My evening with Ricardo Tedeschi!!!

Yup, was invited at the last minute to meet and taste some great wines imported by Liquid Art Fine Wines ( no connection). Guest speaker was Ricardo Tedeschi who was in Portland, Vancouver and Edmonton over a 2 day period. He said that Portland is a very good market for Italian wines!!

I will of course post some notes asap but amongst the ten or so wines tasted were the following...............

`03 Tedeschi La Fabrisiera IGT.
`01 Tedeschi Amarone.
`01 Tedeschi Amarone Monte Olmi.

I have to say that in my limited experience, I have never tasted an Amarone like the last one!

Do you mean that is a good or bad way?!

I've had the Monte Olmi a couple of times, and have been very impressed both times. But it seems so very young now. I have a bottle left, and will wait 5+ years to do it justice.

WTN: `03 La Fabriseria IGT, Veneto.

Classic mixture of 4 varietals for this Valpol. plus 3% cab sauv. Nose was tad closed, creamy texture, lots of red fruits. Violets, spicy and savoury.
Hint of chocolate with the ripe tannins. Cost $42 Cdn.

WTN: `01 Amarone della Valpolicella.

Tastes sweet, raisiny, not bitter and good tannins. "One month in tank before it starts to ferment" said RT. Ruby-red colour, vanilla, currants, blueberry, cherry. It`s all there folks. $47 Cdn. Owner of store says this is most popular Amarone on the shelves, flies out all he time!!

WTN: `01 Amarone della Valpolicella "Monte Olmi".

Small parcel of land on hillside. Has a great reputation, I have never tasted a wine like this, amazing!! Deep colour, red fruits, chocolate, spice. This is raisiny, hint of bitterness one expects. Full power body here, how long would one cellar this one?? $73 Cdn.

Interesting insights from Ricardo, not an "international" style winemaker. So many stories and insights from him, I could go on.

[Jenise]

Lucky you. I found an 00 San Rocco from Tedeschi last week here in town, an orphan shoved to the back of a shelf and hidden from general view, that I was thrilled to bring home, but only to find it corked. WAAAAA! Too bad, there was obviously a very very good wine under that wet cardboard, a wine in that perfect state between youthful fruit and secondary development that I find so beguiling.

Monte Olmi IMO belongs to the elite of amarones. I tasted several wines with Tedeschi some years ago. I am sorry, but the notes seems to have get lost. A couple of years ago I had a bottle of the Monte Olmi '70, which I believe was the first vintage made from the cru. It was good, but a little too old.

Lucky you. I found an 00 San Rocco from Tedeschi last week here in town, an orphan shoved to the back of a shelf and hidden from general view, that I was thrilled to bring home, but only to find it corked. WAAAAA! Too bad, there was obviously a very very good wine under that wet cardboard, a wine in that perfect state between youthful fruit and secondary development that I find so beguiling.

The Rocco was served to but I missed out as I was helping in the back area, tidying up.

Arnt, I am not sure how long to age these beauties. 10 yrs?

Sorry for the late reply. Have been so busy all weekend making dinners and have been away from the PC.

For me I think amarone is a type of wine that can be drunk the time you want it. Unlike many other wines it is not a crime to open an amarone young. It will have less complexity, but be very open and have more fruit-intensity. With time it do exchange some of that intensity with a leathery and wet forest-floor complexity. With long aging it can even be quite elegant. So it depends on which style you prefer. Personally I would wait until it is 10-15 years old.