Per Kamperin

2004 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato. Classic and typical with cherries, spice, soil, tar and leather. Concentrated with complex nuances. Great Barolo. Many years to go… Monprivato is one of the most distinctive Barolos around.  It boasts a level of elegance, clarity of expression and beautifully nuanced complexity that's heartbreaking. There's a unique and very compelling mingling of fruit, flower and earth with an incredible finesse.  The life of Monprivato is legendary.  It can age for decades. Over time, it shows its breeding to an even greater extent and gets even more beautifully aromatic and transparent. With time, a beguiling depth and perfume emerges.  2004 is a very strong vintage for Piedmont, but even in this context the Monprivato is brilliant.  Few wines reached this level of refinement and delineation. Monprivato - Vintage 2004

2007 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate - Le Coste, a wine worth devoting yourself to… ”Powerful, complex and multi-faceted - red fruit, leather, cherries, blackberries, herbs, tar, orange peel, a hint of medicinal tones and a floral touch and perhaps also some meaty and animal features.. First labelled and sold as a single-vineyard wine in   1934, Brunate is one of the Grand Crus of the Langhe region, even if the classification has not yet been made. Why? Because of its ability to deliver high quality fruit year-in, year-out. It is at the base of the La Morra slope, in a plum south amphiteatro which generates plenty of steamy heat by day and because of its position low down, it chills down quickly by night, preserving the perfumes and extending the hang-time.

 ”Protected from cold, eastern winds by the high ridge of Serralunga, Vigna Rionda gets full southern exposure. This combination allows grapes to reach ideal ripening before harvest almost every year. High vineyard altitudes of 985 feet provide marked day-night temperature changes that prolong the growing season and create complex aromas in the finished wines.”   Vigna Rionda - Vintage 2004

2004 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté. Distinct tannins, cherries, violets, roses, ham/meat with some wood and a hint of tobacco. Grape:  Nebbiolo First vintage:  1978 Aspect and height above sea level:  south-facing, 300-350 metres Soil type:  moderately loose-packed, slightly clayey, limestone-based Vine training system and planting density:  Guyot-trained at 4,500 vines per hectare Average age of productive vines:  around 40 years Harvest period and method:  second 10 days of October, manual harvest The vinification procedure for Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè involves alcoholic fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, with daily pumping over. After completing malolactic fermentation, the wine matures in 25-hectolitre barrels of Slavonian oak. Bottling normally takes place in August. The Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè then stays in the binning cellar for 8-10 months before release. Front Label

I am, of course, biased when it comes to Barolo. I prefer wines with little to no new oak, freshness  instead of power, and austerity instead of sweetness. I’m a big fan of Old School Baroli. This bottle;  Still relatively young, needed some time to open up. Typical fine tannins, found some cherries, a little tar and perhaps roses, with a nice hint of tobacco. The wine has a broad and emphatic balsamic richness with nuances of menthol and a meaty kind of feel, while still maintaining a freshness and zip. A great Barolo with potential and real good value for money IMO. This wine will improve over the coming years, currently at beginning of it’s drinking window. First labelled and sold as a single-vineyard wine in 1934, Brunate is one of the Grand Crus of the Langhe region. Why? Because of its ability to deliver high quality fruit year-in, year-out. It is at the base of the La Morra slope, in a plum south amphiteatro which generates plenty of steamy heat by day and...

2004 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato. The definition of a ”Unicorn Wine”, elegant and complex, though still at beginning of drinking window IMO. Slow oxed (10h) & another 30 min in the glass before drinking, paired with self-picked wild Swedish Chanterelles on toast. Nice pairing IMO and in this bottle we found, as expected, notes of leather, roses, truffle and perhaps also a hint of tea-leafs and tobacco. Great Barolo!

Classic and typical, but still rather young IMO — cherries, roses, tobacco, a bit of leather and some tar with a hint of floral nuances. Rather long finish and a sense of minerality.  Wine in the glass.. Winemaker Notes; An impeccable balance. Aroma and finesse with power and body at the same time. Sweet nose, with hints of cherry, black currant and licorice. Fruity tannins. A union of characters. Front Labels WS Cherry and plum flavors are buried in a dense matrix of tannins, shaded by tobacco, leather, tar and iron notes. Linear and persistent on the finish, if less expressive at this stage than its peers. Best from 2021 through 2040. WA This vineyard is located in Serralunga d’Alba, where the soils are rich with clay and limestone. Vines are 50 years old, on average. The 2013 Barolo Margheria is a terrific wine with broad shoulders and a fully loaded, exuberant personality. The bouquet is dark and gristly in places with aromas of dark cherry ...

I admit to being a Nebbiolophile and in this expensive and highly appreciated top Barbaresco you will find all the expected traditional, and for the Nebbiolo grape typical references to varying degrees; roses, dried cherries, leather, violets and perhaps a hint of tar, but no truffles. This bottle (slow ox’d for 7 hours) was robust, but pure, with floral and mineral notes, opulent but not forceful in any way with splendid tannins present. This is a truly great wine, mature and balanced with great complexity, earthy of course, with an elegant finish with nuances of acid berries and also an inkling of citrus bergamia aromas. This wine is drinking beautifully today IMO, and possibly better than ever? I will enjoy the remaining few bottles over the next couple of years, but perhaps keep one for the long run.. The notes above does not aim at giving the reader a full descripion of this great bottle of Barbaresco, it’s just a muddled summary of my drinking experience. The very act o...

Classic and typical, but very young - cherries, roses, tobacco,  a bit of leather and some tar with a hint of floral nuances. Rather long finish... Per Kamperin - Wine Blog Product Description: "In 2004 Luigi decided to age part of this Cru in large casks: an exemplary work. From it, Margheria takes its best from itself. A vineyard of rare beauty. Entirely facing south, the vineyard is situated in the centre of the commune of Serralunga on the hill which extends below the castle of the town. The clayey and calcareous soil of Serralunga d'Alba shows all its complexity. The tufaceous marls confer richness in extracts and power to the wine. Minerality and sapidity: Margheria widely expresses the strong and austere character of this town. 1920 Cavalier Lorenzo Scavino began to vinify part of the grapes produced in the family's vineyards, a small rural reality in the heart of the Langhe region, in Castiglione Falletto. His son Alfonso started enthusiastically to bo...

2006 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin. Dried fruits, tar, liquorice, spice and tobacco with a hint of juniper and pine. Elegant and traditional with huge potential... Per Kamperin - Wine Blog

2008 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Cannubi San Lorenzo Ravera  “..Austere, severe, that demands research. It takes time. You have to study, to think, to understand, like all of art. It isn’t simple but complex; it doesn’t please right away. It’s the opposite of a mass-produced product. It has angles, not curves. It’s not easy.  2008 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Cannubi San Lorenzo Ravera

2006 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero. Firm classic style, a fabulous effort from Burlotto. Still young, but a truly great wine! https://perskamperin.tumblr.com/post/188443436575/2006-comm-gb-burlotto-barolo-monvigliero-firm G.B. Burlotto in Verduno has a storied past. The estate was founded in the late 19th century by Commendatore Giovanni Battista Burlotto who made the wine himself until his death in 1927. The Commendatore’s wines were highly esteemed in the early 20th century and they rivaled French Bordeaux for space in well-stocked European cellars. After his death the estate lapsed and Burlotto wines lost prestige. Today, however, G.B. Burlotto wines are once again highly acclaimed thanks to the work of Fabio Alessandria, the founder’s great-great-grandson. The 37-acres of vineyards are planted to Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Cabernet Sauvignon and Freisa, a red grape native to Piedmont. The Monvigliero Vineyard produces some of Burlotto’s most sought-after B...