tasting italiano

my store had an italian tasting and I was able to get off and get in a fair amount of wines. I haven't had most of these wines before and was looking forward to seeing some of the new vintages of producers I had in the past. Cobbpa came by to do some tasting too

• 2003 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  nose: tight to start off, but then rolled into soft and feminine expressions of roses, wild flowers, lavender, soft cherry, and some tar with bits of roasted herbs
  
  taste: very pretty but light feel with roses, wild flowers, soft cherry tones, roasted herbs and bits of tar
  
  overall: a very elegant and pretty brunello. More foreward and upfront with a very smooth floral attack of roses and wild flowers and a tasty roasted herb finish

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• 2005 Fattoria Ambra Carmignano Santa Cristina in Pilli 82 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Carmignano

  nose: cherry and twizzlers predominetly with very little depth. Simple and fairly one dimensional
  
  taste: more weight then I would've thought upon smelling it, but still simple with more twizzlers and simple cherry tones
  
  overall: this is a decent wine and is made well, but is simple and doesn't have much depth. There is also a bit of heat on the mid palate. I'm not sure what to make of this as my experience with this is very contrary to what galloni wrote and what the other note is. c'est la vie

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• 2005 Bibbiano Chianti Classico 85 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  nose: nice and well balanced nose of soft cherries, earthen tones, and some nice dark plums
  
  taste: decent acidity with dark plum tones, soft cherries, and some meatyness to it on the back end
  
  overall: a nice and easy chianti that is good for food. I've yet to be all that impressed with the 05s that I've overall, but this was nice and would go well with food

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• 2004 Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Oro 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  nose: really deep nose of dark plums, dark cherries, earth tones, blood, and iodine with some leather in there too. Real good funky nose but is very balanced at the same time
  
  taste: very young with firm tannins that posseses flavors of dark plums, blood, earth, leather, dark cherry, and smokey tones. Nice and deep with good acidity
  
  overall: a real top notch chianti with a bold and classic attack of dark plum that gives way to a smokey and dark cherry finish. This will be a fun one when it comes around

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• 2005 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  nose: silky nose of earth tones, plum, cherries, smoke, and bits of floral scents. nice and perfumed
  
  taste: tart and firm with cherry, smoke, plums, and floral flavors working well in balance with each other
  
  overall: an excellent chianti with some nice upside. Well placed tannins and acidty that lend a helping hand with a cherry attack and smokey and plum based finish

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• 2003 Moccagatta Barbaresco Bric Balin 88 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  nose: nicely balanced nose of sour cherry, tar, purple florals, and some herbal spices. Nothing really sticking out and its all very nice, but not having that extra bit that just keeps you smelling the glass
  
  taste: well placed tones of sour cherry, herbs, and tar. Again, nothing really standing out and there isn't a whole lot of depth to it either
  
  overall: Everything is well balanced and put together, but it lacks a bit of depth and is extremely solid and in the pocket. The wine posseses a really nice sour cherry attack with big acidity on the mid palate and a solid herbal finish

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• 2004 Domenico Clerico Langhe Arte 87 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  nose: heavily oaked on the nose that is to the point of being very distracting. Tart cherries lie beneath the oak with hints of herbs and some earthen tones. Unfortunetly oak is the predominant note
  
  taste: very nice attack with cranberries, sour cherries, and an earth tones finish. None of the oak that I got on the nose, but not a whole lot of depth either
  
  overall: a very solid wine. The over oaking on the nose was just too much at first. Maybe this wine will come around more with some aging, and I don't have any experience with what an aged showing of this is like. It had a very nice cranberry attack and soft earthen finish

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• 2006 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbera d'Alba Serraboella 87 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba

  nose: simple and a bit sweet with soft cherries, herbs, and some floral tones
  
  taste: not a whole lot of depth but typical barbera with cherries and herbs
  
  overall: nice and firm with good acidity though it is fairly one dimensional in that its almost all cherries on both the nose and palate, but there isn't much depth involved in it either. Good standard barbera

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• 2003 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  nose: very beautiful and elegant nose of cinammon, tar, herbs, spice tones, and a almost dirty floral type of tone that is hard to describe
  
  taste: pretty feel with nice suppleness to it with cinammon, tar, herbs, and spice tones in sweet balance with each other
  
  overall: an extremely pretty wine with good acidity and supple tannins. Nice aromatic nose with well toned flavors on the palate that gives off a tart cinammon attack and soft spice finish

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• 2005 Foradori Teroldego Rotaliano 89 Points

  Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Trentino, Teroldego Rotaliano

  nose: nice expressive nose of ripe cherries, earthen tones, smoke, cedar, and some floral tones. Fairly foreward on the nose, but nice depth and balance to it
  
  taste: good depth with with ripe cherry tones, earth notes, smoke and cedar
  
  overall: this is a really excellent wine that has almost everything but that next thing to take it up a notch. Everything is well in place with good balance and depth that posseses a ripe cherry attack and smokey finish

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• 2006 Di Majo Norante Sangiovese Terre degli Osci IGT 73 Points

  Italy, Molise, Terre degli Osci IGT

  nose: honestly, the first smell I get is diaper shit. I'm normally a guy who likes funky wines, but this was straight up shit. Some charred meats, charred wood, and chalk tones were in there too after I got past the diaper shit smells. I was pretty replused by the nose on this
  
  taste: bleh, mostly charred tones of charred wood and charred meats with a bit of chalk
  
  overall: pretty awful. A bad nose with bad flavors=not a good mix and far from a good wine

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• 2006 Argiolas Perdera Isola dei Nuraghi IGT 88 Points

  Italy, Sardinia, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT

  nose: really fun and deep nose of black pepper, earth, and black cherries
  
  taste: huge tannins with loads of black flavors of black currants, black pepper, and black cherry accompanied by some earth tones
  
  overall: this is a really fun wine with big tannins and nice deep flavors. Tart black pepper attack with a good black cherry finish

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• 2001 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 91 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  nose: deep port-ish nose of belgian chocolate, raisins, prunes, herbs, and loads of smoked meats
  
  taste: great medium feel and well defined flavors of belgian chocolate, raisins, herbs, and smoked meat tones
  
  overall: outstanding balance with nice deep aromatics and port-ish flavors that give off a fun belgian chocolate attack and smoked meat finish. This wine is in a perfect place right now and was a fun experience

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• NV Nino Franco Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rustico 85 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG

  nose: very nice tangy citrus tones of pears and apricots mostly with some minerality sneaking in there too
  
  taste: nice and easy with citrusy tones of pears and minerality on the back end
  
  overall: a very nice prosecco that is fun to drink with a tart pear finish

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• NV Desiderio Jeio (Bisol) Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Brut 86 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene

  nose: very nice and crisp nose of lemon peels with loads of rocks and some peach tones
  
  taste: very mineral driven with lots of rocks and lemon peels
  
  overall: nice and easy prosecco that is very mineral driven. Good feel on the palate with nice bubbles and a lemon peel finish

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• 2007 Terredora di Paolo Greco di Tufo Loggia della Serra 88 Points

  Italy, Campania, Greco di Tufo DOCG

  nose: very different from what I would expect from a greco di tufo as notes of roasted cashews, minerals, melons, and various smokey tones come through. Very pungent nose that is different from what I expected
  
  taste: interesting smokey tones accompanied by various mineral tones, melons, lemon peels and navel oranges
  
  overall: a very interesting Greco. Very nice melon and mineral based attack with a zesty navel orange finish. This was just very different from what I have experience in the past. It's very aromatic and has a nice light/medium feel to it with a good zesty quality

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this was a really fun and educational experience. It doesn't take much to get me to taste italian wines in the first place, and having it at my store was an added bonus