Kobrand Italian Tasting Highlights + Dinner at Murray's

I Nonni, St. Paul, MN
Tasted Thursday, October 25, 2012 by rocknroller with 559 views

Introduction

Didn't get a lot of notes on these wines, but tried to offer up the highlights of the tasting. Some very good Italian wines were followed by a couple of Napa wines at dinner afterward.

Flight 1 - Kobrand Tasting Highlights (9 Notes)

  • 2007 Michele Chiarlo Barolo Cerequio 93 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Medium dark red color. Nose is open and boasts roses, leather, earth, spice, cherry, oak. The palate is caressing, medium bodied, nice red fruit with good energy, good acid and medium, round tannins. Lifting finish. This is really showing well, a bit better than the Cannubi at present. 93+pts.

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  • 2007 Michele Chiarlo Barolo Cannubi 92 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Nose is tighter, but shows dark cherry, florals, spice, oak. the palate is dense, brooding, dark red fruits, oak, spice, minerals, firmly tannic right now. 92pts with some upside potential. I prefer the Cerequio, especially after having both in glass for 20 minutes and revisiting both.

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  • 2006 Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Vigneto Manachiara 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    A significant improvement from the regular bottling, This has more depth and character. Strong floral perfume with riper cherry and red currants, more earth, spice, licorice. the palate has medium body with moderately firm tannins, consistent with nose, nice finsih. Still needs time or significant air.

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  • 2006 Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    Less expressive than its big brother, this comes off more introverted, with red fruits, earth, spice. The palate was more closed, a core of red fruit, firmly tannic, not showing a ton.

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  • 2006 Tenuta di Nozzole Chianti Classico Riserva La Forra 91 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

    This was quite good, nose had lots of nice funk, berries, chocolate. That translated well to the palate adding some more old world character with leather and spice, but nicely maintaining its balance and clean finsih. 91+pts. This is a winner.

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  • 2007 Tenuta di Nozzole Chianti Classico Riserva 90 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

    This was very good too. I liked the earthiness upfront, with bright cherries, followed by leather. The palate was medium bodied with character, red fruits, earth, mushroom. the finish is medium and the tannins are pleasant giving this pretty good balance. Fairly decent QPR CCR.

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  • 2008 Tenuta di Nozzole Il Pareto Toscana IGT 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    100% cabernet. Very inky, earthy, cassis, dark berries, medium full body with excellent depth, quite elegant in style, long finish.

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  • 2010 Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto Toscana IGT 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Smooth, earthy, vibrant on the palate, cherry, earth, mineral, long finish. Quite approachable, I really liked this. 92+pts.

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  • 2009 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Toscana IGT

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    This was really tight, no decant, definitely not showing what I typically see in this wine. There is a lot of black fruit in here along with good depth, but I just can't see much else tonight. Very grippy tannins. I just don't think this had the opportunity to show itself tonight. Based on how it drank tonight, 89-90pts, but the expectation is this will be much better with cellar time.

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Flight 2 - Dinner at Murray's (2 Notes)

Had a business dinner meeting following the Kobrand tasting and had a couple of very nice wines.

  • 2005 La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

    Dark purple-red color. PnP, drank 1+ glass over an hour. Nose is deep with rich vanilla, cassis, blackberry liqueur, light oak, caramel. The palate is round and coating, ripe black fruits of cassis and blackberry, prominent but round tannins, long finish. Had this for our starter wine at dinner and it was excellent.

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  • 2005 Dominus Estate 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Very dark red color. Decanted for 30 minutes. From 2-750's. Drank 2 glasses over 2 hours and then again on day 2. Gorgeous Bordeaux style nose that shows earth, florals, sweet dark red fruits, blueberry. The palate is elegant, veltvety tannins with currants, dark cherry and berry, briary, spices, some licorice, long finish. An absolutely wonderful wine with Silver Butterknife Steaks at Murray's.

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