Our dinner group enjoyed another fabulous evening at one of our favourite restaurants, Ca Dario Ristoranti Italiano, which is a somewhat new location for them in Goleta. The owner/ chef, Dario Furlati, is regularly on the premises to get this one established and it`s obvious it has taken off and perhaps even surpassed the still quite successful original Santa Barbara restaurant.
For each of our dinners, we select a wine theme to match the cuisine and on this night our choice was super Tuscans along with the usual requests for champagne, white Burgundy and Rieslings. Nine of us paired numerous antipasti and primi with the following wines:
2005 LILBERT-FILS BLANC de BLANC GRAND CRU BRUT CRAMANT- I got turned on to this release from an email notice that sounded very appealing and found it through Wine-Searcher in a wine shop in Texas. I opted for a couple of bottles and after sampling this one, I`m happy I did; it was creamy rich and full bodied and yet had elegance and charm; it was fully loaded with pear and citrus fruit, especially lemon and lime and distinct notes of honeysuckle, butterscotch and minerality provided just the right accents.
This producer makes only grand cru blanc de blancs from 100% Chardonnay; their annual production is so small at about 2,000 12 pack cases, it`s hard to find and obtain any before they sell out; this release is made only in good years, and the production averages 165 cases of 750 ml plus 1,000 bottles of magnums; they make all of their wine from their own vineyards, which breaks down into 15 parcels in the grand cru villages of Oiry (10% of their total plantation), Chouilly (30%), and Cramant (60%) on the Côte des Blancs.
Note that Cramant should not be confused with crémant. Crémant once used to be a term reserved for a style of Champagne with less pressure–and indeed the village of Cramant has a tradition of making wine in such a style, so much so that Lilbert’s Perle was once labeled as Crémant de Cramant. But those days are gone and now crémant legally refers to all méthode Champenoise wine made within France but outside of the Champagne appellation.
2009 TANTARA CAROUSEL BLANC de NOIR CENTRAL COAST SPARKLING WINE- a first time exposure to this gem which gave nice fresh red fruit especially dried red cherry, berry; it`s tasty and hearty and impressive.
NV CHARLES HEIDSIECK BRUT ROSE RESERVE- this bottle gave generous amounts of toasty strawberry and red raspberry with a spicy undertone and was delivered in a full bodied, creamy texture; it had ideal balance and pleased from the nose through the tail.
2016 JJ PRUM WEHLENER SONNENHOUR SPATLESEse- flint and petrol dominate the nose early on, but honeyed lemon and lime take over on the palate along with some tropical and herbal notes blending in; it was rich and viscous and improved with time in the glass.
2012 MARC COLIN EN REMILLY SAINT-AUBIN 1er Cru- this was another wondrous bottle of this treasure we`ve had many times; it enticed with aromatics of mint, lavender and tropical fruit which moved on to express as kiwi, lemon and lime on the palate; it was full bodied, had that great soft characteristic mouthfeel and stayed on for a long welcomed finish; sweet oak influence is noted and nicely integrated.
1997 ANTINORI SOLAIA TOSCANA- it had a still very youthful dark garnet color and the nose gave loads of enticing ripe dark fruit; a subtle but nonetheless evident and unexpected hit of Brett was present; I’ve never had a Solaia with Brett in it and I held off mentioning it until another voiced it.
1998 TENUTA dell`ORNELLAIA “ORNELLAIA” BOLGEHRI SUPERIORE- 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot; this rocked big time; the nose was so inviting and just exuded class and royalty with herbal accented blackberry; the taste profile was redolent of black cherry, blackberry and black currant enhanced by a streak of milk chocolate; the mouthfeel was stellar with a silky smooth texture and the wine just hung around on the palate begging for another taste to enrich the last pour. I obliged a few times. At the end of the evening it was voted #2 WOTN; thats how good #1 was.
2005 FONTODI FLACCIANELLO della PIEVE COLLI della TOSCANA CENTRALE- 100% Sangiovese; the color was a vibrant dark purple denoting the youthfulness which was substantiated once nosed and tasted; it gave huge amounts of coffee and mocha laden blackberry fruit; it was more than full bodied and had layers of complexity that just kept unfolding; this wine needs an entire evening to track and enjoy and would be better served after a few hours of decanting; in fact, one could plan a fabulous entire evening around this wine as the feature.
2004 TUA RITA REDIGAFFI ROSSO TOSCANA- Merlot; affectionally called Masseto Jr. by our group, this was the bomb on this night and has shown to be so, pretty much on a continuous basis over the years regardless of vintage; the 04` is not shabby; in fact, it shined to the point of being our #1 WOTN; the fruit profile was of fresh blueberries and blackberries with accents of licorice and dark mint chocolate; I recall previous bottles were super astringent, but the tannins seemed to now have fully integrated and this seamless beauty is in beautiful balance.
2007 TENUTA degli DEI CAVALLI TOSCANA- a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Alicante; young and vivacious, this showed nicely with lots of fruit forwardness, but not to a fault; fresh and ripe black cherry, berry is delivered aromatically and on the palate with an underlying oak influence, again not to a fault; it held on and provided a steady pleasing aura throughout and got my attention as to being a wine I`d like to have in my cellar.
2009 DUEMANI ALTROVINO COSTA TOSCANA- 50% Cabernet Franc, 50% Merlot; delicious wine with coffee and leather laced black fruit, full bodied, soft tannins and long at the back end.
2009 CASTILLO de RAMPOLLA SAMMARCO TOSCANA- a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon; dark ruby purple color; blue and blackberry pie here with the hallmark being its amazing silky texture; medium to full bodied, lots of depth and length; liked this a lot.
2005 LA BONCIE ‘LE TRAME” CHIANTI CLASSICO TOSCANA- 90% Sangiovese; 10% Colorino/ Mammolo/ Ciliegiolo/ Fogliatonda; nice enticing nose of red roses attaching to the bright red fruit notes; on the palate it gave spicy red cherry/ berry with a bit of astringency that did not overwhelm; it finished with more sweetness and less tannic acidity; it may have been more relevant if it had been served prior to some of the big guns, in fact, it should have been our first red IMHO.
Le Trame means “the intrigues” which relates to the wheeling and dealing required to purchase the land.
2011 CHATEAU CLIMENS BARSAC- 375 ml; this was really good with thick and luscious honeyed grapefruit, pear and citrus fruit; it was tangy and pretty intense to the point a little sip of this and the one to follow was all I needed for my dessert course to be fully satisfied.
1959 ANTONIO FERRARI SOLARIA JONICA PUGLIA- 500 ml; this was the 3rd wine made by Ferrari [the first were from 49 and 54} made from overripe Primitivo aged 10 years in Slovenian wooden casks and then kept for another 35 years in a cement cask; it was released by his daughter after Antonio passed in the early 2000s; needless to say, it was a very serious wine with an almost inky dark color; the nose and taste was replete with dried raisin and prune notes with a huge dose of dark chocolate and later on a hit of maple; one stated quiet accurately it was like a recioto and Port had been blended together; nonetheless, it was a unique and quite interesting experience.
Another fine evening of great food and wine with great friends. Life continues to be really good.
Cheers,
Blake
. Personally I enjoy the hell out of it when I have it and I don’t find it to be as slathered in oak the way the milkshake massetto can sometimes be ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}