Steve brought this as a mystery wine last night:
- Lucchetti Mariasold Dd’OC: Lacrima di Morro d’Alba (16%; CavatappiDistribuzione/Seattle; www.MarioLucchetti.it/en_US) Mario Lucchetti/Morro d’Alba/LeMarche 2009: Very dark/near black color; very intense blackberry/black cherry cola/Smuckers boysenberry jam/licorice/bit herbal strong charred/oak rather alcoholic very ripe/overripe quite fragrant rather interesting if grotesque nose; soft quite alcoholic/hot/fumey overripe/late harvesty off-dry intense chocolate/boysenberry/jammy/licorice bit pruney some charred/oak overextracted/overripe flavor w/ some soft/ripe tannins; very long soft/ripe/overripe/late harvesty/pruney off-dry intense blackberry/Smuckers boysenberry jam/chocolaty/licorice slight herbal strong charred/toasty/oak rather alcoholic/fumey finish w/ modest ripe tannins; an overripe/overextracted/over-the-top/over-oaked red that I found rather interesting in a perverse sort of way. $45.00 (vSC)
A wee BP:
- Lucchetti is regarded as one of the best producers of Lacrima di Morro d’Alba. This wine is made from Lacrima grapes harvested in Oct and then “naturally” dried in a “drying facility”, losing 40%-45% of their weight. Fermentation is done in SS and aged in vitrified cement tanks. Their WebSite does not mention the use of oak but the toasty/charred/oak signature was definitely there. So this is clearly a Recioto de Valpolicella rendition of Lacrima. Although it’s an over-the-top sort of wine, I could see it has a place at table. I kinda liked it for its bizarre character. It’s like looking at some of those body builders in the mags w/ ripped muscles & 6-pak abs. You admire them for what they’ve done, but you probably wouldn’t wanta sit down and talk quantuum physics with them.
Tom