Every once in a while my wife and I have dinner with this other couple and it always seems that we end up with a whole lot of wine on the table. And this dinner party was no different! The focus was on Italian reds, but we started with some sparkling wine and a white with the early courses.
With starters and salad course:
1998 L. Aubry Fils Champagne Le Nombre d’Or Brut Sable Blanc des Blancs. This Champagne is an unusual and intriguing blend of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Petit Meslier and 30% Arbanne and the wine itself is equally unusual and intriguing. First off, it smells rather distinctive in its bouquet of wax, lanolin, grapefruit, apple flesh, lemon peel, vanilla wafer, green herb, chalk and brown spices. Then, in the mouth, it is light and lilting, but vibrant and juicy—with great balance and harmony, easy flow and a marked elegance. There are no hard edges or angles to the flavors of lemon rind, star fruit, wax and light honey that are all light, bright and elegant and have a sort of Chenin Blanc feel to them that I rather enjoy. It is neither particularly steely nor especially honeyed—finding a soft spot right in between where it is drinking totally at peak right now. This is a delight—my #3 wine of the night.
2001 Sybille Kuntz Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese trocken Mosel Saar Ruwer. This wine features a mildly sweet-smelling bouquet of diesel fuel, musk, white peaches, mango, orange blossom and allspice. In the mouth, it is fleshy-textured and languid through the middle but is otherwise solid and contained. The citrus and honey flavors seem just a bit off-dry, but the finish is clean and dry. It has some interesting elements but probably needs a bit more time.
With Moroccan Braised Beef with Yellow Raisins over Polenta:
1997 Mauro Molino Barolo Vigna Conca. There is just a beautiful and alluring bouquet to this feminine, floral, and softly sweet Barolo—highlighted by sexy aromas of crushed raspberries, creme de cassis, wilted rose petals, cocoa, fresh road tar, musk and cedar wood. It is equally fantastic in the mouth, with a core of black cherry, cassis, licorice rope, creamy milk chocolate and earth flavors that are lovely and lasting. There is a big zing of acidity running beneath it all and a drier finish to it suggesting that this could easily be held. But it is drinking great right now, so why wait? My WOTN.
1997 Mauro Veglio Barolo Vigneto Rocche. This one is slow to unfold, but after about a half hour it starts to blossom and expand to reveal very nice aromas of white violets, smoked ham, mushrooms, black cherry, anise and sweetly charred wood. In the mouth, it is dark, spicy, rich and exotic—with lots of fruitcake, fig and black cherry flavors in a classically-structured framework. It has good freshness, fine balance and pretty good length and was my second-favorite Barolo this night, though I might be tempted to give this some more time in the cellar.
1997 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra. Early on, this wine is real sexy and expressive—with fine aromas of roses, sour cherries and sandalwood—but after a while it seems to start closing down while some distracting old attic must and dusty cedar chest notes begin to emerge. In the mouth, it is again a bit musty and dusty right up front and loaded with sticky tannins on the back. In the middle, though, one can sense the wine’s true pedigree—where it sports tons of glycerin, and rich flavors of plum, dates, cocoa powder and fine baking spices. However, right now, it is an uneven ride and the wine just seems like it is going to take a good while to come out of this awkward phase and hit its harmonious stride.
1996 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo Cannubio. Man, this is about as old-fashioned a throwback wine as you are ever likely to encounter. It is totally feral on the nose, with an almost brutally difficult bouquet of animal fur, dried sweat, old leather, horsebarn muck, dried blood and side of beef aromas. It is certainly not for the faint of heart. In the mouth, it is quite cool and earthy, with an overtly tannic structure and a leathery texture. It is just a brute to the tongue with its youthful and masculine profile and it seems like it will need maybe 20 years to come around…
With the cheese course:
1996 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. This wine smells of creamed cherries, dates, mulling spices, raisins and gingerbread. On the palate, it is polished and forward, yet is showing more nuance and control than I might have expected based on the explosively rich bottles of this I’ve had in years past. For now, it is medium to full-bodied, luxuriant and self-assured, with a balanced and contained expression of its autumnal flavor profile and rich finish. While on the one hand I admire the poise it is showing, I actually feel like it is moving at just half speed right now, or perhaps beginning a transition from its exotic youth to something classier and more restrained. I’m not sure, but time will tell.
1997 Brigaldara Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. This Amarone is a whole lot more rustic in nature. It offers up distinctive aromas of cherries, currants, Christmas spices and musky earth in an interesting melange. One finds a lot of ash, smoke, dried cherry and earth notes in the flavor profile, which is smooth and creamy-textured yet still feels old-fashioned—perhaps because the back of the palate and the finish are a bit uneven, showing more dry extract and a faint bit of heat to go with some grainy tannin. I would wait another 5 years on this wine.
With a dense chocolate torte:
1999 Tommaso Bussola Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Tb. Holy cow, this immediately gets your attention with a full-tilt and intoxicating nose of rich fig, prune, quince paste, dark chocolate and black currant aromas that shoot right up the nostrils and just coat the senses. It is smooth, lithe and creamy on the palate, with a hedonistic flavor, texture and weight profile that still manages to seem perfectly clean and never cloying. It is absolute perfection with a dessert dish like this one and is just really impressive overall. My #2 wine of the night.
-Michael