Review #66&67: Springbank 12 Burgundy and Springbank 9 Barolo

Tonight I am going to SbS two Springbank wine releases, Burgundy and Barolo.

Burgundy can be Pinot Noir, Gamey (Beaujolais) or Chardonnay grapes. I went and even tracked down Springbank's press release on this and they do not state what AOC or grape these barrels are from. I would assume that this would be Pinot Noir as that is what I think of when I think of a Burgundy but lets see if I can taste the grape.

Barolo is a Piedmont wine made of Nebbiolo grapes. This is a big wine that has big tannins. The fun thing about Barolo, is it probably is the wine that requires the most age to open up across the board. I have yet to have any one with less than 5 years that didn't taste closed but probably needs to age at least 10 years to open up.

Springbank 9 year, Barolo Cask, 54.7%

Campbeltown - 9 Years - NCF - NCA - Sample ($120 at the local) - 54.7%

Color - Burnished

Nose - Flowers and funk, air freshener flowers, honey, sea air, and a touch of plastic

Taste - Rich red wine fruit, jam, pepper - the body could be a little more structured but works.

Finish - Medium - Honey, jam and leathery tobacco funk

Overall - 6 - I can't help but compare this one with the Longrow wine lineup. The nose is solid and hard to pin down. The palate is pretty one note and keeps up structure but just barely. It is an enjoyable dram but I really couldn't see myself buying this over one of the Longrow reds.

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Springbank 12 Burgundy

Campbeltown- 12 - NCF - NCA- Sample ($120 at the local) - 53.5%

Color - Mahogany

Nose - Rich red fruits, strawberry and cherry, honey, mushrooms

Taste - Heat, stewed red fruits, spice, a bit of forest floor funk

Finish - Medium - Oranges, raw oak, spice

Overall - 5.5- This is a fun one, the nose is an earthy fruit stew, the palate is big and filled with red wine. While enjoyable, I found the heat on the palate was bigger than its ABV and the raw oak on the finish was distracting. A few drops of water didn't tone down the heat or the raw oak. As far as which Burgundy grape, I can be pretty sure that it wasn't Chardonnay, but can't tell if it is Burgundy or Beaujolais. If you put a gun to my head, I would say a its a Morgan Beaujolais for the earthy notes.

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.95

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.49

Cambeltown 6.3 (12)