2001 Italians for Daniel's Birthday

Some truly excellent Italian wines last night. Even with long decanting times, a lot of them showed very young. Still though, the superb quality of the 2001 vintage was clear as day, and the wines were almost all really, really good. A big thank you to Daniel for putting this together.

• 2001 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 94 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Decanted for about 4 hours. This was excellent. Far from ready, but already drinking rather nicely, especially with a wild boar pasta. Drop-dead gorgeous nose showed classic Barolo notes of tar and cigarette smoke along with hints of rose and violet, meaty, earthy tones and rich cherry and orange peel, along with more modern toasty vanilla and woody oak tones. Great energy and verve on the palate, with the freshest acidity lasering its way through deliciously mouthfilling flavours of ripe blueberries, cassis and cherries. Lots of purity I thought, and plenty of elegance even though firm, mouthcoating tannins were very much in attendance. The finish wowed me too - long, powerful, yet gorgeously fresh and clean, with tons of life in its cherry and orange peel accents spirnkled with bits of cigarette ash. Again, the slightly off-puting woody oak notes appeared, along with a touch of glycerol, but such was the sheer elegance and joie de vivre displayed by the wine that that was easily forgotten. I suspect that in 10 years' time when the wine really hits its stride, whatever woodiness would have dissipated in any event. Quite a brilliant effort.

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• 2001 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Deep and brooding when compared to the more expressive 2001 Sandrone Le Vigne, but this was a really good wine in its own right. Decanted for 4 hours, but this was still very tight. Nose was rather subtle at first, with sweet cherries and dusky earth wed to little touches of rose and tar. It opened up with time to slwoly reveal lots of dark fruited depth and bits of spice. Very masculine palate. Dense, tight-knit, muscular, but impeccably balanced ad integrated, with great depths of dark fruit, black cherries, plums and blackberries. Long, smoky finish held more spice, a sprinkle of rose petals and dried fruit hints. Will be gorgeous in a decade or so - this needs time. A really nice wine though.

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• 2001 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Pianrosso 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A pretty good, rather modernly styled Brunello. But this was lost amongst much more illustrious company. Nose was tightish, but clearly big, with lots of ripe prunes, plums and cassis and a little earthy note, all doused with a healthy dose of glycerol and a little high-toned mix of flowers and crayon notes. Very rich, even on the nose. The palate was very much as one would expect - choked full of sweet, rich, big fruit - dark cherries, bluberries, purnes, ripe strawberries. Again, some glycerol here. This was BIG, quite a monster actually. I would have said that the wine was nevertheless well-balanced, and there was certainly good, elegant freshness, if not for the fact that the alcohol threw it a little off. Still though, the quality of the fruit was evident all the way into the finish, which showed great length in its darkly fruited prunes, spicey pepper and teeth-staining tannins. I would lay this aside for a long time yet, but it should improve year on year.

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• 2001 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

  An excellent wine, perhaps the most ready of those we had today. Neverthles, it had been decanted for about 4 hours by the time we got to it, and a good thing too. Lovely, lovely nose. Very alluring, with sweet, ripe cherries, almost kirsch-like, some cassis, deep earth tones, dried plums and a smoky undertow. Very well-integrated, and promising lots of goodness on the palate, which the wine delivered with aplomb. Great balance, clean, integrated aciidty and grippy, powdered tannins formed a juicy, well-structured backdrop for lovely pure cherry tones and more smoky ash, moving into a long finish full of lingering fruit - dried cherries, plums, orange peel - and a dry woody tail. Very, very good indeed, certainly better than the 2001 Brunello we had alongside - this will be a great wine in another 5-6 years' time and will continue developing for far longer than that.

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• 2001 Antinori Tignanello 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  85% Sangiovese, 10% Cab, 5% Merlot. Still a baby, but the quality in this wine was clearly evident. Almost overwhleming funky when first poured from the decanter where it had been sitting for several hours, it took some time to get beyond the leather, manure and sauvage animale notes to rather elegant sweet dark fruits, mossy undergrowth and cigar that otherwise marked the nose. The palate was very impressive though. Clean, balanced, well delineated, with lovely pure fruit in the shape of dark cherries and cassis. Again, there was some horsey meatiness here, but well under control. Powdery tannins added a nice sense of structure, and there was clearly plenty of depth in the wine. This was especially clear towards the finish, which had an effortless length full of lovely juicy cherries, some cigar and spice, sour plums, orange peel and another reminder of wet furriness. Lovely with Fiorentine t-bone steak on the day, but I would really give this some time in the bottle yet. Check this space again in 6-7 years' time.

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• 2005 Michele Chiarlo Moscato d'Asti Nivole 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti

  The oldest Moscato I have yet tried, and this was going strong. If anything, it was even more declicious and integrated than any of the younger bottles I remember having. The Nivole is really at the top of its game. Nose was lovely as expected - flowery, peachy with some earthy depth to it. Creamy froth on the palate cleansed the mouth very nicely, as did the fresh grapefruity flavours, little rivulet of mineral and nice guava flavours. Again, I found there to be just that little more depth than in the younger bottles. Finish was fresh and delicious, with flowers, ice-cream soda and a little yeast dancing across the tongue. Yummy.

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• 2004 Franco M. Martinetti Piemonte Nebbiolo Alcedo Vino da Uve Stramature 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC

  Interesting wine done in apassimento style. Nose was almost sherry-like, with dusty earth and mushroomy tones overlaid on dried fruits and figs and oxidised brown apples. Palate carried on the same noes, with dried figs, brown apples, some dried grapey tones and preserved apricots, all held in pretty good balance. Finish was pretty decent, with preserved plums and notes of dried strawberries and cherries. A very soundly-made wine, this was actually pretty good indeed.

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• 2000 Castello di Cacchiano Vin Santo del Chianti Classico 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Vin Santo del Chianti Classico

  Amber gold in colour. Boy, was this ever sweet! Nose showed tons of maple syrup aling with mocha and dried figs and just that touch of nail varnish. Pleasant enough, and rather sweet, but it gave no warning whatsoever for the blast of intense sweetness on the palate - honey, maple syrup, malt sugar along with some anglica root-like herb. There was some acidity, but not quite enough to cut through the sherr sugary weight of the wine. More herbs came up in the finish, along with a touch of orange peel. There was quality and some sense of freshness and depth in there, but this really needs lots and lots and lots of time yet I think. Even with the very yummy tiramisu, which was sweet in its own right, this was a bit too much for me at the moment.

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