Pinotman /// Andreas

9.0

Plenty of tannins left. 25bucks. Those were the days! 14%| Quite classic. Browne tinge. Needs at least 2-3 hours of air. Quite harsh and astringent. Roses, earthy and dusty, very dry. Hint of truffles. - Not super exciting at first (15min) so wait. Will last another 10 years - but i do worry about the fruit component if you need space in your cellar - i would suggest drink up. I will. Some folks tend to hype these wines i don’t - after all this is their most basic version with a large production volume. Total volume is 500,000 bottles a year at this cooperative. My guess they to make a lot of this one. — 10 days ago

ShayShayShaylyn

9.5

Thomas Wine Club, full bodied and ripe with dark red fruit and spicy notes and powerful, well integrated tannins in the finish. — 19 days ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Dark and dense with tobacco, dark sauce, plum. Dried herbs. Lush and dense and savory. A hint of mocha. Long and complex. — 2 days ago

with BOT, Matt and 1 other

Ron Siegel

9.3

Needed some air showing red cherry, berry, spice, orange peel, rose petal & tobacco notes — 14 days ago

Doug Powers

9.6

Beautiful redfruit and floral aromas and flavors, faint road tar, actually still quite youthful in its flavor and structure, super long, lingering finish, incredible for a 43-year-old non-Cru Barbaresco!! — 12 days ago

with Jim

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.3

Marcenasco is the first site where Ratti started to make Barolo. When he was still in Brazil working for Cinzano a certain Bruno Giacosa selected the location for him.
Renato Ratti is arguably the most important person for the development of the reputation of Barolo the way it is now.
He was the first to map the vineyards, pointing out the best crus; he spread the use of the Albeisa bottle in the consortium after studies on old book. He made Barolo become a DOCG.
He just saw and achieved what others could only smell.
He is the most highly regarded innovator of the area and everyone looks up to his memory.
Disappeared too early in 1988, he left to his son Pietro an incredible legacy.

The winery is located in La Morra, nonetheless their wines age fantastically specially the Marcenasco that drinks quite well early, like this example from 2020, but will also benefit from 10 + years in the bottle.
Tannin is smooth, fruit is there and we see some balsamic and floral already.
Only at the beginning of the journey. — 8 days ago

romo

9.3

Plainly native Piedmont, but super-approachable now. Very pretty and open with lots of red roses. — 2 days ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Presented double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine pours a slightly hazy garnet color with a translucent core and some rim variation; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears and light signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous, with notes of ripe and desiccated red fruit: Morello cherry, dried roses, tar, tobacco, leather, gravelly earth, and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose where the fruit showed quite a bit of power. The finish is long. Alcohol is elevated but calling it medium+. This is delicious.

Initial conclusion: this could be Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Granache or Pinot Noir from Italy, France or Spain. Because the tannins were absolutely ripping, and there was no staining, I was leaning Nebbiolo. Additionally, the secondary characteristics along with a strong core of fruit had me thinking this was close to 30 years old from a solar vintage. So I called Nebbiolo, from Italy, from Piemonte, Barolo from a traditional-leaning producer, 1997. Well, I can’t get too upset with my call! Really tasty stuff. Drink now through 2032. — a month ago

Ming L

9.2

Pretty and quite approachable at this young age. Aromas of rose petal, red cherry, raspberry, and tar. Light tobacco and dried herbs also on the palate, with fresh acidity and elegant refined tannins.
The 2020 vintage in Piedmont seems to be quite open and expressive early, but age worthy as well. — 6 days ago

James Brenner

9.4

Really interesting varietal. Will definitely look for more of this. Great producer. — 6 days ago