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1998 Cantina dei Monaci Campania IGT - Italy, Campania, Campania IGT (4/16/2011)
A direct import to the wonderful new DiPalo wine store (with only Italian wines) located in Little Italy. This is the same as the Taurasi from the same producer in later years, but this didn’t qualify for the “Taurasi” appellation (the story was explained to me at the store, but I forget the details). When first opened, this has a little bit of pressure under the cork, and one whiff- argh, an in-bottle brett bloom, with the tell-tale very-very faint petillant and the ‘barnyard’ smell. I know people say that brett doesn’t blow off, but with bottles that have the in-bottle brett (which generally has that super-faint fizz), I find that you do see improvement once all the dissolved gas is gone, and this wine is no exception- while still too bretty for my taste on day 2, its now more of a slight annoyance rather than something that ruins the wine, and there’s really good stuff here - this is a dark wine, with licorice, black cherry, and lots of smokiness (not oaky smoke, but rather, the smell of a rock which has been hit with a hammer -its a flinty, gunpowder smoke.) Plenty of tannin here, but they’re ripe and powdery. And in spite of all this power and masculintity, there’s a definite floral nose here - and it is odd to stick your nose in a glass of violets only to taste this grippy, dark wine in the mouth. I wish the brett was dialed down about 50%, but this is quite interesting. I’ve had aglianico before, but I don’t remember encountering something as singular as this. (87 pts.)
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