Jess

9.0

Pale-medium ruby-garnet color.
Aromas of tar, rose, cherry.
Dry. Flavors of cherry, rose, tar, soft earthiness on the finish. Rich, firm tannins.

Intensity: 4/5
Complexity: 3/5
Balance: 4/5
Finish: 4/5 — 3 months ago

Donald Williams

9.1

Youthful, but really nice. Wish I could get another and hide it for a few years. — a year ago

with Bonnie

Tommi Kuukka

9.4

Refined cherry and leather notes. Nose is spectacular. Decanted several hours before tasting. — 2 years ago

Francesca Cimino

8.9

Good with Carbonara — 5 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.0

Dark ruby color. Aromas of tart red fruits (cherry/cranberry/raspberry), dried violets and wet soil. Same fruits on the palate with hints of black tea, dried herbs, balsamic vinegar and flint. Very tertiary and savory. Medium finish and very fine chalky tannins. Bone dry and medium bodied. Best with food. Interesting, different and quite good. — 4 months ago

Jason Sliwa

9.5

Perhaps the “winner” of the vertical. Not overly ripe, just everything seemingly in balance. In a good place at this time. A pleasure to open these with appreciators. — 2 years ago

with Vicki, Tim and 3 others

Jim McCusker

9.4

Fantastic. — 4 years ago

with Vanessa

Claire White

9.0

So lovely, a treat to drink. Medium body, great value red wine without being too heavy.

Vanilla and berries. Happily drink this on its own. — 6 years ago

Jason Sliwa

9.2

Not over the hill, still expressing its fruit. Not as good as Palladino Barolo at this age, though. — a year ago

with Vicki

Jay Kline

9.4

Cascina Ornato is located in the southern portion of Serralunga d’Alba, right along the ridge. The elevation is higher here and the Ornato MGA falls to the west and south from there. Ornato is nearly a monopole for Pio Cesare would it not be for a couple of parcels that are controlled by Palladino. This bottle of the 1982 was generously provided from the cellar of a good friend; it was opened and enjoyed over two days. On Day 1, half the bottle was poured into a decanter and served immediately. The color was a slightly hazy garnet with an orange rim. On the nose and the palate, the wine came across rather tired. It wasn’t dead…and it definitely wasn’t vinegar, it just was...a bit dull. Since there were other wines open that were showing very well, we let it sit. At the end of the night, we poured what was left back into the bottle and I elected to take it home; hoping that it might wake up overnight. On Day 2, the wine had transformed. The color had deepened and everything had brightened up! The nose is loaded with tar, desiccated red fruits, sweet pipe tobacco accompanied by porchini, forest floor and dried, cracked leather ball glove…like after pitching 6 innings of baseball in the middle of July (IYKYK). On the palate, the wine is dry with surprisingly vigorous structure! The tannins are more pronounced than they were the day before and there’s also great acid to give everything a buoyant lift and some youthful energy. The fruit and non-fruit notes from the nose are confirmed with an added element of red rope licorice. Somehow, this is younger today than it was yesterday. At forty years old, this bottle clearly needed time to stretch its legs. Drink now with several hours of air but remarkably well-cellared examples could last for many more years. An illuminating experience in so many ways!

Something worth noting: Pio Cesare did not begin bottling single-cru Barolo “Oranato” until 1985. Curiously, this bottle was labeled “Vino da Tavola del Piemonte”. I reached out to Pio Cesare in hopes of getting some additional information and they were very kind to share some helpful detail. It turns out this bottling was an idea from their former importer, Terlato, with grapes for this wine sourced by Cascina Ornato. It was a traditional blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera! A long time ago they had a small amount of Barbera planted there. Now, Ornato is more or less 100% Nebbiolo. The “Vino da Tavola del Piemonte” was a sort of predecessor to the “Langhe Rosso” designation since there were not many appellations back in those days. The more you know!
— 2 years ago