Our regular tasting group was at my house last week to taste a variety of wines from Italy. There was no real theme other than that.
A little starter white got the night rolling.
2004 Marissa Cuomo Costa d’Amalfi Furore Bianco Fior d’Uva. This was a Gambero Rosso tre bicchieri winner in 2006 and I can see why. The nose is crisp with limoncello, chalk, wet slate and white flower aromas. On the palate, there is just an overall harmony to the wine and a lovely seamlessness. Right from the crisp entry through to the rounded, gentle finish, everything feels perfectly balanced. It also possesses a nice bass note that adds depth without making this too full-bodied. Flavors of soft citrus and minerals lead to a chalky, softly spiced finish that has no obvious acidic bite, nor bitter wood to speak of. This was a very nice way to start the evening.
The next eight wines were served blind in flights of two.
1999 Tenuta Sette Ponti Crognolo Toscana IGT. The wine in the glass is a smoky, dark ruby color. The nose is rich and complex with dried plum, leather, dark fruitcake, roasted dark cherry, espresso and a hint of caramel. It has a generous feel in the mouth, without being necessarily mouth-filling. It is creamy and smooth, with a soft texture and some sneaky tannins and a faint indication of heat that comes on toward the end. It offers a nice flavor profile of cherry cream and smooth chocolate and goes down pretty easily. Still, it seems with those tannins that grow and grow on the finish that this could go for a while in the cellar.
1999 Argiano Solengo Toscana IGT. Dark maroon in color, this wine ratchets everything up a notch. It presents a mélange of aromas on its complex bouquet, ranging from leather, green tobacco leaf, clean horse barn, cedar, funky underbrush, lead pencil and menthol to sweet cassis, sweet crushed raspberries and other red fruits. In the mouth, it is plush and dense, with dark warm fruits draped in cashmere-like tannins that still manage to coat the teeth. Acidity is on the low side, but it shows its balance on the gentle, honest and very long finish that shows no wood or bitterness. My Wine of the Night.
2001 Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino Castelgiocondo. The color here is more like inky purple. It smells modern-styled, with aromas of dark caramel, blackcurrant jam, crushed red berries, ash and asphalt. It is rich and full-bodied in the mouth, with a heavy bottom note lying beneath the juicy fruit on top. It is beginning perhaps to show some layering, but still feels rather young—with its best years ahead of it. Strong tannins slowly gather up their strength to make an assault on the finish, which is dark and chocolaty, with some wood and mild warmth. Again, this could use some time in the cellar to really strut its stuff. Nonetheless, the group’s Wine of the Night, with 3 first place votes.
2001 Triacca Valtellina Sforzato San Domenico. As it turns out, this is another tre bicchieri-rated wine, from the 2004 edition of Gambero Rosso. This wine is lighter, more faded and bricked in appearance. It is softly red-fruited on the nose, with an earthy, dusty streak that evokes dried flowers, bark and forest greens. On the palate, it seems to have a strong acidity to it, and a very dry mouthfeel. Still, there are some juicy red cherries and spiced dried plum flavors that are pleasant. On the whole, it is not all that exciting, which is surprising since the last time I tasted it in May, it was warm, spicy and lots of fun in the mouth. It is hard to say where this wine is in its evolution right now, but perhaps it is best to hold and see where it goes.
2001 Conterno-Fantino Barolo Parussi. This wine is ruby-colored, with a bit of orange at the rim. It sports an open, heady and perfumed nose of intense rose petals, fresh tar and lifted baked cherries. It is big, plush and generous in the mouth, but also a touch brawny and rugged right now. There is good acidity and lift to the dried red cherry and brightly spiced flavors. A wall of tannins rises up on the long, tangy finish, and there is a touch of youthful heat, as well. There is good character here now, and it should really blossom more in a few years.
2001 Michele Chiarlo Barolo Brunate. Although the same age as its flight-mate, this wine looks much younger and darker in appearance. Interestingly, the nose also does not seem quite as classically Nebbiolo-like, with aromas of meat, earth, bridle leather, spices, dark caramel and roasted red fruits that are nonetheless pleasant and interesting. It is considerably rounder in the mouth than the Conterno-Fantino, with fewer sharp edges, a more open-knit texture, greater extraction, and a darker fruit profile. There are some chewy, chalky tannins that are not too rough, and the finish is long, plush and rich, if a bit heavy. Like the other 2001 Barolo, it seems clear this could use several more years of bottle development.
1999 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco. This offers a lovely, elegant bouquet with tons of upfront, sweet red fruit (including those Swedish licorice fish), light caramel, fine brown sugar and soft high-grade cocoa powder. It pulls you back for repeated sniffs. In the mouth, it is medium-bodied, quite bright with fresh cherry flavors, and very smooth all around. It is very polished and refined, yet with hidden power somehow evident. It shows excellent length and a very tightly-grained set of abundant tannins that grow with time in the glass. Also, as the tannins grow, the palate seems to pinch up a bit and the acidity to gain some sharper angles. Put this away and enjoy 5-10 years from now.
2005 Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d’Alba. In sharp contrast, I do not like this wine at all. The nose features aromas of bicycle tire, blue fruit, pepper and meat. Hey, who the heck snuck this Syrah into this tasting?!? In the mouth, it is full-bodied, very drying, and offers up flavors of very dark fruits and bitter dark chocolate. My biggest knock on the wine is that it has massively chunky, dry tannins that seem to suck all of the moisture out of the mouth, leaving one gasping for relief. Maybe time will be kind to this, but it is hard to like in its current youthfulness.
After dinner, a few final corks were pulled.
1997 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Gerry kindly added this bottle to our bounty, and it was served not blind. I’ve had the pleasure to drink this wine on several occasions, but not very recently. I am happy to report that it is still showing quite well. On the nose, there are strong heady scents of black licorice, deep cherry liqueur, dried fig, raisins, dusted blackberries, woody spices and blueberry pop tart. It continues to offer a lovely sense of purity and richness in the mouth, with huge amplitude, oodles of plush fruit, and a dense mouthfeel that is warm and inviting. The finish is lush and velvety, with lots of spices, a hint of wood and a touch of alcohol. A hedonistic delight.
2003 Marcarini Moscato d’Asti. However, after that we needed to send people home with a bit of a wake-up refresher. This wine did the trick, despite being a bit long in the tooth and not quite as frizzante as it probably once was. The nose is very pretty, with lychee, tangerine, lime, orange blossom, light honey, copper, quinine and a hint of musk. It quickly becomes a bit flat in the bubbles department, but still offers a palate-cleansing array of lychee, musk mellon and citrus flavors on a light frame. It finishes nice and clean.
At the end of the evening, we did some voting on wines of the night from the 8 bottles served blind. The results:
’01 Castelgiocondo Brunello 11 points (3 first, 1 second)
’99 Argiano Solengo 10 points (2 first, 2 second)
’99 Giacosa Barbaresco 10 points (2 first, 1 second, 2 third)
’01 Conterno Fantino Barolo 8 points (1 first. 2 second, 1 third)
’99 Sette Ponti Crognolo 5 points (2 second, 1 third)
’01 Chiarlo Barolo 1 point (1 third)
’05 Giacosa Nebbiolo 1 point (1 third)
-Michael