Wine Tasting: Nebbiolo

Big crowd for nebbiolo, the premier grape of northern Italy's Piedmont region. Here's the list of what we had, with my favorites in bold. All of these were purchased at K&L Wines, my wine store of choice.

1. 2009 Elio Grasso "Gavarini" Nebbiolo d'Alba ($24): grapey, reminded me of a nice gamay from Beaujolais. 
2. 2005 Angelo Negro Barbaresco "Basarin" ($35): nice, but not the measure of #3, and pricey for what it delivered.
3. 2004 Ceretto Barbaresco Bricco Asili ($50): a lovely example, but pricey.
4. 2005 Renato Ratti "Marcenasco" Barolo ($50): a crowd favorite, and seemingly critics agree: this was #7 on the Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2009.
5. 2001 Ruggeri Corsini Barolo ($32): least favorite of the barolos, but still very nice, and a good value.
6. 2005 Ruggeri Corsini Barolo ($38): my personal favorite of the night, a bit more generous than the others, and better than the 2001. Great value. 
7. 2000 Sesta di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino ($43): the "contrast" wine in the line up, made from the sangiovese grape from Tuscany. Much softer, more approachable, and totally lovely.
8. 2001 Cabutto Barolo Riserva del Fondatore "Sarmassa" ($75): lovely, and kept getting better over the course of the evening, but hard to justify the price. 
9. 2004 Pecchenino "Le Coste" Barolo ($50):  
10. 2009 Saracco Moscato d'Asti ($16): lovely sweet, white, fizzy dessert wine, also from Piedmont. Tasty and a great value.