This was another wine I brought to the Italian wine dinner with Blue Oval, Frankie and our wives on Saturday. This was the first red of the night and probably the wine I was looking forward to the most. I bought this wine for $20 after reading rave reviews form board members, Parker (WA91) and Gambero Rosso magazine (Tre Bicchieri award in 2001). I told my wife, who loves Dolcetto, to prepare herself for the best Dolcetto she has ever had. This wine was disappointing and I was reminded several times during the course of the evening by the Lady VM about my prediction.

This wine was a dark purple. Contrary to the advise of board members it could have used decanting because it had a moderate to heavy sediment (it did not need air time though). Obviously a sign that it was not filtered. It lacked much of a nose which I thought was rather odd. The wine was dry with a good burst of berry and cherry fruit upfront. The fruit faded quickly on the short simple finish to reveal a grainy character. There simply wasn't anything after the initial fruit to get your attention. No tannic structure. This was the first time I tried this wine so I cannot say if it had lost something but I would find that hard to believe since the wine is not that old. 86 points.

VM

VM,

Was looking forward to your Dolcetto notes on this wine, as you had previewed it about a week ago. Coincidentally, I too had a 1999 Dolcetto tonight (L. Pira D di Dogliani Bricco dei Botte) and where you mentioned in the last sentence that it might have lost something struck home.

Mind you, I doubt the 2 Dolcettos are on level (mine was $13), but same vintage/village, and the last time I had this was just a few months ago, but this time I noticed the fruit had dissipated and wet earth took over, and the (what I would characterise as) exuberance was missing. Definitely seemed to be heading down that slippery slope. And I'm out of this wine, I guess thankfully!

I don't know what the next few vintages portend for Dolcetto, but I really had the enjoyed the 1999 run.

Nice Notes VM.
Do you think it was faulted in any way. For Parker to give a wine a high rating generally it has to be anything but lacking tannins.

It still scored an 86!?!

VinoMe, I had a similar experience with the 1998 Siri d'Jermu some days ago (check the TN): It was a fantastic wine upon release and until last winter, but it's almost dead now. Dolcetto wines are very low in acidity and, especially for the barrique-Dolcettos, that's probably the reason for them having a short life. IMO they should be drunk more or less upon release and not be cellared. Unfortunately I still have some 1998's in my cellar, too.

Jeremy- I thought this wine started out nicely but faded. If it had a longer finish and more backbone it would have been what was advertised. Perhaps the fact that I concentrated on the negative aspects of this wine made it appear that I liked it less than I did. Overall it was nice but uninspiring. 86 points.

Marc- I saw your note. The last sentence of my TN was in reference to your comments in the 1998 TN you posted. Do you think a 1999 would be fading already?

VM

Uninspiring hits this wine right on, although I was more stinting in my points, giving it only 80 and basically not finishing the glass. There was a remarkable lack of nose, and even more lack of taste. It just seemed to sit there, with none of the pleasing finish I like in an Ital. Perhaps it would have opened with decanting, however, the wine sat for quite some time in the glass, with lots of swirling, and remained dull. I do not recommend.

(edit: BTW, I couldn't tell Lady VM didn't like it

[ 11-05-2002, 01:39 PM: Message edited by: Frankie ]

Vino Me, yours and Frankies description (no nose, no fruit, dry...) very much resembles my recent experience and I fear the 1999's are fading as well. These wines are all the contrary in their drinking phase: powerful, fruit-driven, lush with a spicy finish.
It makes me very precaucious with respect to barrique Dolcettos in general: It looks like they do not support well the additional oak-tannins and dry out fairly fast.