Suzi, Eric and Sid's Trip to Italy

I had the good fortune to recently enjoy a two week vacation, one week in Tuscany south of Sienna and the other week staying in the picturesque town of Bellagio on Lago di Como. The trip wasn't about wine, so apart from one small tasting and one winery visit while in Tuscany the rest of the wines listed were simply enjoyed with meals. A few general observations:

• Visiting Italy is such a wonderful reminder of just how simple and wonderful food and wine can be. The pasta, cheese, produce and meat (and lake fish while at Lake Como) are just fantastic, and the high acid Sangiovese and Nebbiolo based wines work so wonderfully with the food.
  
• Italy is hot, hot, HOT right now. Unfortunately, very few wine stores and restaurants seem to have refrigeration or effective natural cellars. I saw a lot of beautiful wines cooking, and I didn't dare purchase any...
  
• Two restaurants stood out distinctly: La Chiusa in Tuscany (near Torita di Siena and Sinalunga) and Barcheta in Bellagio. Both had remarkable food, impressive wine lists, and excellent wine service and storage (great provenance, great glassware, proper decanting etc). Heavenly! Now onto the wines...

We flew over on British Airways, straight shot from Seattle to London and then to Milan and Florence. The BA wines (in business class) were good but not great.

• NV Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Réserve Mis en Cave 1997

  France, Champagne

  (8/21/2003)

  I had this on British Airways coming and going from Seattle to London. Very yeasty with some almond, peachy, almost brioche-like notes. Very well balanced, nice acidity, a slightly bitter note on the long finish. Very nice bottle of bubbles!

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• 2001 Pascal Jolivet Pouilly-Fumé

  France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

  (8/21/2003)

  Tasted on the British Airways flight from Seattle to London. Refreshing, grapefruit, minerals, grassy, nice persistent finish.

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• 1999 Château Beaumont 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  (8/21/2003)

  Tasted on British Airways coming and going from London to Seattle. Some black cherry and dustiness on the nose with a nice hint of tobacco. The palate is earthy and distinctly Bordeaux, somewhat light, and a touch dilute. This was better on the way back from Europe than the way there, somewhat deeper and fuller. Very earthy, dark and dusty with good length. Simple, pleasant.

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While in Tuscany we enjoyed a mini-tasting with Burton Anderson (a well known and widely published American wine writer who has been living in Italy for a couple of decades).

• 1999 Fontodi Chianti Classico Riserva Vigna del Sorbo 89 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (8/26/2003)

  Wine tasting with Burton Anderson. Unfortunately, this was a somewhat off bottle (fizzing slightly) served too warm, but despite that it was still very nice. It had a very nice initial nose of bramble and licorice (and some alcohol from the heat). Lush mouthfeel, fairly brooding, excellent acidity, developing a nice, high-pitched, pure sweetness on the initial palate. The nose gets a bit weedy with time, but I still liked it.

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• 1999 Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Vigna Asinone 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

  (8/26/2003)

  Wine tasting with Burton Anderson. Lots of smokey wood, black cherry and some licorice. This has a very deep, lush palate. Somewhat searing, heavily structured, nice balance with the acidity. A somewhat dry, clipped finish. Most folks liked this alot, but I was disappointed by the wood and the short finish.

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• 1999 Poliziano Le Stanze Toscana IGT 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  (8/26/2003)

  Wine tasting with Burton Anderson. He claimed this was a Cab & Merlot super Tuscan, although Parker's site declares it as Sangiovese. This had a smoky, toasty nose. On the palate this is very black with lush fruit, expansive entry, very ripe, spicy with a nice hebal note. Yummy! A long long finish with lots of structure, although this is a touch flabby (it can't be Sangio). Overall this is really nice juice, very "international" in style.

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• 1995 La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  (8/26/2003)

  Wine tasting with Burton Anderson. The nose shows fennel with some soaring, floral notes. Some VA? Nah, it blew off whatever it was. Licorice comes out over time. Compared to the other younger wines tasted this had a much more subdued palate without much fruit. That said, it was very distinct, complex and lithe. Very well integrated acidity with a long, complex, elegant finish. Very nice.

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We also paid a brief visit to Avignonesi to tour their glorious cellars near Cortona in Tuscany.

• 2000 Avignonesi Chardonnay Cortona Il Marzocco 75 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Cortona

  (8/28/2003)

  (Tasting at Avignonesi) This is Chardonnay aged in French oak. It has a weird magic marker element with lemon hiding behind that. Volatile acidity? The wine has reasonable length with a mellow amount of wood, but I just can't get past that magic marker which I find fairly off-putting.

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• 2001 Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano 80 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Rosso di Montepulciano

  (8/28/2003)

  (Tasting at Avignonesi) A blend of 33% Merlot, Cabernet, and Sangiovese. I found this to be mildly vegetal but with an initially enticing nose that unfortunately got greener and greener with time. On the palate this is very structured with green tobacco and some herbal edginess. All in all, not too great.

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• 2000 Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 87 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

  (8/28/2003)

  (Tasting at Avignonesi) This is 80% prugnolo gentile with the remainder mammolo and canailo nero. On the nose this is a touch herbal and leafy with tobacco and some tea leaf. On the palate this has great mouthfeel, soft tannins, very round and leathery with red berry elements. The finish is long and cool with nice acidity and chewy tannins. This works quite well, nice Vino Nobile.

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• 1999 Avignonesi Desiderio 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  (8/28/2003)

  (Tasting at Avignonesi) 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet. The nose has a touch of tobacco, chocolate and a pleasing herbal element. A very soft, lush palate entry, pure fruit. Broad and mouthcoating with chewy tannins. Very long finish. A nice expression of Merlot, I liked this a LOT!

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On one gloriously hot day, after a visit to Pienza to sample fresh Pecorino, we climbed on our bikes to the airy peak of Montepulciano up a nastily steep series of switchbacks. While there we had a brief quaff then rode 40km home to clean up for a truly memorable meal at La Chiusa.

• 1999 Redi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

  Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

  (8/27/2003)

  I had a taste of this after the simply massive and steep, switchbacking climb up to Montepulciano on my mountain bike. (Whew and uggh, what an effort!) This was a bit tough to judge in my condition, but I appreciated the tour through their very cool cellars. The wine was lightly wooded and typical, not profound but certainly charming.

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• 2000 Redi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Briareo

  Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

  (8/27/2003)

  I had a taste of this after the simply massive and steep, switchbacking climb up to Montepulciano on my mountain bike. (Whew and uggh, what an effort!) This was a bit tough to judge in my condition, but I appreciated the tour through their very cool cellars. The wine was lightly wooded and typical, not profound but certainly charming.

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• NV Ca' del Bosco Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Brut

  Italy, Veneto, Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene

  (8/27/2003)

  (Dinner at La Chiusa) Light and refreshing with some citrus.

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• 2001 Valdicava Rosso di Montalcino 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino

  (8/27/2003)

  (Dinner at La Chiusa) The nose is very ripe, plummy, and fat. Slightly smokey. With time some mushroom, mineral, lots of earth. The palate has explosive fruit, like a bowl of black cherries, just bursting. Huge acidity and searing tannin, and with time this gets fatter, smoother and longer. Very primary, huge and pure. For €25 this is a steal!

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• 1990 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Vigna di Pianrosso 97 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  (8/27/2003)

  (Dinner at La Chiusa) This wine was one of the highlights of my entire trip. The bottle was in impeccable condition, perfectly cellared. OMG! A soaring nose of pine resin, mushroom, earth, and licorice with amazing intensity and complexity. The bouquet was pouring out of the glass. On the palate this has remarkable sweetness, purity, earthiness, dustiness. In a word, this was sublime. Initially the finish was tight and dominated by acid, but within 30 minutes it fattened and lengthened. Long, smooth, complex, suprisingly powerful, highly acidic, but simply unreal with food. An amazing wine!!!

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The rest of the wines listed below are from various meals in my order of preference.

• 1983 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn 93 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  (8/31/2003)

  (Dinner at Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in the main dining room) This bottle was part of a collection of older Gaja wines purchased by the hotel some 3 years earlier when another hotel went out of business. Alas, while this was a great bottle I fear that it was somewhat oxidized and could have been far greater. After a bit of a struggle the waiter was able to get the cork out intact, and while the capsule was clean and spinning the cork showed evidence of a fair bit of seepage that didn't quite breach. It was wine colored nearly all the way along its length. The nose was explosive showing dried rose, some tar, iron, fennel and a hint of earthy truffel. If I could use one word to describe the nose I would choose "soaring" as this was really very high-toned. The palate was huge, vibrant, again soaring and simply massive. The finish started very tight and acidic and with time started to open up and show incredible length, truly singing and soaring again. For a while this did gain a somewhat off-putting metallic note of tin on the finish, but with time this blew off. All in all, I was amazingly impressed by just how huge and soaring this wine was, as I have never encountered anything quite like this. That said, it did seem to clearly show some elements of oxidation at least to my palate. Still, this was a terrific experience and one I am very glad to have enjoyed.

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• 1995 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino Rennina 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  (9/1/2003)

  (Dinner at Barcheta) This was extremely closed initially with almost no aromatics. Over time a high-pitched note of pine resin emerged, floral notes and mushroom. With about 90 minutes of decanting this became very expressive aromatically. On the palate this was huge, DARK, layered and brooding. It showed terrific purity and initial sweetness on the palate, almost sappiness, very elegant. With more air the structure also became more apparent, and the tannins started to clamp down and even showed a bit of astringency. The finish was long and massive, very sweet and pure. This wine has many, many years in front of it (but I couldn't resist trying it now) and should settle down into something very elegant, powerful and sophisticated with another 5+ years.

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• 1990 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Vino da Tavola 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Vino da Tavola

  (8/23/2003)

  Dinner at Villa San Michelle just outside of Florence. Deep garnet with no visible bricking. This wine had a stunning nose (a 95 point nose) of sandalwood, saddle leather, red currant and cedar. The palate was very tight and acidic at first, opening and fleshing out with time. Like most of the aged Sangiovese I have enjoyed, with time the entry also gained a subtle, elegant sweetness, yet it was extremely powerful. As can be expected, this wine had a very stiff backbone of acidity and a surprising amount of structure. Perhaps the acidity was too stiff and out of balance with the fruit? Despite this imbalance, this was still sublime. Oh that nose!

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• 1997 Prunotto Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza Costamiòle 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti Superiore Nizza

  (8/29/2003)

  (Dinner at Mistral in the Grand Hotel Serbelloni in Bellagio) A very dusky nose of blackberry, leather, coffee, and shoe polish. This has big fruit on the palate and is dark, brooding, and deeply layered. The finish shows very impressive length, WOW! This does show a touch of dryness and chewy tannin on the finish and much more structure than I would expect from a Barbera. It is drinking nicely now, but with a few more years this could really settle into an even better groove.

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• 1999 Argiano Solengo Toscana IGT 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  (9/2/2003)

  (Dinner at La Punta) Very, very tight initially, slightly green, and with time an herbal element and some cocoa emerge. The palate continues with a green edge, fading to olive, but after an hour of air this is getting more ripe, deep and dark. The finish is powerful and low and shows impeccable balance. I don't know if the green notes are indicative of youth, or that is what this wine is about. That said, the balance here was the high-point.

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• 1997 Tenuta Farneta Bongoverno Toscana IGT 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  (8/24/2003)

  Dinner at Casabianca. This is a local super Tuscan grown near the pretty little town of Scrofiano (a medieval village hanging off the hillside). Apparently this is a Sangio-dominant blend, although I never did figure out the other varietals. The nose features a strong element of pine resin with some cedary elements. The palate is searing, excellent structure, very long. Nice acid balance. Overall an excellent wine.

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• 1998 Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (8/25/2003)

  Pizza-making at Casabianca. This wine has a very pungent nose of black cherry with a leathery edge. I really like this initially, but it faded and got tired somewhat quickly in the glass. The palate is explosive, huge fruit, dusty, good structure, great balance, nice length. It is also extremely primary right now, but with some time to settle down it could be an exceptionally nice Chianti.

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• 1997 Castelgiocondo (Marchesi de' Frescobaldi) Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  (8/26/2003)

  Dinner at Casabianca. Deep plum with a high-pitched, somewhat resinous note. The palate is reserved and fairly dry with lots of structure. Massive length. I found the acid under control. Not a great effort but a nice Brunello with a huge Chianina steak.

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• 2001 Nino Negri Chiavennasca Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT

  Italy, Lombardia, Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT

  (9/3/2003)

  A white Nebbiolo? Clean, cutting, lemon and mineral. Very nice with a variety of pasta and fish, this cut well through the oil. A nice, clean, simple drink at 11% alcohol.

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• 1998 Tenuta Caparzo Rosso di Montalcino La Caduta

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino

  (9/1/2003)

  (Lunch at the Villa d'Este) No real notes taken. This was simple and hearty, very nice with a big lunch of veal in a sauce of porcini mushrooms.

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• 2001 Casaloste Chianti Classico

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (8/24/2003)

  First lunch with B&R after a vrey hot bike ride. This is a straightforward, very ripe Chianti. Apparently the word on the street is that 2001 in Tuscany is going to be a great, great vintage.

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• 2000 Querciabella Batàr

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  (8/24/2003)

  Dinner at Casabianca. I was assuming this was mostly Chardonnay, but every time I try to ask the waiter about the "varietal" or "grape" I instead get an expose on his descriptors for the wine. (Afterward I did found out this is 65% Chard and 35% Pinot Bianco.) Heavily oaked and smokey. This is very straightforward and somewhat over the top, but it does match well with a Pecorino custard.

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