I haven’t been to a splashdance-type event in a little while and this is the first of two this week. Unfortunately, I was a little under the weather, and so could only get through 41 wines. Did a whole spectrum and just tasted as I got to them (rather than my usual attempts to impose some order by whites first, lighter reds, bigger reds, etc.)
I am deeply indebted to new friends John and Catherine Matheson for giving me the opportunity to attend this tasting.
Oh, and no. I don’t spit.
2009 Planeta La Segreta
Made from Grecanino and Chard grapes. Pretty unripe orange and lemon zest to start. This has good mouthfeel with fresh melon and lemon. Nothing fancy, but hits the spot as a quaffer.
2009 Planeta La Cometa
Remembered aromatics of nutmeg and apple (I’ve had the 2001 of this before). Still sorting itself out in the nose. Le gout is not too forceful yet. Elegant and decent lines with some lime and mustard interspersed. Promises to be interesting.
2009 Ca’ Dei Mandorli Moscato Dei Gian
Makes you smile as you snort the lilting apple and pear. This is really sweet, it’s hard to get around the sugar. Apple fudge or jam if that makes any sense. I was told the RS is 25g.
2009 Ca’ Dei Mandorli Brachetto D’Acqui
Cher-ry cordial boy. You want kirsch? This is what it is. It smells like Sangria. And much too sweet again on palate, like a sugared cherry candy without any uplift.
2005 Poderi Colla Barolo Bussia
Mix of leather and fresh red berry. Plenty of grip and tends to some barnyard and licorice with more leather. Needs time.
2006 Poderi Colla Barbaresco Roncaglie
Cocoa and black plum and animal muskiness are all there for the sniffer and all fluidly blended. Huge acid and tannins–puckers my mouth–behind it, black fruit, sage and a certain licorice afterhit. Young and interesting.
2009 Donnafugata Sheherazade
100% Nero D’Avola. Plenty of peppered black cherry and olives too on bouquet. Very light in the mouth, just a glancing of cranberry and cherry. Not great.
2006 Donnafugata Tancredi
This time, 30% cab gets added to the Nero D’Avola. A ton of oak, dill and green pepper scents. Same on palate, red fruit too but shrill at the moment. Some building blocks here but will it get there?
2007 Cennatoio Chianti Classico
Fair bit of plum and darker berry and hints of truffle and leather in the schnozz. Palate finds this still primary, some liqueur feel to it, pepper and black plum in the main.
2007 Cennatoio Archibaldo
a 100% Sangiovese, very rich nose of strawberry, exotic spice and loads of milk chocolate. Very nice balance dans la bouche, has some palate length and breadth with savoury herbs mixing with cherry and plum. Yummy stuff. My #4
2007 Cennatoio Mammolo
100% Merlot here. The meat and cherry mix one would expect with a dash of sous-bois. To taste, quite soft, emphasis on forward cherry and chokecherry maybe some mulberry leaf at the back. Funny grainy feel on the sides of my cheeks. Not a fave, just not put together right.
2004 Tenuta Silvio Nardo Brunello di Montalcino
Animal fur, earth, dark cocoa and black cherry present in a promising bouquet. Quite smooth and silky already, acidity at the front, cherry bits of plum and a touch of saddle leather. Needs time. $45
2004 Tenuta Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Manachiara
The upper-end offering, 6 months more in Slavonian oak. Big difference here, as the cocoa is more seductive and joined by red berry and saddle leather this time. Ooo, this is great stuff, clings to the cheeks with excellent power, full of bramble, black fruit and espresso ending. Awful good and will last for a long, long time. My #5, $85
2009 Pietro Rinaldo Madonna di Como Arneis
Pretty heavy on the oak–popcorn and peanuts and crackerjacks, eh. The tongue finds it a little better, spiced lemoncurd and guava mix. OK.
2006 Pietro Rinaldo Barbaresco San Cristoforo
Fairly pure strawberry and cherry with forest scents. Starting to resolve, though very young yet. Cherry again, with a wood sidebar. Just so-so.
2005 Pietro Rinaldo Barolo Monviglieri
Much better here, lovely sweet spiciness and bits of meat through the berry and plum fruit aromatics. This is quite broad-shouldered, lots of tannic beast to be tamed. A 20 year wine? It should be very good by then.
2008 Batasiolo Chardonnay
Very peach. Very. A nice cobbler-and-butterscotch secondary. Le gout is straighforward, more peach and some citrus.
2008 Batasiolo Barbera D’Alba
Whiffs of currants and smoked meats. Fairly good carry, with acidity and sprightly currant and raspberry. A decent barbera.
2005 Batasiolo Barolo Cerequio
This has a delectable array of roses, strawberry, apple peel and red licorice. Palate-wise, it’s still tight for sure. Lots of cherry and some bitter-type herbs for now. Has the stuff to be good.
2008 Serre Nuove Del Ornellaia
Of course, the main wine was gone within the first hour, long before I even set foot in the building. A dood dollop of oak for now. Cranberry and strawberry are coaxed out with some swirling. A small helping of braised beef. This isn’t weak, exactly, but it’s very unassuming, just gives you the oak and berries and licorice and leaves it at that. Pleasant but no more.
2007 Tenuta Luce della Vite Luce
The Brunello was gone in the first 15 minutes. This is 55% merlot, 45% sangiovese. The nose is not without interest, plum, potpourri, black cherry and a dab of cassis. It lilts across the tongue with blackberry and blueberry, good acidic kick to go with it. Nice wine, but not exceptional.
2009 Cristina Ascheri Gavi
Lemon, ginger, bit of stone and I’m put in mind of pine nuts. Hmmm, tastes like a fresh spring day, grassiness and light, light peach.
2008 Ascheri Barbera D’Alba Fontanelle
Good if straightforward sniffs of leather and dark cherry. In the mouth, light but of itself, “tasty” replays with some basil. This is always a good value.
2006 Ascheri Barolo Pisapola
Brooding and secretive, truffle and a little tar, with roses and sea air, later a fair swatch of leather. Tremendous structure and mouthfeel–everything is super-young but already sorted into its component parts. Cherry, wood, plum, blackberry, some mint I think and leather all combine. A terrific Barolo, my #3, especially if it’s coming out at about $50. I will be looking for this on the shelves.
2009 De Angelis Pecorino
Lemon-water with some background smoke and toast. Gentle through the mouth, lemon and apple, not too much here, but OK.
2007 De Angelis Rosso Piceno Superiore
Oh! Raisin galore with prune and sweet red pepper scents. Less prevalent dans la bouche, more wood and a bit more controlled, but still not my speed.
2007 De Angelis Anghelos
70% Montepulciano, 25% Cab and 5% Sangiovese. Bouquet soars with espresso and lucsious candied cherries. Ummm, this is rich and very good. Forthright cherry and plum in equal measure, and it has some depth and some cocoa and cola at the back. At $35, pretty darned good QPR. My #7 maybe.
2005 Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino
Burnt caramel inflects the deep plum. Maybe some sweet currant lurking there. This is more than a bit rough at the moment. Not very Brunello to me either, lots of wood at the moment. Eehhh. Second time I haven’t been floored by this product (04 earlier this year).
2009 Azienda Vinicola Talamonti Trebbiano D’Abruzzo
Gooseberry ahoy. melon underneath. This was done in stainless. You know what? It’s very flavourful and very nice, actually. Apple and pink grapefruit zing and it has some panache about it. I know there’s an ocean of Trebbiano out there, but this does stand out a bit.
2007 Azienda Vinicola Talamonti Tre Saggi Montepulciano D’Abruzzo
1 year in oak. Fair sniffs of cherry, plum, very red berry and edges of meat and chocolate. Fairly smooth, if unprepossessing. I like how the sweetness is controlled, in the middle of the palate and framed by good acidity. Quite nice with creme fraiche berries impression. I’m not sure how much more you want for $16.
2006 Michele Satta Bolgheri Rosso
25% each of merlot, Cab, Syrah and Sang. There’s some bacon fat, also ground black pepper, some cumin and nutmeg to be smelled. Gout is surprisingly on the lighter side and fairly sweet, hits you right up front. I would want some depth to the black cherry, blackberry, chickoree and pepper.
2005 Michele Satta Cavaliere
100% sangiovese here. This is more primary with a certain rootiness and earthiness to go with a glance of raw cinnamon and black fruit in the bouquet. On palate, this has somewhat more presence but seems to be on two separate levels when it interacts—the tannins are almost all at the back end and flavour at the front. Not harmonious, at least not yet.
2005 Aurelio Settimo Barolo Rocche
This smells lovely–of coffee crisp and wine cellar and roses and cedar. Oh my. Soooo god. Absolutely mouthwatering with rose and black cherry and a back end of anise and chocolate. It really startles the tastebuds. This is fabulous, worth a second sip and long-lived too. A sure winner, I think it’s coming out for $50 or so. My #1 today.
2006 Aurelio Settimo Barolo Rocche
I was very happy to talk with the proprietress and I have enjoyed very much their 1998 (a couple times) in the past. This is much more a “classic” barolo, lots of tar, lots of saddle leather, ton of black plum in the nuzzie. Yes indeed, more tannins and structure here. All the stuff you’d want in a classic. Check back in 6 years, a fine effort, my #6
2008 Casale del Giglio Petit Verdot
Well, this caught my eye. I’ve never had a 100% from Italy. I might not again. So different from the Aussie versions, tomato sauce and charcuterie combo nose with bright currants underneath. A li’l cigar smoke even. Alas, this is almost cloying-sweet and full of cherry and some light white pepper, maybe raisin too. A curiosity, but not great.
2007 Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico
Funny overripe fruit smell here. Coffee grounds underneath it. This is fairly well balanced to taste, though, has some elegance and bits of plum mixed in with cranberry and cherry. Light on its feet.
2006 Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva
Spends an extra year in Slavonian oak. Leather and blackberry show up on bouquet with some hints of mocha. Much more backward, fighting with me a bit, but some promise. Olive and green pepper sides to black plum and blackberry fruit. Decent.
2004 Badia a Coltibuono Vin Santo de Chianti Classico
Aromatics seem to me like a cross between a port and a tokaji–sultana raisins, but also lots of baking spcies and apricot and some fig. Lovely and smooth, bery nice nuttiness, it has a banana element too. Interesting, if not truly fascinating, and the 16.5% alcohol is controlled. Tie for #7?
2005 Caparzo Brunello
I like this in the sniffer, plenty of leather, mocha, coffee, peppercorns and plums. Sikly and nice, top-end red currant, then plums-a-lot with some good acidity and red licorice at the back. Interesting and still young, a good chance to get better.
2008 Clavolich Divus Montepulciano D’Abruzzo
grapey with some licorice sidebar. Palate has some grip, it’s tasty with more black licorice and plum, but not too complex.
2004 Tenuta Rocca Barolo
Wonderful wood, deep cherry, sous-bois, a plenty-going-on aroma. And this has great structure, deep and dee-lish, a fine beam of pepper right through strawberry, plum, cherry and leather accents. This is a mere baby and should be awesome. My #2.