From our tasting group on Thursday. All of these wines were opened about 2 hours in advance, but not decanted.
1981 Giuseppe Quintarelli Valpolicella
Surprising amount of red fruit, fresh flowers, old leather - excellent mid-palate depth. I returned to this at the end of the night, and it was still holding very well. Wonderful showing for a 40 year old Valpolicella, even considering that it’s Quintarelli.
1979 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Langhe Bricco Manzoni
Crème caramel, vanilla, dried flowers and raspberry on the nose. The mid-palate showed a distinct bottle sweetness that I associate with old wine. As this was a replacement for a corked bottle it was pop and pour. I wish I had gone back to it later, as it had stuffing.
1971 Tommasi Amarone Recioto Classico
Raisin, cherry and damp concrete aromatics. Palate showed brown sugar and surprisingly bright acidity, alongside the red fruit tones. Loved the overall mouthfeel on this one.
1978 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone Classico
Red currant, fruitcake and a distinctly bottle sweet palate presence. Lots of length here. The finish kept pumping out more red fruit and spice.