One of the nicest things about cellaring wines is that you can be surprised by un-celebrated wines that have been lost down there for several years. Naturally I’m not surprised if I drink a Gaja and it’s wonderful. But I think I paid about $26 for the 1995 Beni di Batasiolo, it’s not from a special vineyard or any sort of Riserva, just the regular stuff.
Last night for the first course we had big fat figs (from Costco) split, stuffed with 4 pepper goat cheese and wrapped with good prosciutto, then toasted until the prosciutto tightened up, with pink bubbly – Schramsberg Brut Rosé, 2003. Nice. Then home made ravioli (with a “tajarin” pasta) stuffed with ground meat and topped with sage butter, slices of fresh tomato on the side. I wish I could write a decent tasting note for the Barbaresco. Long story short everyone was exclaiming about how good it was and how well it matched the ravioli. Powerful scent of blackberries, a touch of anise, quite rich on the palate, just simply delicious. Not quite the density and power of a Gaja but in the context of the meal it would be hard to imagine anything tasting better. I was a little shocked by how good it was.