Set upright weeks before to get sediment to settle, the little stubby cork (pretty normal in Italy back in those days) was pulled with a Durand. The wine was sound, if not smelling a little old so I poured into a wide bottom decanter about 7 hours prior. This bottle of the 1964 poured a pale orangish red color. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of tar, truffle, dried roses, desiccated red fruits and earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with the structure barely holding on at this point. Confirming the notes from the nose; the fruits showing their desiccated character with a slightly sweeter attack. It’s obvious what power this wine once had has now greatly diminished; a bottle near the end of life. Assuming well stored examples still exist, and the original cork is intact, I would drink now with patience and an open mind. This old soul has lived a full life.
Set upright weeks before to get sediment to settle, the little stubby cork (pretty normal in Italy back in those days) was pulled with a Durand. The wine was sound, if not smelling a little old so I poured into a wide bottom decanter about 7 hours prior. This bottle of the 1964 poured a pale orangish red color. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of tar, truffle, dried roses, desiccated red fruits and earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with the structure barely holding on at this point. Confirming the notes from the nose; the fruits showing their desiccated character with a slightly sweeter attack. It’s obvious what power this wine once had has now greatly diminished; a bottle near the end of life. Assuming well stored examples still exist, and the original cork is intact, I would drink now with patience and an open mind. This old soul has lived a full life.
Nov 27th, 2024
Barolo, Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy
