Melbourne Tasting Group - 25 July 2026

[VinoEd]

An incredible line up yesterday, which was a lot of fun - along with being educational as I expand my international wine knowledge. Thanks to Con for organising and Glovers Yarraville for hosting us. My recollections and reflections on the wines:

2011 Château Doisy-Daëne, Barsac (Cru Classé 1855), Grand Vin de Sauternes - depth, marmalade, sweet raisin, caramel, more-ish

2024 Camille & Guillaume Boillot, Saint-Romain “Sous le Château” - floral, stone fruits, young and pretty

2005 Michel Bouzereau et Fils, Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru - a bit champagne without bubbles, candied lemons, apple, nutty, honey

2007 Roagna, Barbaresco “Montefico” - musty, old library nose, compost / mushroom, more developed

2007 Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa, Barbaresco “Santo Stefano” (Albesani di Neive) - fruit started to pop here, precise, strawberry / red leaning,

2007 Falletto di Bruno Giacosa, Barbaresco “Asili di Barbaresco” (No. 1185) - bigger, powerful restraint, still fruit forward, integrated tannins

2007 Falletto di Bruno Giacosa, Barbaresco “Asili” Riserva (red label) - sensational bottle, powerful, real depth of fruit, fine tannin, orange peel, tar - WOTD, a privilege to drink

2007 Cavallotto, Barolo Riserva “Bricco Boschis” Vigna San Giuseppe - musty, old library vibes, more tertiary - I enjoyed this

2007 Sandrone, Barolo “Le Vigne” - powerhouse, the front palate was precision fruit, the back was tannin central - needs time

2007 Azelia (Luigi Scavino), Barolo “Margheria” - seemed a bit fresher compared to the prior wine, concentrated, polished fruit

1963 G. Gramp & Sons (Orlando), Tawny Port, Barossa Valley - the mouth feel and complexity of old Tawny is something else, no exception here. Amazing.

[VinoEd]

Here are a couple of photos:

[JamieAdelaide]

I’ve got all those Italians. I’d suspect the Roagna not representative of its age. They go that way in a beautiful manner but after about 30 years. Perhaps a bit of oxidation?

[Rossco]

Epic event guys. Con always so generous and looks like a top night

[Ian S]

An intentional plan to focus on 2007 vintage?

It was a warmer (but not hot) vintage that surprised me a little bit. I tend to go for vintages that lend themselves to firmer / more structured wines (like its predecessor 2006). However we were in the region when those wines were the latest release, so got to taste a good number, sometimes alongside the 2006s. Although my purchases were mostly 2006, I enjoyed many of the 2007s and what I tasted of them in the years that followed, they seemed to stay open, avoiding the tannic shutdown nebbiolo can give (albeit less so that in days gone by). They were for a while my 1st choice for drinking in restaurants, due to this.

So it's interesting to get insight into them at nearly 2 decades old. My preconception, was that there would inevitably be a trade off for longevity, not maybe an extreme trade-off, but definitely maturing faster than 2006 and its like.

The selection a notable jump up from my level of purchases, so perhaps it's not a huge surprise that some are showing strong future potential (and a tannic backbone to support this), but maybe a small surprise. Or that just goes to show that vintage generalisations are a crude tool!

In the context of the other wines, yes that Roagna sticks out a bit, and whilst Jamie knows the producer (and I've not tasted any of their wines), I will say that Montefico tends towards more structured wines, so that doubles down on the mild surprise. Variability in nebbiolo from the Langhe is of course no surprise!

[VinoEd]

I’ve got all those Italians. I’d suspect the Roagna not representative of its age. They go that way in a beautiful manner but after about 30 years. Perhaps a bit of oxidation?

Yes, should’ve mentioned as we re-tasted at the end of lunch that was mentioned by a couple of the group. It definitely stood out more after having been open a few hours.

[VinoEd]

An intentional plan to focus on 2007 vintage?

I’m certainly no expert when it comes to Italian wine so take everything I say with that caveat.

The 2007 theme followed a 2004 theme held the week prior, me and a few others didn’t make the 2004 lunch but made it for this one.

The wines have life ahead of them if well stored and corks are kind, some needed more time to integrate and build complexity. I don’t think there is any immediate rush with this vintage, albeit a number of the wines showed really well and are probably in as good as zone as they’ll be if you want some of the primary fruit notes with secondary complexity emerging. Very helpful I know!

Cheers Ed