TQKP Dinner / Eunice's Farewell

A couple of wines over dinner very nicely chosen by EN. I particularly liked the Pio Cesare Barolo.

• 2010 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 89 Points

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  I have not had a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (save for a few bottles of Te Koko) for a couple of years, so this was a good chance to get reacquainted with a label that really helped to spark my interest in wine in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, this bottle, while pleasant enough, was nothing special - a bit meh really. It had a typical Marlborough SB nose, with tropical touches of green mango and guava along with some green asparagus scents and a little whiff of cat's pee. Given the couple of years or so in bottle, the palate showed a bit of developed richness, with a spicy warmth running through its very tropical notes of green mangoes and guava, with some citrussy lime pulling towards a pretty decent finish. There was a nice bright balance in spite of its ripe warmth, and it was a decent drink with a Cantonese meal, but I thought this was very run-of-the-mill.

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• 2008 Pio Cesare Barolo 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Barolo has had a string of good vintages in recent years, and while 2008 may not quite hit the heights of the excellent trio of 2004, 2006 and 2007 it is shaping up to be a nice, classically elegant year - this bottle was a great example of that. As with most recent efforts by Pio Cesare, this wine came across as more modern-styled Barolo but with a classic undertone to it. The nose showed sweet oaky accent swirling around nice aromas of rose petals and red cherries tossed up with some tar, smoke, earth and sprigs of fresh herb. I liked that actually, even if the oak was a bit too pronounced at the moment. I thought the palate was very good too. After an hour or so in an open bottle, it showed crystal clear tones of slightly sweet cherry and blackcurrant fruit riding on a bed of juicy acidity and fine, elegant tannins that provided a firm Barolo chew on the midpalate and finish. Even with that though, there was a distinctly friendly, almost elegant feel to it, so that it was quite easy to drink even in its youth. The fruit is rather primary and certainly dominant at the moment however, even if small complexities were already showing through a nice undertow of mineral and earth, and a little ring of smoke at finish. This should age beautifully though, and really does deserve a decade or so in the cellar. Very nice.

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