Day 2: 1990 Pio Cesare Barolo

After allowing the wine to decant overnight, I tried it again. Some sediment still exists in the wine lending a bit more texture. It's interesting to note the major changes in wine, not only with time but also with temperature. The wine was previously tasted around 65-68 degrees F. This temperature allowed the nose of the wine to be fully expressed. Today, the wine is a bit cooler. The initial scents from this wine are faint. Bright cherry and some medjool fig scents accompany a brown sugar smell.The wine continues to smell clean, with touches of slate and mint. Faint hints of cloves and nutmeg appear in this wine.

The overwhelmingly predominant flavor remains kalamata olives. The underlying texture is incredibly velvety and generously thick in nature.Very short aftertaste accompanies this wine rendering it suitable for consumption with well-balanced meals in terms of spice. This wine will pair well with pasta dishes with olive oil based sauces. Red sauces may overwhelm this wine and lead to awkward flavors with tomatoes. Pork dishes will also hold up nicely with this wine, perhaps inclusive of bbq pork.

1990 Pio Cesare Barolo Tasting

As a gift, I received a bottle of 1990 Pio Cesare Barolo. I'm a lover of Italian wines, yet they are so expensive that I rarely have an opportunity to taste a premier bottle. I cracked the bottle today and decanted, but needed to sneak a taste. The bottle had considerable sediment in the bottom of the bottle and as such I was sure to be careful while decanting. Here are my initial thoughts based on the tasting right after opening.

The wine opens with a nice bouquet of smoke and bright cherry. Displaying an earthy smell that gives an impression of a strong Cab seems low in alcohol, as would be expected with a wine of this age. Interestingly, I also get hints of hyacinth, lilac and asparagus with this wine at the early stage. I'm anxious to see what this wine is like after some time exposed to air. The velvety texture gives way to a wine that has almost a salty flavor like kalamata olives. The smoke directly complements this flavor and makes me think of a Mediterranean meal. The color of the wine is now a duller maroon color, almost fading to brown at the very edge. Otherwise, the wine appears somewhat transparent.

Overall, I'm incredibly excited to taste this wine after some time and with a dinner. I tasted this wine without food, so I'm certain it will change quite a bit.