1997 Tuscans with a pair of interlopers

While July in the city is not the ideal venue for a few bottles of older Italian wine I couldn't afford to fly back to Italy quite yet so it would have to do. For no particular reason i joined a small group of ex-co-workers for a look back at the vaulted 1997 Tuscan vintage with a pair of northern intruders thrown in just for fun. As we all know 1997 was heralded as the second coming on release and i was not immune to the hype. in fact I visited Italy in early 2000 and tasted my way through many of the better "Supers" and they were indeed impressive in their youths. For the most part that was the peak for these wines. They have not aged as well as one would have hoped suffering from highish alcohols and wood abuse, coming as they did from about the peak of barrique usage.

The one saving grace for the wines remains the great concentration of the fruit. Most can easily recall that it was a hot vintage but two significant characteristics framed that heat, the late spring frost that reduced yields and the lack of significant snowfall during the preceding winter that caused the vines to seek out deep reserves of water during the drier periods of the year. There was some rainfall now and again and it seemed to come just as needed to prevent the vines from suffering too much hydric stress but limited the natural tendencies of the vines to produce big, plump grapes. The resultant fruit was dark, ripe and concentrated with ripe, balanced tannins and good acids. Many wines of the vintage continue to exhibit these fine qualities while some, particularly wines coming from warmer regions, have taken on pruny, roasted qualities and the heavy handed winemaking style of the period has resulted in some wines emerging as a bit clumsy. It was easy to like these wines in their youths as the incredible fruit levels hid or balanced the excessive use of wood or toast but with time the elegance of Sangiovese, it's bright visceral appeal has been squashed.

While this is frequently touted as a vintage of the century etc, I find that 1997 doesn't even make my top three for the decade, which I would rate as 1999,1990,1995. But just barely as I prefer 1995 stylistically to 1990 but the extra five years of bottle age puts 1990 in the lead for the moment. To each his own i would suggest. I don't buy much "Super" Sangiovese anymore save Percarlo and Le Pergole Torte though I continue to buy Chianti and Rosso di Montalcino.

As I have been drinking through the wines from the great vintages past I have found that the shifts in winemaking, the "revolution" of the late 80's through the present have not produced wines that outclassed the greats of the past. 1985 remains in many ways the true benchmark vintage for Tuscany. Alas I am down to just a handful of bottle but those wines all reveled in their immutable Sangioveseness. 1988 was certainly one of the greatest vintages for Tuscany but even then the shift had begun. Tasting wines from 1999,2001,2004 I do notice a return to a less manipulated style in many places but for me the addition of certain grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon in particular, fundamentally changes these wines and in particular the way they age.

I will have to wait and see how things pan out, these 1997's should be just at the beginning of their drinking windows as i prefer Sangiovese between the ages of 10-20 years for the most part. To me they seem a bit more evolved than that, perhaps they have sacrificed some longevity for earlier appeal, nothing wrong with that. These remain fun wines, delicious wines, and I continue to believe that Sangiovese is the most food friendly grape on the planet, I just wish that producers would try a little less to compete on a world's stage and focus a bit more on what is in their own backyard. For the most part that is happening and not a moment too soon. Too much babbling so onto the show!

Ok so the Gagliole has a dollop of Cabernet in it, so sue sme. it has always shown so well, pure and airy that I felt it was an appropriate match for the Sangioveto. An interesting pair sharing alot of the same character but while the Gagliole came off as elegant and fresh the Sangioveto seemed a bit forced and extracted. It was certainly the bigger wine but lacked the finesse that makes Gagliole so appealing.

• 1997 Badia a Coltibuono Sangioveto di Toscana 88 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Quite pale and delicate rubino color. This opened with a very earthy, fumy nose that showed some raw wood, sweet vanillin, meat and roast herbs, in the mouth it showed an elegant side if a touch chunky with a adequate structure that turned a bit aggressive in the mouth with a bitter/sweet character that played off the earthy core of fruit, very dry in the mouth with a short, rusty finish featuring astringent sour cherry pit fruit. With dinner this showed a bit better featuring a limestony, salty note on the nose and offering up a round core of fruit that had those aggressive tannins popping out like the points on a sprocket. This has good weight in the mouth with a slight chewiness to the earth, sweet baked fruit notes but screams out for food. 2008-2016

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• 1997 Gagliole Rosso 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

  With it's darker, richer ruby coloring one would expect this to be much more intense than the Sangioveto, fortunately not. This opened with a lightly oaky note, a touch toasty and nutty with an underlay of fresh mossy greeness and a hint of spicy white pepper. In the mouth this was elegant with excellent balance, still youthfull with solid acidity and a nice bed of tannins which where just a touch drying. Fruity on the atack and through the mouth with notes of roast sour cherry and red currant gaining a bit of depth with hints of oystershell and dried mace before transitioning into a tight, focused finish with some grape pip astringensy, fine length, and a lightly smoky, light raspberry finale. With dinner this gained rusty and talcy notes on the nose over a base of of roasted cherry fruit and top notes of flowers and tobacco. In the mouth this offered up a pure core of fruit with fine acid balance, really lovely and bordering on zesty with a return to almost sweetness, fine interplay. A bit lighter bodied than most but with a fine tobacco and spice finish with a raw, bitter almond finale. This may be faulted for lacking a bit of power or complexity but is really very fine Sangiovese and I could drink this almost everyday. 2008-2014

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I know that this analogy is beaten to death but I find it very appropriate for this style of Sangiovese. It sucked that the Flaccianello was corked since this pairing, with the Fontalloro, is one of the most interesting comparisons of the vintage. I love both of these wines and they stand as testaments to Sangiovese ability to meld with modern winemaking styles and the intelligent use of barrique. While these are impressive, deep wines I still would prefer the Gagliole as an everyday drinker, mostly based on its food pairing ability and easy, fresh style.

• 1997 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Fontalloro 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  This opens immediately with a very fine nose, complex and balanced with a bit of wood but integrated with lots of liquory fruit, smokey and a touch gamey, excellent aromatics. In the mouth this is round and lush with good acid and very fine tannic structure, a classic medium weight mouthfeel, like a kite in the mouth with tannin and acid spars supporting a billowing. airy fruit. Dark berry notes dominate the midpalate but there are interesting forest floor and porcini notes that add interest and a bit of toasted hazelnut on the backend which is joined by bright bitter cherry fruit and a touch of espresso foam. Finish is elegant and layered with solid length to the wild berry fruit notes. With dinner the nose turns earthier with dark spicy fruit and gentle spice notes, the acid becomes a touch more prominent giving the wine a juicy feel with a candied apple fruitiness, touch of green apple in fact and a lovely insinuation of dried funghi leads to the long, slightly grippy finish. A very complete wine that is still youthful but show excellent concentraton without being clumsy, very fine equilibrium bodes well for further positive development, compelling and engaging. 2008-2018

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• 1997 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT Flawed

  Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

  Sadly corked

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Ok so here are the poster girls for tarted up "Super Tuscans". Too much winemaking and too little Tuscanality. I loved these wines on release, I don't know which has changed more, my palate or these wines but I suspect the wines. While both made for good drinking they lacked finesse and were a bit indistinct. I guess typicity would be a difficult word to use here since one could validly ask what typicity a 50/50 Sangiovese/Merlot is expected to show, or for that matter a 75/20/5 Sangiovese/Cabernet/Syrah, but these wines did not have the appeal of the preceding wines and were just a bit dull and anonymous.

• 1997 Marchesi Mazzei Castello di Fonterutoli Siepi Toscana IGT 87 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  With it's more opaque color and bronzing rim this even looks different than the preceding wines. opening with an intensely spicy character this retains some of the more familiar Sangiovese notes of earth, tobbaco and spice while addin a bit of stewy fruit and cocoa like tones with nuanced black pepper and deep roast meat notes. The wood here is a bit heavy still and comes off as resinous. In the mouth this is easy with soft tannins and ok acids but a touch hollow in the middle. Darker cocoa, earth, plum and vanilla doominate the palate with good intensity, not terribly complex but fun and easy with a clear, crisp finish that continues the cocoa theme and ends on a green melon rind finale. With dinner the nose offers up pruny fruit with great hints of black pepper and dried porcini over a base of roast green tomato/tomatillo, still a bit oaky. In the mouth the wine is big and fudgy, a bit hot and a bit clumsy but like your favorite 5 year old nephew still lovable. The plum and cocoa core of fruit adds an herbal flourish before leading into the shortish finish. A crowd pleaser to be sure but this wine has never been better than it was on release when the Sangiovese and merlot were in harmony. It has turned into a rather decent Italian merlot more than anything. 2008-2012

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• 1997 Moris Farms Maremma Toscana Avvoltore 86 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Maremma, Maremma Toscana

  This remains dark ruby and bright in the glass. The nose offers up great intensity to the roasty, toasty, coffee, oaky notes hat begin to yield to some dried herbal tones. Smells white oaky, maybe even a barrel or two of American oak in here? Lighter bodied in the mouth with a sweet core of fruit without heaviness, ok structure but the whole package is a bit indistinct in the mouth. The fruit is dark mulberry toned with a touch of pomegranate and dark mineral and toast notes on the feathery edges which leads into a short finish. With dinner the nose is a bit stinky with a lactic quality, meaty, vanillin tinged, tobacco and cigar box note compete for dominance while in the mouth big cherry fruit surges upfront then yields to sour berry and red currant tones on the mid-palate before receding on the long, smoky finish. An interesting wine with a somewhat simple fruit/oak interplay. Doesn't really grab me and I can't say that this shows and particular Italianess. 2008-2012

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Just for contrast I threw in this pair of Northern interlopers. The Granato disappointed and i love Teroldego, the Steinraffler was simply firing on all cylinders giving everything it had this night. The granato suffered from excess wood, teroldego can be an impressive wine but the flavor impact, particularly the unique minerality is too easily obscured. In my experience it is a wine not particularly suited to obvious use of wood. The Lagrein on the other hand melded with the wood exceptionally well and was a big surprise as i recall this wine from it's youth with a big, spashy overlay of toasty oak that seemed so obvious. I'm glad I was intrigued enough to buy a few additional bottles!

• 1997 Foradori Granato 87 Points

  Italy, Trentino Alto-Adige / Veneto, Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT

  While remaining dark this no longer is opaque. This opens with a smoky, gamy nose full of spicy wood tones over roasted raspberry fruit with a green fennel seed edge. Made in a weighty Medium bodied style this feels slick and polished with decent structure supporting the chewy fruit. Offering up bitter, dark berried fruit in the mouth with notes of whiskey cream, earth and stones this gains a bit of elegance and turns to dark currant tones and chocolate milk on the back end leading to a medium length finish with teroldego struggling to break through the wood tones. With dinner this remains smoky with charcoal mineral tones over a base of meaty fruit with the green fennel note gaining in intensity. Precise in the mouth with fine tannins and good acids this turns out to be a touch indistinct with it's monotonous dark fruit. The edgy Teroldego quality is lurking deep inside and blossoms for a few moments here and there but never is fully revealed. I do not think this is the best style for Teroldego but it is a solid wine. Time will tell if the fruit ever truly emerges. 2008- 2015

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• 1997 J. Hofstätter Lagrein Steinraffler 94 Points

  Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige, Alto Adige - Südtirol

  dark and bricky in color this looks older than the other wines. Effusive on the nose with deep notes of old wood, underbrush, gamy, prosciutto, wild boar meat, fruit tones of pear and apricot then a touch of cigar ash and mint this is compelling on the nose with a wild array of aromatics. In the mouth this is nice and bright with great transparency to the elegant, midweight body that offeres up evolved notes of dried herbs, dried cherry fruit, a touch of vanillin a hint of tobacco, a touch of tea and dry, grey mineral tones on the midpalate. A bit angular on the finish with a touch of mouthgrab though long and pure with mineral tinged wild berry notes and a finale with fleshy peach tones. With dinner the nose had settled into a fine gamy, tobacco driven groove with a base of cigar box spice and recalled a funky old bordeax, a bit Gruaud like. It gained a bit of richness in the mouth with lots of soft tannins supporting the beautiful dark fruit and while some of the earlier complexity was gone the fine balance and elegant texture of the wine kept this compelling. Absolutely at peak though note likely to remain there for much longer this was my WOTN! 2008-2011

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Well that was it. The Gagliole remains a favorite of mine, great crisp fruit, elegant, lithe and pure, just what i want in Sangiovese. The Fontalloro was a resounding success in a much more muscular style but with great complexity. It really needs a big, thick steak glistening in EVOO to shine but that can be arranged! The 2 more made-up wines, Siepi and Avvoltore faired less well, unfortunately as i thoroughly enjoyed both of these wines on release. I was disappointed with the Granato but I am not aware of anyone else making the moves I alluded to in my preamble with greater focus than Elisabetta Foradori. I look forward to seeing the progress made in the future with this fine grapes. And finally I can only kick myself for not buying more Steinraffler, a superb bottle of wine that has aged so well, absorbing the oak that was a little off-putting in its youth and integrating into a complete package. I hope I have another bottle! If not there is always more wine...