Last night at dinner with the wife and my parents, wines double decanted three hours prior:
Donnhoff Kreutznacher Krotenpfuhl Spat 07- medium gold in color. The nose announces the multifaceted and understated elegance to come: aromas of white flowers, flinty minerality, and citrus. In the mouth, the wine is magically both intense and light on its feet, something that i’m coming to identify as signature Donnhoff. The wine is impeccably balanced, with a satin texture seamlessly lifted by acidity; like some kind of mineral water of the gods…this is delicious.
Stella di Campalto Brunello '06- pale garnet in color. Signature sangiovese aromas of briary underbrush, herbs, a bit of tobacco, and cherry fruit. In the mouth, the wine is supremely elegant, marrying the sneaky intensity of the fruit seamlessly with a long mineral driven finish. This seems to be a wonderful harmony of modern and traditional profiles, with the balance, elegance and savoriness that screams Brunello, while including a drop dead gorgeous fruit intensity and texture. Wow.
I have a bunch of the 04 & 06 Stella di Campalto but have only tried a single bottle of the 04. Glad to hear good things about the 06. Want to speculate on when this will be “ready” or when I should try a bottle? My 04’s are put away in my off site storage in order to keep my hands off them.
That Brunello is something we can agree on. Very good indeed and somewhat reminiscent in style of Poggio di Sotto, if one thinks away the new oak. Here’s a wine about which I have little doubt that the oak will be absorbed given cellar time. I’ll probably taste it again this weekend and will post a note here.
I’d say that the wine will drink well for a long, long time; It is certainly delicious young, and didn’t give me the impression that its structural elements would force a dumb dormant phase; its balance was indeed impressive. So there’s no right answer to ‘ready’; there’s just different. I certainly think that the wine will be in my sweet spot in 8-12, still bright and young in its fruit profile, with a lot more tertiary qualities. It could be achingly beautiful in later life, but I don’t have a track record to measure with…
Indeed Mike! When it’s good, it’s good! Let me know how your bottle shows…
I’ll be visiting with Stella in two weeks, i’ll report back with how the 09 Rosso and 07 Brunello are tasting…
I had an '04 Stella di Campalto earlier this year and found it very primary and inaccessible. I just don’t think these wines are meant to be drunk young outside the spoofy Suckling panderers.