Friday Night Pizza TNs: three from Italy

Been a while since I posted any notes, and what better excuse than on a Friday night while I am waiting for one of my better half’s pizzas to emerge from the oven - in this case, sausage, garlic, onion & basil. Listening to “The Art of Conversation” by the Kenny Barron trio - quintessential jazz piano trio, to set the mood at the end of the last day of the work week

• 2001 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (9/15/2017)
  About 4+ years since my last note on this wine. Popped & poured, and still a little cool from the cellar. Translucent ruby in the glass, with a nose that features the quintessential dose of roses & tar.

Good acidity frames the red fruits; nice persistence on the finish - very good tonight. The last time I tried this, it still was too young, but off this bottle I would say this wine is now ready for “prime time”.

• 2009 Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico Riserva Berardo - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (9/15/2017)
  Also a day 2 glass; similar in color to the Corino Giachini. Earthy red & black fruit on the nose.

Maybe lacking a little acidity, but not bad. Not a producer that I generally seek out, although bottles do sneak into my cellar from time to time. This is certainly an acceptable Chianti, but no one would confuse this with a top producer.

• 2009 Passopisciaro Sicilia Contrada Sciaranuova - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia (9/15/2017)
  A “day 2” glass. As typical of Nerello Mascalese-based wines, very lightly colored. A floral note on the nose, back by candied red fruits.

Sweet & sour red fruits on the palate, with good supporting acidity and a decent finish. We gave this wine short shrift last night as it was outclassed by a 2001 Pertimali Brunello, but it is attractive, if less than stellar, by itself.

Posted from CellarTracker

I’ve got to come over for pizza some time. Always interesting wine choices, and even more important, they’re Italian.

Where are the tasting notes on the pizzas??

Bob, sounds like a nice way to start the weekend. I’m not familiar with the Kenny Barron trio but will check them out.

Bob,

“Back in the day” the Bossi was a pizza wine. The Corino and the Passopisciaro, not as much.

Way to raise the bar!

How was the better half’s pizza? Need I ask?

Nice notes. Corino = modernist? There’s a single bottle of 98 Arberina in the cellar. I’ve enjoyed the previous 2.

Still waiting for an unusually good Passopisciaro.

RT

Bobbo – I’ve always been a big Passopisciaro fan, they definitely require air. And as much as I loved pertimali in the day (and I know I’m being redundant), glad you got a good bottle of 01 Pertimali. I’ve found with the Normale, that is about a 1 in 3; that’s a much better average in baseball. The 01 Riserva on the other hand is a gem!

I’ve recently become a Passopisciaro fan, even had my visit a couple of months ago. Recent bottles of the '08 and '13 Contrada “R” were very good, as was the '13 “S”. Especially impressive–given what I understood to be the vintage challenges–was a bottle of the '12 “entry level” vineyard blend (can’t recall what they called it then) which was really elegant, masking a shockingly high level of alcohol. Remarkable what they can at 1000 meters.

I don’t know these wines, but I’ve definitely been enjoying The Art of Conversation. Thanks for the tip.

I have been remiss in getting back to my TNs to read the commentary, and have to admit I was psyched that I got two replies about Kenny Barron

At any rate, if either Brad or Jeff (or anyone else, for that matter) have any interest in further explorations of Mr. Barron’s discography, two other recordings I would highly recommend are “Book of Intuition”, which features his current working trio, and “People Time”, a 2 CD set taken from concerts he did in Denmark with the great Stan Getz on tenor (so obviously not trio format, but excellent music nonetheless).

Oh, and Rich, Corino is definitely modernist - given your palate, I’m kind of surprised you liked the '98 Arborina.