Tuscany Wine Club

This is a group of people who all enjoy wines with different levels of sophistication. Much of the afternoon's conversation covers things other than what we are drinking, but it's a nice way to stay in touch with friends. Rule is $50 minimum for a bottle at Retail. We pick a theme (this time was Tuscany) and everyone brings something related to that. To get us all started, we had a Ferrari Brut (no note for this) and then went through the 13 wines people had brought. Decanting was done based on someone suggesting their wine needed decanting and assuming that the 7 decanters we own had not already been taken when the person arrived. Wines were generally lined up in the order their owner arrived and served blind. Reveal was done as we go after the group had all finished (e.g. after Wine 2 was poured, Wine 1 was revealed).

For fun, we ended up sourcing three wines including two of the same wine, back-to-back vintages. For many this was their first time with a 'vertical' and they found the differences really surprising.

One single flight. 13 wines.

• 2004 Fattoria Petrolo Galatrona 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Opened and decanted for ~5 hours before drinking. This wine was beautiful - quite possibly my WOTD. Nice dry style, lots of forest floor and aged old leather. I get smoke and cassis and some currant and maybe rhubarb as well. It was pretty light on its feel, but I imagine could have gone for a lot longer as well. Showed very well.

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• 2005 Fattoria Petrolo Galatrona 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Opened and decanted for ~5 hours before drinking. We drank both this and the '04 in our tasting and it was interesting to see how the group divided on the two. For my taste, the '04 was a bit better, but the '05 was absolutely a nice wine as well. I got a bit less complexity than the '04 and a lot more bright red fruits (think cherries, cranberries) rather than some of the more almost sour characteristics.

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• 2008 Azienda Agricola Montevertine Le Pergole Torte Toscana IGT 87 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  This was probably my least favorite wine of the day although I wonder if some of that wasn't to do with the fact that it had a shorter decant than some of the others and it was coming on the heels of the Galatronas which seemed to overpower it. Lots more acidity here. It had a bit of the funkiness on the nose which only sortof translated to the palette. If there was fruit it hadn't quite come out. Very light wine for a SuperTuscan.

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• 1997 Castello del Terriccio Lupicaia 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Popped and poured originally. Upon first drinking, it was a bit tight - I'd recommend at least a few hours open in the bottle or a decant. This was quite possibly one of the most controversial wines of the night. It was the oldest that we drank and seemed to be either a favorite or the bottom of the pile (for my tastes it was one of the top). It absolutely had a depth of flavor that evolved throughout the palette. Like many of the Sangiovese blends I get a fair amount of funk going on (the mushrooms, band aids, etc.). A touch of cough syrup, but not overpowering like some of the later wines. There's also a hint of smoke. Not really fruity which might have been the turnoff for some, but the myriad of other flavors worked very well without it (for me).

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• 2010 Ca' Marcanda (Gaja) Promis Toscana IGT 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  This was the group consensus WOTD and one of my favorites as well. It was opened a few hours before and then decanted for prob 1.5 to 2 hours before drinking. Very rich wine, get the cassis, prunes, touch of something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. Very nice wine, even if it was a real baby killing.

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• 2006 Fontodi Syrah Case Via Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

  This was definitely the biggest surprise of the group of wines - I'd think a Syrah would be relatively unique within Tuscany. On first tasting I get the strong cough syrup taste. Still some acidity (we opened the bottle maybe an hour before drinking, but no decant). Lots of tannins and a bit of sourness. It opened up in the glass after just a few minutes and the red currant started to come through a bit more while the acidity died down a bit.

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• 2010 Fattoria Viticcio Prunaio Toscana IGT 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Wine was decanted prob an hour before drinking. It's an interesting one. Nice red fruits, but with a strong backbone that is holding them up (I assume because the wine is much too young to really be drinking). There's a flavor that I can't quite place... I want to say maybe that almost salty sour flavor you get in a soy sauce, but I think that's not the best description. Enjoyable wine, but needs a lot more time.

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• 2007 La Lecciaia Di Pacini Mauro Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  This wine was the funkiest of the group to my tastes. Lots of bandaids and mushrooms and soy sauce and whatever else. There's an underlying structure though that keeps it feeling a bit clean and crisp like. I expected this one to polarize some of the people who seemed to be more interested in the fruit, but surprisingly it had more of a cross-appeal. I thought it was one of the more interesting wines and the kindof wine that is neat to drink even without food around.

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• 2006 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  This wine was one of the most balanced and structured and yet still interesting of the group. It has the funk that I think can be really fun in the Super Tuscans, but unlike in the Lecciaia it wasn't really overpowering. Also some nice fruits. A bit of the cough syrup. Kindof a mild wine that is clearly meant to go with food. Very nice.

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• 2009 Monte Bernardi Tzingana Toscana IGT 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Soft and supple wine. I get a bit of lightly candied fruit, some pepper and spice, some cranberry. The overall taste comes across a bit simpler than some of the others (perhaps because it doesn't have the extra funk that the previous few had), but very clean and composed.

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• 2003 Poggio San Polo Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Lots of the tastes that seem to be evident in a Super Tuscan - funk, candied fruits, red currant. I get a bit of fig here as well. Nice level of intensity in the wine. Somehow this one comes together a bit better than some of the others for me - perhaps the balance across those flavors? Very enjoyable.

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• 2007 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  Wine was opened a few hours before consumption, but we did not decant (upon reflection we probably should have). It has a lot of wonderful flavors that I like - the cinnamon, fruit and the tannins while ever present are actually quite fine. Just felt like it didn't have time to all come together and really is probably a bit too young to be drinking.

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• 2005 Travaglini Gattinara Tre Vigne 87 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Gattinara

  This was the last wine of the day and after 12 SuperTuscans I'm not sure I was tasting quite as well as I'd have liked. I got some cranberry and pepper, very strong tannins, felt much too young and hard to break through. This bottle had been opened maybe an hour or so before consumption, but no decant and it clearly needed one.

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As we were not a particularly intense group in this we didn't end up with final rankings (many people had stopped writing notes/etc. after wine 6 or 7). It did seem that Wine 5 (the 2010 Ca'Marcanda) was the WOTD for the group. Mine was actually the first - the 2004 Galatrona, but I enjoyed all of them (although for some felt perhaps a longer decant or more time in the bottle would have been preferable.

Finished with a 2004 Hobbs Frontignac dessert wine. Right end to the night.