Last night, out for dinner celebrating our anniversary: a bottle of Antonio Vallana e Figli 1998 Gattinara. After tasting we decided it was interestingly expressive enough on opening that we didn't decant. Deep, complex, flavorful and long from beginning to end, in a pretty ideal place from my perspective in terms of the balance of fruit and tertiary elements, acid and tannin. The aromatic and palate profile changed significantly over the two hours or so we were drinking it, as we expected -- almost as if the wine were reversing its development: the first half-hour or so it seemed maximally evolved, a mix of lightly Bretty funk, sour cherry, and ash; with air the funk receded and pipe tobacco came forward; during the last half-hour or so the fruit darkened and took on weight, seeming fresher and riper than it had at first; this is probably where it would have wound up with an hour in a decanter, and I'm glad not to have missed its evo... or devo...lution.
Followed up with a glass of Tenuta della Terre Nere 2013 Etna Rosso "Guardiola". Good balance for a wine that, if you pay close attention, seems like it's probably bigger and more alcoholic than it lets on. Pinot-ish red fruit with just a hint of that cooked or stewed character that suggests a hotter climate, but well-supported by acid. Was too stunned by the arrival of a "cheese course" for two that must have involved a pound of cheese per person (we brought most of it home) to be terribly analytic, but this was very good.
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