Dinner with Ray

Steak, wine and cocktails at home with my buddy

• 2012 Passopisciaro Terre Siciliane Contrada Guardiola 93 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Terre Siciliane

  Really pleasing, although it has its best days way ahead of it yet. I loved the nose on this - it was tight at first, but opened up beautifully to show complex aromas of dried cherries and red berries, dusty earth and orange peel, all with lovely dusting of dried brush herbs - lime dried verbana and oregano. The palate still needed a lot of time yet, but there were seeds of something really special here. On the night, it showed lovely, lively notes of dark cherries and cassis seasoned with lovely touches of orange peel, dried lemons and brush herbs. Delicious stuff, and so nicely structured too - with powdery tannins and juicy, lemony acidity forming a nice backdrop to that lovely panoply of Sicilian flavours. Lovely finish too, with a nice lilt of dried herbs and spices. This needs time yet. Even tonight, it needed a couple of hours in bottle - it is such a lovely characterful wine though, and will only get begger. I will keep my other bottles away for another 5-6 years at least.

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• 2000 Château Troplong Mondot 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Pretty good, but this would still benefit from some more time in bottle. I liked the nose on this - still quite rich, thick and primary at points with its cassis and plums, but there were also really nice secondary notes of tobacco, spice and earth swirling around in there. Lovely. The palate was shockingly youthful for a 20 year-old wine, with lots of rich cassis and plum fruit at the fore, and a fine structure of powdery tannins and bright acidity still coiled around its core. Past the midpalate, complex little notes earth, spice and tobacco herb pulled the wine into a nicely lengthy finish. Enjoyable and clearly quality, but this is only starting to creep into a nice drinking window - this could really have done with 5-10 more years in the bottle.

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