Sydney Spring offline, Nebbiolo, Barbera & Italian whites

[Bobthebuilder]

Thanks Tim!
original post updated
see you all tonight!

[TiggerK]

Great night, thanks everyone! Good to meet winetastic and the lovely +1 too!

As always a varied and excellent selection of interesting wines. Will do a few brief notes sometime soon.

[Bobthebuilder]

Good wine, good food and good company, what more could you want!
So it was seven of us in the end as my missus had to take the place of babysitter who called in sick at the last minute.
Entrees off arm olives, aranchini balls, salted cod croquet, chicken liver crostini and bruschetta, followed by an assortment of nice thin crust pizza, hazelnut bombollini desert and a macchiato.
The wines were all interesting and quite a few strikingly different wines of the same grape variety, which was the basis of the tasting to explore. The spread was well balanced for the theme with champagne and 3 Whites, 4 barbera's and 4 nebbiolo's two of which were Barolo.
A big thanks to everyone for their company and contributions that was appreciated by all!
Some notes to follow, but a quick pic of the lineup in the meantime;

[tarija]

Looks like a wonderful night, sorry to have pulled out in the last minute. Any tasting notes, especially for the Vietti and Mascarello Barbera and the Barolo?

The wine I had lined up will have to wait until the next nebbiolo event.

[winetastic]

Thanks to Nic for organising, and great to meet a few people who I have seen posting on wine forums for years, we had a blast.

I didn't take any notes, however some general thoughts:

Champagne: Delicious, equal wine of the night for me

Whites: I am not big on white wine, but all were certainly interesting enough to enjoy a glass

Barberas: The Bruno Rocca 2012 was the clear winner, being the most elegant and opening up nicely in the glass. The Vietti 2011 showed a little alcoholic heat and but also had the more stern structure and a touch more complexity. The Mascarello 2011 had more obvious oak and surprisingly sweet fruit. Aussie Barbera stood up pretty well, though a bit obvious on the oak treatment.

Aged Nebbiolos: The Prunotto Nebbiolo d'Alba 1997 was surprisingly youthful, had a nice little funk about it and the fruit was still relatively primary, moderate length and intensity, everything you would hope it would be. The Borgogno Barolo Riserva 2001 was a solid example of classic Barolo, no fireworks but thoroughly enjoyable, my equal WOTN.

Young Nebbiolo: The Roccheviberti Barolo 2010 had wonderful fruit that was a little overshadowed by the modern oak treatment (a personal taste / style preference issue only), the quality was excellent. The aussie example from Geelong (served blind) had nice fruit but I also wasn't a huge fan of the prominent oak. Always happy to taste more Aussie Nebbiolo however.

[Gary W]

Given the lineup, pretty happy to have missed this one

[JamieBahrain]

Gents

There are three Mascarellos in Barolo. One in Barolo, one in La Morra and one in Monchiero. The Barbera you had can be quite profound though 2011 poses questions.

If you want to do a serious Barolo event I'm happy to partake next year with sourcing internationally and shipping for free ( flight deck ). I'd suggest, without being a mug, wines are scrutinized a little.

[winetastic]

If you want to do a serious Barolo event I'm happy to partake next year with sourcing internationally and shipping for free ( flight deck ). I'd suggest, without being a mug, wines are scrutinized a little.

I would be interested in such an auspicious event.

[TiggerK]

Given the lineup, pretty happy to have missed this one

The lineup we ended up with was interesting and we had fun doing a brief foray into Bob's theme concept without taking anything too seriously. People grabbed whatever bottles they had or could find on the shelves and were generous in doing so as well. I did find the 2011's too ripe for my taste (and I bought the Mascarello beforehand knowing what it might be, but wanting to find out for myself), but am happy to have tried them and compared with at least one 2012 example next to it. Hardly a comprehensive assessment, but a fun exercise nonetheless. I acknowledge negatives but prefer to look for positives in wines, sounds like you might not have been great company that night GW, so looks like everyone's kicked a goal.

If you want to do a serious Barolo event I'm happy to partake next year with sourcing internationally and shipping for free ( flight deck ). I'd suggest, without being a mug, wines are scrutinized a little.

Yeah sounds good Jamie, and if you're really lucky, GW might even approve of the lineup and grace you with his presence. Not sure what you mean by the last sentence though? Beforehand or on the night? If you mean pre-approval of contributions before events, that's not something I would ever want or expect for casual events like this one (different tastes/budgets/access) but fine for a more 'formal' tasting, it's up to the organiser.

Cheers
Tim

[JamieBahrain]

Tim

Yes that's what I mean I'm offering access to tax free Batolo for a tasting which would set folks back very little if they are truly keen.

It may not work then if one contributed a Monfortino and someone else a De Bortoli Windy peak Nebbiolo .

That's what I'm offering . Everyone can look at fine and rare , buy an awesome bottle and I will get it to Sydney for the event . Numbers at about 12 best .

[TiggerK]

Thanks Jamie, a kind and generous offer. Please consider me truly keen!

Out of interest (and obviously it's complicated and varies by producer and vintage), but broadly speaking what kind of age range is your sweet spot for opening good to higher end Barolo? 10 years, 20 years, 40 years ?

[JamieBahrain]

There's joy in all those age bands but I'm preferring 20 years. I was tasting 20 odd 30 to 50 year olds a month last year prior our wine society intervening due a very poor strike rate ( 40% ish ) of very old Barolo .

Hopefully if this dinner progressed everyone could peruse the F&R list and find something they have no opportunity of getting in oz.

[Bobthebuilder]

Gents

There are three Mascarellos in Barolo. One in Barolo, one in La Morra and one in Monchiero. The Barbera you had can be quite profound though 2011 poses questions.

If you want to do a serious Barolo event I'm happy to partake next year with sourcing internationally and shipping for free ( flight deck ). I'd suggest, without being a mug, wines are scrutinized a little.

Jamie, that sounds great and a very generous offer, thank you
I would definitely be up for it.

[odyssey]

A generous offer Jamie, I'd be very much up for such an event!

[Bobthebuilder]

Given the lineup, pretty happy to have missed this one

The lineup we ended up with was interesting and we had fun doing a brief foray into Bob's theme concept without taking anything too seriously. People grabbed whatever bottles they had or could find on the shelves and were generous in doing so as well. I did find the 2011's too ripe for my taste (and I bought the Mascarello beforehand knowing what it might be, but wanting to find out for myself), but am happy to have tried them and compared with at least one 2012 example next to it. Hardly a comprehensive assessment, but a fun exercise nonetheless. I acknowledge negatives but prefer to look for positives in wines, sounds like you might not have been great company that night GW, so looks like everyone's kicked a goal.

I think that is a good summary of the night and for many of us who are not involved or employed in the industry, actually tasting say the 2012 and 2011 vintage side by side was a somewhat valuable experience.

I always try to smell and taste any of the corked an oxidised wines that we stumble upon at these get togethers simply for the benefit of knowledge. I think its necessary considering there have been numerous times I have witnessed a non conclusive verdict with people far more knowledgeable than myself in the tasting.

Horses for courses