2004 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sori’ Paitin
I’ve been enjoying researching factoids from the internet about the wines that we’ve been drinking at home lately. So often, I feel that, aside from Bordeaux, the only international producers that you ever really hear about are the most commercially successful. That’s tough on a budget, as these wines tend to be pricy. That leaves winging it or looking on your own.
I had a devil of a time getting beyond ratings, reviews and on-line stores to learn more about the 2004 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sori’ Paitin that we tried the other night. Really, I looked for about twenty minutes until I stumbled on a wonderful blog review of the wine and winery at McDuffWine. The writer traveled to Paitin di Pasquero-Elia, met the current winemaker Giovanni Pasquero-Elia, tasted some of the wines and wrote an interesting analysis of the traditional versus modernist (Paitin leans towards the modern) approaches to Nebbiolo. It is worth reading.
He ends his intriguing report with the link to the official Paitin site! Thank Bacchus, that sure made things easier!
This is a family-run enterprise dating back to 1796 though it sounds like winemaking has been a tradition on that particular site at least since the Fifteenth Century. Oh, yeah, the 15th Century! You gotta love Europe and its traditions. The Barbaresco Sori’ Paitin was first produced in 1893. I think that is super cool!
They’re located about 2 kilometers from the town of Alba. They’ve a guesthouse that you can even arrange to stay in should you be visiting Piedmont. With all this tourist stuff, I wonder why it was so hard to locate their site from the beginning?
At any rate, back to the wine.
I tried this particular wine originally with my boa amiga, Jasmine Turner, at an Italian wine tasting event. I liked it young. I remember a vivid cinnamon taste that intrigued me. I ended up buying a half case. The other day we drank the final bottle.
Apparently The Wine Advocate scored this a 92, whatever that means. They thought that it would be mature between 2010 and 2019. Unfortunately, my group didn’t really appreciate this wine. I served it at a dinner party with some fruitier French ones: 2009 Mas de Libian Côtes du Rhône Bout d’Zan and 2009 Saint Cosme Côtes du Rhône. It didn’t show well.
2004 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sori’ Paitin: This was an almost brownish ruby red color. To Hegui, who was not a fan, it had a nose of dirty socks, leather and a hard-to-define metallic smell. It was medium to full bodied with cherry on the attack that transformed to sour cherry and raspberry. There were a lot of fine tannins leading to a long finish that had some bitter earthy notes. It took on some caramel character after it was allowed to breathe for about thirty minutes.
This wasn’t a huge success at my house, though I do want to learn more about Barolos and Barbarescos, so stay tuned!