the impact of Nebbiolo
It’s hard to sit at the computer when the weather is so hot but I keep saying to myself I must write a blog. I have lots of notes, it’s 30c outside and HO is doing a rain dance for the garden. But despite the occasional darkening skies and accompanying cannons from Barbaresco: niente!
This year’s Barbaresco a Tavola was a treat and the wines we tasted from the 2009 vintage were uniformly good. It’s difficult to taste them in May as some were only bottled for the event and thus not at their best but even so showed well. The real test will be in September when we get a second chance to compare at Piacere Barbaresco. Nevertheless, tasting with friends, we usually reached a general consensus on our favourites. The food served at La Torre del Monastero was tasty and imaginative and as it’s our closest bar we didn’t venture elsewhere. Those conclusions after the 2nd and 3rd dinners were as follows:
18th May
1. Cantina del Pino
2.Cascina Morassino
3. Chiarlo Michele
4,. Pelissero Giorgio
5. La Ganghija
25th May
1. Abrigo Orlando
2. Cascina Saria
3. Roberto Sarotto
4.Fontanbianca
5 Marchesi di Grésy
As we found last year, another 6 months in the bottle will have a substantial impact on the wines but two things are certain: we have discovered a couple of new names to visit and check out prices and value and, out of 60 wines tasted, all of them had something to offer.