NJ Supper Club December Dinner

9 folks got together to have a dinner in Jersey. The theme was any Italian wines without Sangiovese. The exception is a German Riesling bought for a significant other who only drinks Riesling.

We had all the wines together, so there werent flights per-se, but I always feel I need to separate the notes.

• NV Berlucchi Guido Franciacorta Brut '61 86 Points

  Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG

  Nice light brioche, muted fruit on nose. Nice Mousse with very strong minerality, chalky. Medium body, good acidity. Just not my style, was just missing some complexity and fruit. Maybe needs some time to develop the complexity.

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• 2017 Abbazia di Novacella (Stiftskellerei Neustift) Kerner 90 Points

  Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige, Valle Isarco / Eisacktaler

  Gorgeous nose. Very gewurtz-like aromatic nose. Light body, great acidity (but not over the top). Lithe wine, great foil against heavier wines, with great white fruits and superbly balanced. Will seek this out in the future.

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• 2015 Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca 87 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Soave Classico

  Muted nose, Taste had honey notes, linear, light body, solid acidity. A touch sour on the finish. Overall, I wasn't super impressed. However, this may have suffered against bigger wines and food at the dinner.

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• 2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Only non-italian white in the lineup (for a SO who only drinks riesling), and it blew all the Italian whites out of the water. Honestly, it was close to my wine of the night against the reds.
  
  Amazingly rich, concentrated and sharp nose. Medium body, with a great balance of sweet, acid, and complex fruits. Even a hint of mint there. Really long finish. Just a really great wine hitting its stride.

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I included the Radikon as it drinks and pairs more like a red wine.

• 2001 Radikon Oslavje 92 Points

  Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT

  Beautiful nose of orange peel, some molasses, a touch of funk. Light sweet brown sugar, apple, light orange, some bitter hints, and mint. Really fresh, light structure and good acidity. Not a huge hit for most at the tasting. I figured it would be polarizing.

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• 2000 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 92 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Wonderful nose, some heat but not as much as expected. Tasting: red fruit, light raisin, some savory meat/blood balanced with the sweet fruit. As it was opened, started to get some nice earthy notes. Nicely complex, just starting to get tertiary maturity. Loved the fact that this was a medium body wine and not heavy. After opened for a while, it got some slightly fig and raisony notes. No real heat with solid acidity. Probably 8-15 years left in this one.

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• 1998 Arnaldo-Caprai Montefalco Sagrantino 25 Anni 93 Points

  Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Sagrantino

  This bottle was more more evolved than the one I had in 2016. Nose was big black fruits, with some dusty hints and a fair amount of heat. As this opened up over 6 hrs, we got more earthy notes. Again, had more tertiary notes than before with sweet black fruits, leather, earth. Big burly tannins still gave alot of structure with moderate acidity. Quite nice. Still plenty of time, but this bottle gave me pause. I'm not sure the fruit will outlast the tannins. Drink by 2040

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• 2009 Giovanni Chiappini Bolgheri Superiore Guado de' Gemoli 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore

  Big burly nose of red/black fruits, with cedar, cassis, vanilla, etc. Would have called this a modern left bank Bordeaux 99% of the time. Heavy bodied, medium tannins, low acid. Taste was similar to the nose with mostly black/blue fruits, slightly monolithic, with a slightly unpleasant sour note. Just not my style of wine. This will go 10 more years, but more than that is questionable

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• 2004 Gaja Langhe Sito Moresco 90 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC

  I felt the nose was a bit closed, just some black fruits, without alot of nebbiolo expression. Dominated by the contamination of international varieties... err sorry, my bias is showing. Anyways, I didnt get any of the things Cranburgundy got at the same dinner. I felt this was a still pretty tannic, young, only some generic red/black fruit showing. Needs more time to add complexity.

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• 2005 Castello del Terriccio Lupicaia 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  nose had some dirt, red/black fruits, some light minty hints with a touch of heat. Medium body, medium tannins, good acidity. Still pretty primary. Smooth and complex fruits, nice greenness, elegant. Weak vintage, but this is a quite a nice wine and should only get better over 5-10 years.

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Overall, there were a bunch of very nice wines. The overall table favorite was the Sito Moresco. I, of course, have to be different. My favs were:

Reds
1. 2005 Castello del Terriccio Lupicaia
2. 1998 Analdo Caprai Sangrantino di Montifalco 25 Anni

Whites:
1. JJ Prum Spatlese
2. Radikon

Although I scored the Radikon same as the JJ Prum, I simply found the JJ Prum more enjoyable and drinkable. I think Radikon is a very impressive wine.... for like 1 glass.

It was a great dinner and it was fantastic meeting everyone! Look forward to more of these.