My turn to host a brown bag dinner, and I chose an Italian theme.
I started off with some nibbles and a couple of whites:
2011 Tamellini Soave – some colour now, a lemon based nose, clean on palate and showing some secondary complexity. Drink up.
2013 Umani Ronchi CaSall Di Serro Verdicchio – lighter colour, and more going on in the nose, a certain nutty component as well as the citrus. Medium weight and good acidity. Very pleasant.
1990 Rocca delle Macie Ser Gioveto – this is 10% each or so of cab and merlot blended into sangio. Fully mature nose with dark cherry, and hints of tar, smooth on palate and fully mature – needs to be drunk up. Nice.
1996 Umani Ronchi Pelago – two IGTs in a row, and this from the same producer as the Verdicchio. This is a cab. montepulciano and merlot blend and the nose showed mellow red fruit and this carried through to palate where some nice cherry flavours appeared. A slight bit sweet to be mistaken for a traditional wine, but tasty . Another ‘drink up’
1990 Tignanello – another sangio/cab IGT, and one that has perplexed me as it seems to vary quite a bit, one bottle showing typically and the next not. This open was a ‘not’. It still had good colour, had soft tannin and good acidity, but gave a definite salty impression near the end that wasn’t bad, just unexpected. Must open another one soon to see if this is becoming a trend!
2004 Castello Monsanto Chianti Riserva – an odd, cheesy nose, some tannin, decent fruit, but certainly not the best showing from this house, and not what I’d expect from the vintage.
1999 Castelgiocondo Brunello – this Frescobaldi wine usually shows well if seldom among the top wines of a vintage. This one was a bit ripe in the nose, even riper on palate, and was well balanced with clean acidity. Ready to go now. I liked it.
2000 Baricci Brunello – great enticing sweet fruit nose with olive hints, good fruit level, sweet finish. Lovely wine, although I would note that it started to dry out a bit with time in the glass, which is often a sign of age.
2004 Col d’Orcio Olmaia – a cabernet from a Brunello producer. Dark wine with some nice spice (cinnamon?) in the nose, sweet and a bit primary on palate with lots of tannin and acidity and oak coming in again at the end. Needs time.
1994 Arnaldo Caprai Montefalco Riserva – I opened this as an extra as they looked like they were still thirsty. Medium dark red, nice slightly ripe nose of plum and sweet blackberries, with hints of black pepper. Nice medium weight fully mature wine (my last bottle).
1996 Seghessio Barolo La Villa – opened at the end by a Barolo fan that couldn’t believe we’d gone through a whole Italian tasting with no wines from Piemonte. Rich nose of cherry and espresso, with hints of anise. Medium bodied and new style a bit, but very tasty and ready to go.
1994 Cosimo Taurino Patriglione – I like this Negroamaro from Taurino as a cheese wine. It is dry but rich, and the nose showed a ripe cherry/anise nose, medium weight on palate now, and holding up much longer than I’d have anticipated.