Some wines speak of the earth in different ways. I had these two a day apart and they both spoke of grapes grown in earth, dirt.
Luis Pato, Beiras, Quinta do Moinho, 2001
Warm compote and brooding fruit, spices on the nose. Mulled wine flavors that is still a tannic beast 15 years after harvest. A lot of grip on the end with a slight (you need to look closely to find it) floral quality buried in the deep toward-black fruit. Young, Savory. Cherrywood and its bark, and old fruit liqueur shelves. At first, I thought this might be mildly corked, but it is more of a muted feeling than what shows in the nose, but the more I drink this and also the second night, it smooths out and goes away. Baga grown in Mother Earth. 13% A-
Zanetta Sergio e Valter, Gattinara, 'Monseco', 2006
Old oranging nebbiolo color. Prune flavors on the nose. Mild stringy tannins, some straw and spices, especially cinnamon and allspice, old reddish fruits. The 2nd night the tannins bite down hard and let you know who is master. This taste like it was grown in rocks. B+ 13.5% I thought this fair for the price (mid-$30's?), but I like the feel of Antoniolo more, which has more balance and perhaps polish, compared to the rusticity of this. Although I enjoyed it, the complexity was a bit lacking. I haven't seen these wines in awhile, but would be curious enough to try the 2010. Perhaps Tom Hill knows? B+
