Day 2 I hit the ground running, meeting Carlo and Enzo Revello at their winery. We taste through the lineup, discuss the vintage and look at the vines. Their winery looks over the Gattera vineyard (always recognizable for the huge Lebanese Cedar that grows at the top of the hill). The vines, picked clean, are lovely, and just beginning to change color. I find a few stray bunches of Nebbiolo. Wow – these are delicious! Three weeks after the harvest, they are super-sweet, but still with bright acids. By the time I get back to the winery, my hands are sticky from grape juice.
After lunch at the Osteria del Vingnaiolo (in the hamlet of Santa Maria – highly recommended), I stop at the Mauro Molino winery. No-one is around, though I am exactly on time for my appuntamento. I find an open door to the fermentation barn, wander down into the barrel room, and there’s Mauro, moving just-filled barrels with his forklift. (I’m jealous; I love forklifts.) Mauro leads me though the cellars o find his son Matteo, who is bottling with his ipod blasting.
Matteo had been in Colorado Springs in January 2007, where we’d done a dinner with him, Enzo Revello and Marco Marengo. Matteo, though, is the only one who speaks any English, so visitors are his bailiwick. He’s a talented winemaker in his own right – he’s finished oenological school, and though he has been assisting his father for years, he’s now slowly taking over parts of the process. The Molinos are just down the hill from the Revellos (literally less than 100 yards) and their wines show certain stylistic similarities, though the Revello wines tend to be a bit more powerful, while the Molino wines showcase the appellation’s elegance and balance.
2006 Revello Dolcetto
Juicy nose, loads of plums and berries, some vanilla, pencil lead, shows nicely. 2.0+ Simple and good. Drink now-2009
2006 Revello Barbera
Grapey and mineral, with spices and fresh acids. Fresh in the mouth, touch of chocolate, no tannins. Drink now-2009. 2.0
2005 Revello Barbera “Ciabot du Re”
Aged 18 months in 100% new oak, mostly allier. Loads of vanilla, chocolate, cherry and plum. Spicy finish. Nice, bit boxy, needs some time - 2-3 years – to come together, then should be a good modern-style Barbera. 2.5+ Drink 2010-2015
2005 Revello Nebbiolo Langhe
Red cherry with an annoying pine tar aroma, some floral elements. This wine sees 18 months in 2-3 yr old barrels. A bit tart on the palate. The middle drops out. Not recommended. 2.0-
2003 Revello Barolo (normale)
Correct in every way that a modern wine should be correct, but lacks excitement. Violets, cherries, minerals, plums, fresh acids. The tannins are a bit bitter, typical of the vintage. 3.0 Drink 2011-2016
2003 Revello Barolo Gattera
Has opened up since I tasted it in the spring. Layers of vanilla, cocoa, floral elements and dark cherries/berries. Tight in the mouth. The tannins are better rendered than in the “normale” bottling. Drink 2011-2017. 3.5
2003 Revello Barolo Giachini
Graphite, clove, cinnamon, plums and vanilla. A very modern wine. Lush on the palate, but with characteristic acids and tannins. 24 months in oak, of which 50% is new. Good balance. This is surprisingly nice, given the problems with this vintage. Drink 2011-2019. 3.5-
2003 Revello Barolo Conca
The nose shows class – layers of cherries, cherries, cherries, followed by graphite, vanilla and dark flowers. On the palate, very pleasant, though not yet balanced – chocolate milk, plums, candied cherry finish. Not an ager. Drink 2010-2015. Nice. 3.5+
2003 Revello Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata
Loads of sweet fruit, mineral, violets and a nicely wrought balance to the whole thing, this is delicious. The tannins are less edgy than in the other bottlings from this estate. Cherries round off the finish – very long, the tannins still quite big and unresolved, give this one a few years. Drink 2011-2017. 3.5+
2004 Revello Insieme
Though the sentiments behind this project are entirely admirable and worthy of support, I wish the wines were better – every Insieme (“together”) bottling that I have tried has left me wanting. This one, assembled from Nebbiolo, Caberent Sauvignon, Barbera and Petit Verdot, is a big wine and is completely overwhelmed by the cab in the mix – all I get are annoying green overtones that remind me of Silver Oak or just about any other California Cab. Why bother, even if the profits go to charity? I’d rather enjoy something fully after volunteering at the zoo or CASA or Children’s Literacy Center. 2.5- eh.
2006 Molino Barbera
Smooth plums, lots of rounded fruit flavors, quite fresh and lively on the mouth, earth and mineral aspects. Touch tart, but acceptable. 2.5-
2005 Molino Barbera, Gattera
Very viscous vanilla and coffee bean aromas and flavors. Red plums, good harmony, and decent balance for a wine this young. Good finish, slightly smoky, sweet fruit. Moderate tannins. 3.5-
2007 Molino Barolo tank samples. All have completed or are completing malolactic fermentation. What is amazing to me is how pure this already is – I get the fruit, tannins, acids and alcohol, and though they are young and not in balance, I can see that this is special – most red wines I’ve tasted in their first year are incredibly awkward. This is gangly but lovely. Loads of sweet fruit, black and red cherries, violets and roses, minerals galore. The potential is enormous.
2003 Molino Barolo, Galinotto
Nicely perfumed nose. Stony, with cherries and flowers. Soft in the mouth – they’ve really been careful about tannin management with this difficult vintage, but the slight astringency underlies it. The wine is round and silky, well-delineated fruit, Drink 2010-2018. 3.5+
2003 Molino Barolo, Conca
Far more closed than the Galinotto bottling, this one still offers up some fresh fruit aromas, earth, vanilla and anise. Though reticent, the nose has great potential. Floral elements begin to come through after a while – while the palate, in contrast to the nose, is very forward, with layered cherry and berry fruit. Espresso, flowers, spices and vanilla round out the flavor and aroma. Really nice soft smoky tannins. 3.5+ Drink 2010-2019
2004 Molino Barolo (normale)
Tight nose. Black plums and cherries. Did I say tight? It’s tight. Licorice, dark chocolate, sfumato. On the palate, big, hard, needs time – this will require at least 7-9 years of patience from the vintage. What is expressed in the glass is formidable – very deep and ripe fruit, ripe but big tannins, fresh acids and great potential. Really nice. 3.5+ now, but I would think it could reach quite a bit higher as it evolves. Drink 2012-2022
2004 Molino Barolo, Conca
Very delicate floral quality comes through on the nose, almost like strawberries, along with the more typical violets and roses of Barolo. The fruit is almost secondary to the incredible floral qualities of the nose. Though it is a touch blocky, it’s quite a nose! On the palate, loads of ripe plums and berries, with a kirsch-like intensity at the back of the mouth. The mid-palate is solid – with anise, chocolate and spices. Though modern, this one has the stuffing to really let the sense of time and place shine through. Tannins are silky already, long and dry. Drink 2012-2019. 4.0+
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