I’ve been disappointed with how my Brunello’s have been aging, so transitioning to Chianti for my “aged” Sangiovese seems like a better alternative.
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I’d be interested in what the described the wine as being like. If all they offer is such a conclusion, then I’ll not give it much credibility, especially if such an early demise would be surprising. If however what they describe tasting tallies with that conclusion (and there’s no obvious alternative conclusion), then I’ll be more receptive.
Unfortunately CT does have too many users pronouncing the imminent demise of wines that should in no way be in decline. Over time we learn to take such pronouncements with a large pinch of salt.
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Agree completely. Along the same lines, I recently have started using the “ignore” option for particular users of CT. My experience vastly improved since.
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Do you know if the drink window changes based on which users are ignored?
For me, no, as I tend to add my own drinking window for every wine I enter, because:
- I tend to prefer wines more mature than the norm
- I prefer to have a set window defined, rather than see it move somewhat randomly as other strangers add their own windows… I will only tweak my own window if I see a number of credible TNs suggesting what I put in is way off the mark, or when I actually taste for myself and change my view.
An interesting question though, and I’m sure that will depend on the numbers who added a drinking window. If only 2-3 people did, then excluding one who typically puts early windows in could massively change the result, but if 100 people have put windows in, then excluding one or 2 of them wouldn’t make a material difference.
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good questions/point. I am not 100% sure on how it choose the dates. I wonder if it weights them. It would seem logical to weight more recent dates.
Similarly to you I use my own windows, but I do everything in excel. I use CT for older wines that I haven’t had just to see if others have had them recently, and if so, how they felt they were showing. The window on CT is never useful for me though. For example, the 2006 Fontodi Chianti Classico I had this past week apparently has drink dates of 2010-2018. If anyone has any and wants to get rid of them since they are past their peak, I will gladly take them!
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I don’t have a good sense of how various Chianti develop, so pulled a younger one to go with a Tuscan Ham Bone & White Bean soup I was making. I found the base 2016 San Felice [Chianti Classico] to be good, not great, despite the vintage reputation. It’s 13% abv, medium bodied, and is mostly sangiovese but also has colorino and pugnitello components too. I found the nose herbal (sage plus bay), the palate acidic (citrus), and the cherry fruited finish is of medium length. This was from Rimmerman/Garagiste, who is generally trustworthy in traditional Tuscan varietals but I do like their mid tier Il Grigio bottling more. There are tons of reviews on CellarTracker for this relatively young (7 years from harvest) wine, but I’d mark it lower than most, at a B, despite plenty of aeration. Closed with a DIAM5, a touch I appreciate.
For my tastes, I like how the 2010’s (more generically, not estate specific) are showing, so maybe this needs a couple more years.
Just a few more years
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I just had the 1988 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Vigneto Bellavista about a month back. In fantastic shape if you ask me.
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