2001 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde, Northern Rhone
Warm color shows a little age. Polished peppery red fruit with a little cedar and none of the burnt rubber characteristic I always hope for from Cote Roties, and the tannins are soft in the finish. Not as big as I thought it might be for the vintage, but it's well balanced and drinking well right now. Will definitely reward further aging, though.
2000 Cappannacce Poggio Crocino, Tuscany
Imported by Small Vineyards out of Seattle, this blend of sangiovese, syrah and grenache was a disappointment. Bright berry flavors (could really taste the grenache) were marred by oak and surrounded by grouchy tannins too overwelming for our gentle pasta marinara. We nursed a glass apiece and then moved on, allowing this to smooth out overnight. Only, we didn't get back to it the next day as planned and opened it on the 3rd day instead. A mistake: oxidation set in. I have one remaining bottle in the cellar: we'll plan to decant and serve that with meat.