos are now in the deepest part of their slumber but are still quite expressive. They are big framed strapping wines with impressive structure and pedigree, and ideally need another 5-10 years to really hit their stride.

I was so smitten by the Ca d’Morissio. It is still a young wine as the colour attested, but an absolute joy. Its flight mate the Giacosa Asili 1996 had quite a lot of oxidative stuff on the nose, but when that eventually blew off it came on really strong.

In the final flight the 1989 was sadly corked but the two 1990s were absolutely spectacular. The Collina Rionda the epitome of elegance and finesse, and the Falletto more brooding and powerful. Barolo does not get any better than this.

Nearly as good as 2014 Calon Segur and the same abv.

[Comte Flaneur]

The scores

[JimHow]

In one of my favorite scenes from my favorite movie, “Paris, Texas,” Travis, aka Harry Dean Stanton, tells his brother. aka Dean Stockwell, about how he believes he was conceived on this little dusty dry patch of land in the middle of nowhere north of Dallas, and he tells his boy Hunter, about how his -- Travis’s-- mother, was a “proper” woman. Those seem to be some “proper” wines, farmed with care and respectability. And yet, there is an unease to them, a Wim Wenders, Euro trash feel, a Nastassja Kinski in a five second ethereal glimpse on the runway in some champagne splashed late August afternoon fading sun in Cannes, or somewhere in the Aquitaine, there’s something Euro trash, Fellini about those wines, they can be swilled only in London, ah, London, that place on the edge, it really hasn’t changed since Sam Johnson, it’s a place where naughty schoolboys from within the bells of Cockney drink naughty wines like this… There’s a danger to it, really. Hoot, man… Hoot…. Hoot....

[jal]

Burlotto, Giacosa and Mascarello are my top three Piedmont producers. What a great tasting, Ian.

[Tom In DC]

Have you ever had a Giacosa red label, Jim?

[JimHow]

Ha no, Tom, my crazy note was meant as praise for those naughty Italian wines Ian was drinking. I don’t think I’ve had any of those wines, maybe Pappa Doc uncorked one? I’d love to explore those old Italian Barolos sometime.

[DavidG]

That’s a mouth-watering lineup. A shame about the corked bottle.

Tom will be shocked to hear it, but I’ve grown into a love for old Barolo. Unfortunately this came late in the game and I never cellared the stuff. I’m now too old to start, and it’s too expensive to backfill the good stuff in any quantity, if you can even find it.

The trouble with old Barolo is that it doesn’t travel well, making tastings like this difficult to organize. I’ve been told to stand up the old ones for 4-6 weeks to get the fine and unpleasant sediment to settle. I’m not sure how old is old, but would guess that the 1990s must have been handled carefully in order to show so well.

[Musigny 151]

I have had the Collina Rionda 1982/89 and 90 together, and the 1989 won easily. A magnificent bottle of wine and sad to see you had a corked bottle. When one thinks about the current pricing, over $3000, with no redress, it is one of the reasons, I limit my expensive wines, and tend to open them in a group, so the chance of a bad bottle won’t ruin the evening.

Yesterday, I opened my final bottle of Bel Aligre (BAMA to the insider) 1995, which was completely corked. A few choice curse words, and then moved on to a lovely Domaine de Chevalier. I will post a fuller note on the DDC thread.