Abbona Barbaresco 1959

I was at one of the booths in the Grand Tasting Pavilion when I spotted someone opening a bottle of this old Barbaresco. I then learnt that it was going to be tasted in an upcoming session on Old wines, so I enrolled for it.Sure enough, after a informative yet definitely promotional talk, the old wine (a grand total of three bottles) was offered for tasting. Well unlike Barolo, Barbaresco is not a wine designed for extended aging and this 56 year old wine was definitely past its peak, yet aging very gracefully. As such a delicate old wine might well disintegrate on decanting, it was poured straight out of the bottle, resulting in a cloudy brick red liquid with brown tints. It was meaty and acid on the nose, with an acid palate hinting of sweet and with a touch of fruit. It was well supported by an acid backbone finishing acid with a hint of tannins.

Wine and Dine 2015

I went to the Wine and Dine Festival on the opening night and all day yesterday. As usual my emphasis is on the Wine more than the Dine. In the end I found that I had tasted perhaps one new exotic grape, one RP100 claret of the 2009 vintage, did an impromptu of three Barolo Cru wines of the 2007 from the same winery, and had three wines aged 50yrs or above, two of which are ports.

I must also say that I had been a touch disappointed that there was so much "more of the same" especially with regards to French wines in general and Bordeaux in particular. One cannot hope to fins more and more exotic wine regions, or hidden treasures from well-known wine producing countries, but this being only the third time I had been to this event, I do wonder if I should either think of skipping it altogether, or shift my emphasis as to what to get out of this annual jamboree.