Cold fried chicken, pickleback sandwich and 2003 Allemand Cornas at Momofuku Ko

A look back at Momofuku Ko Bar with a legendary last call by the glass list before a friends departure from the restaurant.  Pictured is the legendary cold fried chicken 

and the Pickle Sandwich-back with a glass of wild turkey .

Legendary winemaker Thierry Allemand makes two bottlings of Cornas from the Chaillot and Reynard vineyards.  In certain years he bottles a Cornas without a vineyard designation as with the case of 2002 and the above pictured magnum of 2003.  The wine was very open yet harmonious showing a beautiful ripe texture and a signature of the warmer 2003 vintage. 

Visit to Giuseppe Rinaldi in Barolo

Entrance to the Cantina Rinaldi. 

On a slightly cold Friday winter morning in February a friend and I walked to the Giuseppe Rinaldi Cantina to meet one of the daughters, Marta.  The sun was shining magically on the Le coste vineyards as we approached.  

The annual production of Barolo here is around 16,000 bottles.  Rinaldi has 1 hectare of vineyards in Brunate and .5 hectares in Le Coste which produces perhaps their most famous blend of Barolo. The other vineyards for Nebbiolo are Cannubi San Lorenzo and Ravera. The biggest of the four plots is Ravera (3 hectares) which also holds Dolcetto, Barbera and Freisa vines and is used as well for the limited production of their excellent Langhe Nebbiolo. 

8 AM Early morning sun in the Le Coste vineyards of the Rinaldi estate looking south. 

Marta pouring us a sample of 2015 Langhe Nebbiolo from cask
which she explains is still a little nervous at the moment. This will be bottled in one week (at the end of February, 2017).  

Langhe Nebbiolo lot 1 and lot 2 with Alfio Cavallotto in Manhattan

Above: On my left, Mark Fornatale, Italian portfolio manager for Skurnik imports and to my right is Alfio Cavallotto tasting a lineup of current releases.  

The Cavallotto estate is on my top 5 list of traditional Nebbiolo no doubt.  All the vineyards and production of Cavallotto wines are located in Bricco Boschis of Castiglione Falletto which is quite unique for a Barolo producer.  They do make a Barolo Vignolo as well which is attached to the Bricco Boschis.  This means all of the Nebbiolo fruit has the potential to become Barolo. I carry the Langhe Nebbiolo on my restaurants list and it is one of my favorite bottles to sell and the value is unbeatable.  They usually release two different lots as Langhe Nebbiolo while they are deciding what to keep for Barolo and what to bottle earlier as Langhe Nebbiolo. 

When we tasted this week I was amazed by how much the Langhe was drinking like a young Barolo and I soon learned how they just released the second lot which has aged 23 months in large botti compared with the normal 18 months of the first Langhe Nebbiolo lot.  Below you can see on the left of the label the dates L 16.02.16 for the bottle on the left vs L 12.07.16 on the right.  This is always reassuring and it seems to me the new generations of wine makers are trying to be more and more informative when labeling wines.  Both wines are absolutely delicious and Alfio thinks you couldn't tell them apart unless you were drinking them side by side. I believe those extra 5 months give it an extra boost in complexity and in aging potential.  All I can hope for is that these wines will remain one of the best values in Piedmont Nebbiolo. 

Shit happens when you bike home with Cavallotto