Seattle Wine Group - May 2013 Wine Tasting Event - Theme: Tuscany

Eight of us met for our monthly wine tasting event in the Amaroso room at Wine Storage Bellevue. Theme for the month was Tuscany ... A pretty broad category and, not surprisingly, we had a broad variety of wines to taste. Jeff was this month's host and he brought a nice homemade pasta sauce with meatballs that he served over pasta, bread, and some Italian cheeses. Scott brought some of his drunken mushrooms as well. For an aperitif, I (Scott) cracked a bottle of 2003 Betz Pere de Familie and, when that ran out, opened a bottle of 2004 Cayuse En Chamberlin Vineyard (its nice to have my wines stored at the same location we taste!)

Just a couple of wines out of Scott's storage locker.

• 2003 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Inky, deep dark color with slight bricking on the shallow edge. Very aromatic; nose of blackberries, dark plums, cocoa, black forest cake w/kirsch, and a bit of nose-clearing menthol at the end. Medium-full body, fresh and smooth, round tannins that softened over time. Very good balance, everything in check, but more harmony than tension. Fairly intense flavor profile that follows the nose ... tastes of plum, blackberries, and cocoa that ride along a tannin backbone that lifts up the flavors but does not overpower them. Very long finish that fades to stone cherries on the tongue. Very nice wine. I enjoy it very much, but not getting a huge 'wow' factor to it yet. This is just the first glass of the bottle however; I may change my mind as the bottle progresses.

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• 2004 Cayuse Syrah En Chamberlin Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  Opened up before the Tuscany blind tasting. Drank with Jeff's pasta and sauce. Classic Cayuse funk on the nose. Surprisingly, no funk on the palate, just strong red fruit flavors with enough taste of meat, mushrooms, and sous Bois to make it interesting. With that much fruit on the palate, it should be flabby but its not. Acid is laser beam perfect ... You can't detect it, but the wine is very much alive. Everything in harmonious balance. Classic Cayuse. Drinking very well right now.

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No restriction other than the wine come from Tuscany.

• 2003 Isole e Olena Syrah Collezione de Marchi Toscana IGT 86 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Medium color depth, ruby red and clear. Low aroma intensity, a bit youthful. light scents of saddle leather. Medium body, tart and crisp. Tannins were on the high side of medium, seemed a bit unbalanced this direction. Flavor intensity was low to moderate, brief notes of cherry were all I was able to pick out. Medium finish. Enjoyable, but uninspiring and easily forgotten ... Never would have guessed it to be a Syrah. 6th place finish for me. 44 points - 6th place finish for the group.

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• 1997 Barone Ricasoli Casalferro Toscana IGT 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  My wine for the tasting ... Medium-dark color depth, deep red and clear. Medium to strong aroma intensity, nose of violet, sage, sandalwood, smoke, and black cherries that carried through to the medium bodied palate. Acid was smooth and the tannins were well integrated, very smooth. Balance was good, but the flavor intensity was low and did not match the nose. Slight flavor note of grey tea, but mainly just a slight tannic attack that fades into the mid and holds on to a pretty smooth medium length finish, no fruit left to speak of. Enjoyable, but nothing that calls "great vintage" or "evolved." I would drink this as a daily quaffer with a bowl of pasta ... Does not add or take away. Easily forgotten. 3rd Place finish for me. 28 points - 3rd place finish for the group.

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• 1995 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 87 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  Medium color depth, ruby red and clear. Nice aromatic intensity with a feeling of some age to it. lovely scents rose petals and other assorted flowers ... a 'pretty' smell. My favorite nose of the evening. On the other hand, the palate was pretty weak. No discernible flavors to note. 'Insipid' being the only descriptor I can come up with, no further notes taken ... I could sure sit here and just smell the glass though, that is worth something. 4th place finish for me. 17 points - 1st place finish for the group.

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• 2000 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 86 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Deep, dark color depth, purple and clear. Low to moderate aroma intensity, seemed a bit youthful. Picked up light scents of funk, but not much else that I could put a name to it. Medium body, acids were crisp and fresh. Tannins were on the medium side and just a tad dry. Balance was a bit off in this direction, but mainly because it was lacking in other areas. More specifically, the wine had a nice flavor intensity, but it was one dimensional with stems/tannins being the focus. Medium to long finish, again, just the stems/tannins. Would have rated much higher for me if the palate had anything (and I mean anything) beyond the stems/tannins. 5th place finish for me. Total of 47 points - 7th place finish for the group.

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• 1997 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Deep, dark color depth, purple and clear. Low to moderate aroma intensity, seemed to have some age. Picked up scents of swisher sweet cigars and a bit of funk. The sweet cigar smell almost made me think it was a bit cooked, but I think it was how the wine was made as the palate matched the nose. Medium body, acids were fresh. Tannins were on the low-medium side and very soft. Balance was nice. Medium to long finish. Nothing remarkable about the wine, but nothing really wrong with it either. 1sth place finish for me. Total of 23 points - 2nd place finish for the group.

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• 2009 Renieri Re di Renieri Toscana IGT 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Deep, dark color depth, purple and clear. Strong aroma intensity, seemed a bit youthful. Picked up jammy scents, guessing this has Merlot in it. heavy body, acids were crisp and fresh. Tannins were low to medium side and just a tad dry. Balance was a good, although the fruit seemed to be a bit locked up. Flavor was intense, but the fruit part was muted. Medium to long finish. 2nd place finish for me. Total of 40 points - 5th place finish for the group.

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• 2009 Piaggia (Vannucci) Poggio de' Colli Toscana IGT 85 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Dark color depth, ruby red and clear. Aromatic and youthful, very fruit forward. Picked up scents of cut grass and apple juice. As with most of these wine, not much flavor to speak of. This one was the worst of the bunch for me though. What little that was there was indiscernible and not enjoyable. Appeared to be the group's consensus as well. 8th place finish for me. Total of 52 points - 8th place finish for the group.

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• 2007 Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Oro 85 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  Deep, dark color depth, purple and clear. Low to moderate aroma intensity, seemed a bit youthful. Picked up light scents of cedar and cherries, but not much else. Medium body, acids were crisp and fresh. Tannins were on the medium-high side and just a tad dry. Again, not much flavor to be found in this wine. A bit of pepper here, a glimpse of cherry there, some pencil shavings that ... oops, they are gone. Tannin seems to be the 'flavor of the day;' not bad but very one dimensional. Medium to long finish, again, just the stems. 7th place finish for me. Total of 37 points - 4th place finish for the group.

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I nice bottle brought by Brandon.

• 2003 Chateau Ste. Michelle White Riesling Ice Wine Reserve 91 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Brandon served this as a Digestif to the evening's blind Tuscan tasting. Nice sweet aromas of pear and white peach. Nice and thick, very sweet, lovely tastes of Moscato-style peach flavors, just much more intense and viscous. Only down note is it could have probably used a bit more acid to keep the cloying at bay, not that there was much cloying. Nice finish, nice wine.

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Overall consensus is we all enjoyed these wines much better than the Riojas from last month! On the other hand, we all seemed to also agree there was nothing 'special' in these wines. Most were of a similar bent ... Nice aromatics, but weak on the palate ... Strange though that the aromatics were all very different, but the blandness of the palates were remarkably similar. If was hard to distinguish any one wine as better than another ... or worse than another.