Wanted something good for my pasta carbonara last night. Took me three tries to get it right:
1. Il Podere Dell'Olivos Calif Barbera Riserva RagazzoLegnoso (13%) JimClendenen 1995: Deep color w/ noticible bricking; some spicy/spicy sausage/old Barbera slight gunpowder/metallic/earthy/dusty nose; quite tart/lean/salado steely/metallic slight spicy/spicy sausage some tannic/dried out classic Barbera/tangy/salado flavor; med.long pungent/gunpowder/steelt/tangy slight spicy sausage finish w/ some tannic/dried out character; lots of old Italian/Barbera character, but has seen its better days.
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2. Ramsay PetiteSirah NapaVlly (13%) 1994: Dark color w/ noticible bricking; somewhat stinky/decaying leaves/wet army blanket slight licorice/earthy/pungent little fruit nose; soft rather tannic/dried out decaying leaves/wet army blanket some toasty/charred/oak metallic/steely/tangy/grapefruity flavor; short tannic/dried out metallic/steely/wet wool slight licorice/pungent finish; not unpleasant but pretty much on its last legs.
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3. Abiouness Sangiovese EaglepointRanch/MendoCnty (14.5%; http://www.AbiounessWines.com) SantaRosa 2007: Med.dark color; really lovely cherry/spicy/Sangio slight earthy/tomatoey/Mendo terroir some vanilla/buttery/oak/coconutty/ZagNut bar quite fragrant/perfumed nose; slight tart/tannic/tight quite attractive cherry/Sangio/earthy/tomatoey bright/zippy flavor; long some tart/tannic bright/cherry/Sangio light earthy/tomatoey some buttery/coconutty/oak finish; still needs a few yrs; a very pretty/food-friendly; an Antinori Tignanello?? Nawh...better than that. $gift/$28
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A wee BP:
1. Ramsay: The second label for KentRasmussen. On release; this was an inky/black huge/intense Pet that I thought would live forever. Like many of iits ilk...it did not. There's something to be said about balance.
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2. Abiouness: Bingo...found something good to drink. This was given to me by a good friend to try. He'd heard good things and order a mixed case and shared this Sangio w/ me. It was a name I'd heard of, but never really followed from the very start.
So...went to the WebSite to check things out. When I hear of a new wnry and visit their WebSite for the first time; the absolutely first thing I want to find out is the person/persons behind it. The MindBehind. Like many new WebSites, this one does noot make the MindBehind obvious. There's a nice introduction and background on the winemaker who's name is....????. Further down, you find his/her last name is Abiouness..the name on the label. Only when you check the contact information do you find that her name is...Nicole. Just signing the bio w/ "Nicole Abiouness" would solve all that questioning. It's not bragging...just sharing information.
Anyway...liked this Sangio quite a lot. Grapes come from CaseyHartlip's EaglePointRanch...always a good sign. I can't drink a wine from EaglePoint grapes w/o conjuring up this vision of a guy on a tractor...faithful sidekick PeeWee trailing behind sniffing at everything that's turned up. And, of course, Bob & James rooting around in their pen (those guys be bacon now). It's that EaglePoint magic.
Anyway...I thought Nicole did a very nice job w/ this Sangio. Speaks loud & clear of Sangio and MendoCnty. Should try some of her other wines.
Tom