A Bottle Each - 1971 Barbacarlo & 1971 Barolo

All day long sunshine, ah well, turn up the grill and getting some meat skewers ready - and then what? The minute I placed the meat on the grill it started raining out of nowhere... Well, it turned out fine anyway, and the Barolo worked its magic with the meat, the fresh potatoes and a herb infused tomatoe sauce.

1971 Barbacarlo, La Vigna
My first Barbacarlo, and of course I would make it an old one! From Lombardy, this blend of Barbera, Croatina and Uva Rara use to carry "Antica Piemonte" on the label - as this bottle does - since the territory was for a long time a adjunct of Piedmont. 1971 is a great vintage here, as in Piedmont, so I had some hopes.
But, I am looking forward to tasting a newer version for this has gone a bit too long. Not dead by no means. But a bit tired. The nose is interesting though and reminds me of an old Verdelho, with notes of nuts, detergent, red tea and moist earth. Lacks depth in the middle.
The taste is old and a tad weak but not dried out, with notes of stale nuts, bakelite, dried leather and road dust. Drinkable - yes, enjoyable - no.
70p   (tasted 2016/07)

1971 Barolo, Galliano
This is a whole another ballgame - from the get go, I could sense that this was going to turn out great. And it did. The nose - with 2 hours decanter time (I opened both of them just after lunch to give them some breathing time and then decanted them 1 hour before dinner) - is oozing out of the glass with complex notes of rose petals, dried sweet red cherries, mushrooms and veal stock. Refined. Some bonfire aromas. A gorgeous dark perfumed scent. Perfectly mature. A very fine sweetness to the fruit. Just lovely.
The taste is tight, mature and heady with notes of dried cherries, ceps, rosehips and smoke. The finish is very long and balanced. Some Finnish dry liquorice. There is still some supporting tannins noticable in the finish. Very, very good. Drinking perfect today but bottles like still should hold for another 10 years. Great wine.
93p   (tasted 2016/07)