Italian wines with risotto and roast lamb rack with a pistachio and herb crust.
Tignanello 2000 - Very sweet-smelling with aromas of blueberry jam and raisins. Sweet and ripe as well on the palate. Well balanced and medium-bodied. Slightly tannic but showing very well. Very good.
Ruffino Greppone Mazzi Brunello di Montalcino 1999 - Figs and plums, a bit port-like. Slightly oaky. Some leather. Very ripe and mouthfilling with strong tannins. Complex, though it seemed coarse compared to the other, more elegant, wines. Might need a bit more age to smoothen it out although it should turn out very well.
Ceretto Barbaresco Asij 2004 - I tried this wine for the first time about 7 months ago at a Ceretto wine dinner where I thougt this was the only wine which did not show well. Tonight, however, my opinion is very different. Brandy-like nose. Sweet ripe cherry. Medium-bodied. Very impressive now. Well balanced and quite forward. Easy to drink. Perhaps not a long ager but who cares since it is so good now.
Dessert was banoffee pie paired with an exceptional Glenmorangie 10 year-old single malt. Light with lots of sweet chocolate notes on the nose and palate. A real easy scotch that was a great match with the pie.