Bibemus Boozes on Barolo & the Red Panty Threesome

On Monday the 20th August, an Italian-loving wine club experienced an evening entitled ‘Bibemus Boozes on Barolo‘. While it may not be the most eloquent choice of expression in relation to such a noble wine, it was deemed delightful by Bibemus’ core members nonetheless.

Guests included:

Jane Faulkner | Anthony D’Anna | Krystina Menegazzo | Matt Paul

Sandro Mosele | Ben Knight | Georgia Roberts | Michael Trembath

Adam Foster | Naz Fazio | Stacey-Lee Edwards | Orazio Lo Castro | Marcus Ellis

Jane Faulkner & Sandro Mosele

Bibemus chatting away

Menu by the Carlton Wine Room

Antipasto of chilli soft-shell crab and herb aioli; pork terrine with fruit puree

Entrée of beef tartare, Jerusalem artichoke, cured egg, and truffle emulsion

Mains of confit pork belly, trotter and ear with a side of Kipfler potatoes and caramelized onion

Dessert of Cabot Cheddar with crackers

Wine Bracket 1

Erpacrife, Massolino and Pira

Erpacrife Vino Spumante di Qualita da uve Nebbiolo Metodo Classico Dosaggio Zero 2006, Castagnole delle Lanze

This is a cult sparkling wine made in the Barbaresco zone by a group of four friends – all from winemaking families – who decided to make this wine as part of a university project at the University of Alba. It is made with the Nebbiolo grape and experiences some skin contact and spends a small time in wood. This was a really fine example of a 100% Nebbiolo sparkling with a beautiful nose of roses and game, a gentle grip on the finish and a fantastic freshness from the acidity. The only other wine similar to this that I have tried is the G.D.Vajra sparkling made from 50% Nebbiolo and 50% Pinot Nero. In comparison what it lacks in distinctive aromatics it makes up for with a more striking acidity. 

Massolino Barolo Margheria 2006, Serralunga d’Alba

Rich and warm, volatile lift, flavours of charcuterie, the fruit has backed out, mealy and tightly wound tannic structure.

Luigi Pira Barolo Margheria 2007, Serralunga d’Alba

A savoury nose, rich, volatile lift, violets, blue fruits, structured superior and focused over the Massolino, a touch of brettanomyces and strange scents of winter sweet florals and jasmine. 

These last two wines were to highlight the western Margheria vineyard in the Serralunga d’Alba sub-region of Barolo. 

Wine Bracket 2 – Ciao Cannubi

Mascarello, E.Pira e Figli and Sandrone

This bracket I refer to as ‘Ciao Cannubi’ because this vineyard in the Barolo sub-region was the focus. It is one of the great crus and upheld that position.

Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 2006, Barolo

Michael Trembath defined the key character as “celery salt”. I picked up a distinct salty character, with lifted violets, tight red fruits, roses, a twist of orange and vanilla. The tannins were lean but with a softness in line with Barolo sub-region wines. This wine is made from mostly Cannubi vineyard fruit but the method of making the Mascarello Barolo wine has always been to blend different vineyards.

Chiara Boschis E.Pira e Figli Barolo Cannubi 2006, Barolo

Looking beyond the hunk of sediment in my glass, this wine had aromas of petroleum, plum, bay leaf and licorice with a delicious salty beef steak tartare character. Tannins were very cling-film like. A really savoury wine begging for salty food. The steak tartare on my plate worked a treat.

Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi 2006, Barolo

Lots of dark earth, spice, plum flavours, obvious dominating oak out of the three in the bracket, yet married wonderfully into a richer style. Firm tannins that exemplify the saying of Barolo wines being like an “iron fist in a velvet glove”.

Wine Bracket 3

Giacomo Conterno trio

Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia 1988, Serralunga d’Alba

Cloudy. Wicked aromatics of fennel seeds, herbs like sage and laurel, then hints of spice, licorice, cinnamon stick, clove, cedar, mocha and an overall rich presence. Lots of tertiary characters like salted mushrooms and beef stock. Ben Knight commented that “Old wine goes to this nice place – this pedestal of lovely”. It was however agreed that this wine showed a little more development than should typically be seen in a Barolo wine of 1988.

Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia 1996, Serralunga d’Alba

Wine of the night. Balsamic aromas, sweet yet tart red fruit characters, meaty overall and a great thick flavour of funghi porcini. The palate entered with a mild fruit sweetness, which then led to a long, savoury, lip smacking Nebbiolo finish. 

Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia 2005, Serralunga d’Alba

Plum, rich and thick in fruit, chocolate-savoury edge and already a fine tannic finish. Tasting these old and new wines that have either seen small of large formats of oak had Sandro Mosele noting that, “with oak, the flavour of it disappears with time, but the structure stays”. This foundation exists in many great Barolo producer’s wine and Giacomo Conterno’s examples unquestionably pass that test of time. 

Digestive Wine

Cappellano

Cappellano Barolo Chinato, Serralunga d’Alba

Barolo Chinato is a specialty of the Piemonte and is made from Barolo wine steeped with 15 different herbs. It acts as a wonderful digestive after a long dinner like the one we had just experienced. The Cappellano version is quite famous and surprised a lot of people at the table who had never tried one before. Dominant flavours were of spearmint and dark chocolate with a savoury finish and softened Nebbiolo tannins.

And the Red Panty Threesome, you were wondering? After reading an online article about a number of European wine industry personnel wearing red jeans, Matt Paul, Anthony D’Anna and myself, decided to use the Bibemus wine dinner as an excuse to wear our finest red pants. Mind you, we already proudly wear them on a regular basis. This was the result. So classy.

Matt, Krystina and Anthony

To tie everything in, I was trying to find a song in my iTunes that had the word ‘red‘ in it. Only two options came up. There was the obvious classic, ‘Red, Red Wine‘, and embarrassingly the discovery of a 1970’s Australian classic by Slim Newton called ‘Redback on the Toilet Seat‘. Aside from my lameness, that wouldn’t really tie anything together now, will it?

Tags: Barolo, Bibemus, Cannubi, Chinato, Giacomo Conterno, Italian, Italy, Serralunga d'Alba, Wine, Wine Tasting