So I was cleaning out a cabinet at work today and found a few old 20 to 25 years old bottles I forgot about. They have been stored at office temperature approximately 70° the entire time. These are cheap after work party wines from back in the day.
A white Crozes Hermitage 98 was dead but this Falesco Vitiano 2001 Umbrian is delicious. 12.5%
While it won’t be WOTN at a wine tasting it is utterly delicious on a Monday night. I seem to get some Merlot out of this, but maybe it’s Sangiovese. I don’t really remember the blend. Great mature nose. Earth forest floor, and vibrant on palate. Very nice finish. I thought it would be a drain pour, but it is elegant.
This wine has long been an exemplar of how a reasonably-priced wine can reward (or withstand) extended cellaring. The last time I had it, it was fine right from the shop too.
It’s wines like these that many of us “cut our teeth on”, before moving on to where our tastes have lead. One has to wonder if the lack of support of these entry blends has been a downfall for the industry.
If I remember correctly, this was a Cotarella wine. I’ve always liked his style. I don’t think I’ve had one in ten or fifteen years though. I still see them at mass market types of shops though (BevMo etc.)
These were getting big press from Robert Parker back then, and were such incredible bargains. I THINK the blends was Cabernet/Merlot/Franc aged in stainless steel tanks. Might be half Cabernet/half Merlot. They were so gushy, forward in their youth I am truly surprised they lasted this long. There was a 100% Merlot released by the winery back then that was just luscious as well.
Same, back in my wine retail days I must have sold hundreds of cases of this. It’s the perfect house pour and I don’t think I ever had someone come back to tell me it wasn’t to their liking. Usually they just came back for more.
Like others have noted, I haven’t had a bottle in over a decade. Now I wanna track one down!
Falesco bottled both Montiano and a lower varietal merlot offering, which lacked a fantasy name. It was a few bucks more than Vitiano. The merlot was smaller production and I only saw/bought/drank it a few times.
Coincidentally I found a Montiano in one of my boxes last week, which probably should be drunk up. We did a vertical of that some years ago and it seems to keep ok, but I would not push it the way a Righ Bank might age…
That Palazzo and Bogle’s Petit Sirah are widely available supermarket/gas station type of reds I sometimes buy when traveling and don’t have access to my own. Really solid for the volume the produce, as well as the price.
