Icardi Barolo Vertical Tasting at WWWB

Pleasure without champagne is purley artificial

Oscar Wilde- Playwright

And the same could be said for Barolo!  Champagne is my favorite wine but next in line would be Barolo and Barbaresco, these are the two greatest wines made from the Nebbiolo varietal.

Tonight, we have a study of ten vintages going back 20+ years from one of the Piedmont's top producers and to make this event even more exciting we have every wine on the table available for sale!!  We have also included every wine that we have in the store from the Barolo DOCG on this offering.

This is a sit down pre-poured event and is limited to 16 tasters, the fee for this tasting is $95 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Icardi Barolo Vertical Tasting at WWWB
Saturday, June 17th
7:30pm

Icardi Barolo Parej 1996
Price: $108          Sale $95.04          Case $1102

Great year.  It’s a wine with a great body and structure possessing robust tannins. Complex perfumes and a rich flavor. It’s a classical Barolo ideal for long term ageing.

Icardi Barolo Parej 1997
Price: $96.00       Sale $84.48          Case $980

Exceptional year. A splendid fruity wine, harmonious with vibrant perfumes and a rich flavor softened by a low acidity.

Icardi Barolo Parej 1998
Price: $90.00       Sale $79.20          Case $918

Exceptional year.. A well- structured and alcoholic wine, intense and concentrated with ample and Persistent perfumes and warm, dense flavor. Generously fruity.  It’s a wine for long- term ageing

Icardi Barolo Parej 1999
Price: $85.00       Sale $74.80          Case $867

Excellent year.. Persistent perfumes and a full velvety flavor.  A Barolo that, alter ageing, might exceed its already excellent expectations

Icardi Barolo Parej 2003
Price: $80.00       Sale $70.40          Case $816

Excellent year. Balanced.  Wine with very intense color, complex ethereal bouquet from fruity to spicy.  A soft and excellent Barolo that impressed everyone

Icardi Barolo Parej 2004
Price: $75.00       Sale $66.00          Case $765

Great year majestic. Wine with brilliant garnet- red Color, complex ethereal bouquet from fruity to spicy, full bodied, sweet tannins and a persistent but not astringent after taste.

Icardi Barolo Parej 2007
Price: $78.00       Sale $68.64          Case $796

Excellent year elegant. Wine with intense garnet- red color and is warm, alcoholic, round and pleasant, with moderate acidity. The bouquet is fresh and fruity. Overall it is an enjoyable and inviting Barolo.

 Icardi Barolo Parej 2008
Price: $72.00       Sale $63.36          Case $735

Great year majestic. Wine with very high alcohol content, well supported by its acidity and a complex aromatic bouquet. Well-structured and powerful. Full bodied and warm with important tannins and long finish.

Icardi Barolo Parej 2009
Price: $70.00       Sale $61.60          Case $715

Excellent and balanced. Wine with a medium intensity color, a generous fresh bouquet and a high alcohol content.  It’s already a juicy and pleasant Barolo that is for medium term ageing

Icardi Barolo Parej 2010
Price: $80.00       Sale $70.40          Sale $816

Exceptional year.  A wine with great structure and balance and full character. Intense ample, fragrant exciting and pleasing perfume.   Velvet and tannin equilibrium. Elegant, generous. And long- lived. Rendered honor to the Langhe

Menu

On the Table/Passed
Bruscetta with Fig & Walnut Anchoiade (tapenade)
Proscuitto wrapped Shrimp with Blackberry Mop
To Start:
Truffled White Bean & Braised Osso Bucco Zuppa with Reggianno Parmegiano Melted Toast
To Finish:
Sundried Cherry-Wild Mushroom Stuffed Pork Loin finished with Black Cherry & Cola Glaze

A bit about Barolo and Icardi:

Barolo is the most majestic of Italy's great panoply of red wines.  At its best, it goes unchallenged by all save the world's greatest red wines.  Sheldon & Pauline Wasserman in their epic work, Italy's Noble Red Wines, list the three B's of wines as Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Barolo.  Indeed, this is prestigious company, but anybody who tastes a mature Barolo from a great producer and a great vintage understands this statement.  The wine is made from 100% Nebbiolo in the Langhe region of the southern part of the Piedmont, a large wine producing region in Italy's northwest corner.  The Langhe is made up of a series of long hills from which it gets its name - "lingue" in Latin.  The towns of the region are often clustered around medieval castles and towers perched at the summits of these hills; the surrounding slopes are carpeted in vines.  The other great wine of the Langhe is Barbaresco, but as a rule (and we have tasted some great exceptions to that rule), Barolo has the edge in complexity, concentration, and cellaring potential.

Barolo has often been misunderstood, for many wine lovers have been exposed only to the more widely-available examples of the average producers.  Another problem that complicates the picture is that there are two stylistic threads in Barolo: the new wave modern and the traditional.  The wines of a traditional producer may take years to emerge from their cocoon; and with the widespread modern trend toward early consumption, many of the traditionalist wines are being consumed far too early.  Barolo was recently accorded Italy's top status under Italian wine law: DOCG (name of origin controlled and guaranteed).  Bureaucrats notwithstanding, there is only one real guarantee of a product - the integrity of the producer.  If you want to drink the best Barolos, it is necessary to seek out the best producers.  One name towers above all others in Barolo - that of Bruno Giacosa.  However, other great producers are Ceretto (the best of the modernists), Aldo Conterno, Prunotto, Rinaldi, Gaja, E. Pira, Sandrone, Scavino, and Marcarini. In addition, the crus (single vineyards) have assumed enormous importance in the last two decades in Barolo.  Although Barolo producers have long kept the single vineyards separate in the cellars, with few exceptions (several old bottles of a 1752 Barolo from the Cannubi vineyard are still in existence) they were not bottled and labeled separately until the 1960's.  The general rule today is that Italy's greatest Barolos are those which are cru designated.  Wine authorities maintain that "Cannubi" is Barolo's single greatest cru; certainly "Brunate", "Bricco Rocche", Bussia", and "Vigna Rionda" rate among the leading vineyard cites.

Claudio Icardi is an energetic producer and consultant to several wineries, in addition to working his own vineyards and winery.  The vineyards that produce the grapes for this Barolo are located in the prime growing regions of La Morra, Serralunga and Barolo.