Brunello di Montalcino at Otto

Elsa and I met Edmund, Shuming and Fu Wei to celebrate Fu Wei's ORD. It turned out to be surprise treat for my birthday as well. Thanks Edmund and Shuming! It was all rather impromptu - we were supposed to be at Oso with some French wines. On the way there, we decided to switch themes and do a Brunello thingy to go with the food instead. Unfortunately, Oso was so full that they had to put us on the verenda on a steamy, tropical night. We decamped to Otto instead and, by luck, had a meal cooked by a guest chef who was visiting as part of the World Gourmet Summit. I must say it was by far the best meal I have ever had there - really, really good stuff. Great stemware too - they provided us with decanters and four glasses each, coloured stickers and all, so we could have the wines side by side. We shared every bottle with the chefs and the maitre'd - corkage was either waived or they forgot to charge us for it.

The menu:

Sliced blue fin tuna belly with herbs and rocket salad
Pan roasted foie gras with warm asparagus salad, port and licorice reduction
Homemade squid ink raviolini with Dungeness crab and rosemary
Warm Boston lobster salad with tomato, Tropeca red onion, capers and potato dressed with lemon and extra virgin olive oil
Crispy suckling pig lacquered with 'black locust' honey and aged balsamic vinegar
White chocolate and Nonino grappa terrine with Isabella grape sorbet

• 2000 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A little tight one first pour, this opened up really quickly in the decanter, hit its sweet spot in about an hour and then started declining after about another half hour at its peak. A bit disappointing on that count, but otherwise a thoroughly compelling wine. Interesting halfway house between the very modern 2000 Gaja BdM and the traditionally styled 1999 Poggio di Sotto Riserva. At first, the nose showed a little metallic and alcohol-laden. This blew off really quickly thankfully, and we started getting complex, layered notes of cherry, mushroom, iodine and tons of minerals - all with a lovely, refined high-tone. After time, some licorice, bramble, dried woody bushes, pepper, dried bay leaves and oregano started coming to the fore, and then funky boiled vegetables accents and, towards the end of the night, some mocha and smoke. Lovely. The palate was also rather tight at first, with lovely fresh acidity and tight, but super-fine and ripe tannins being the most obvious thing on the attack. Again, with time, it really unfurled and opened up to show rich, plush cherries, blackcurrants and plums, all undergirded by a fine, minerally backbone. Very stately and quite, quite wonderful. And the wine just kept developing. Over the evening, we started getting a really pure expression sappy cherries on the midpalate and, at some point, savoury umami notes moving into the finish, which was long, fine, focused and wonderfully persistent. Pity that it started shutting down, leaving just a sense of tannin and acid along with a thin vein of cherry towards the last glass. While this wine can easily go on for a good few years, I do not think that is going to be the longest lived Soldera. Still, a brilliant wine in every sense.

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• 2000 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino Rennina 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Drinking much, much better now than the last time I tried it - this was good enough to stand shoulder and shoulder next to a 2000 Soldera Riserva and a 1999 Poggio di Sotto Riserva, which is saying a lot. Very different in style at first - the Gaja was much more modern, with clear barrique influence showing in butterscotch and vanilla tones on the nose, which weaved in and out of fennel notes, accents of licorice, menthol and orange peel and very plush dark fruit spiked with some alcohol fumes. All very sweet and lush, almost OTT. With time though, the three Brunellos started converging. Although the butterscotchy notes came out every now and then, it toned down significantly. The alcohol died away as well, leaving more classic notes of dark cherries, currants, and smoky wood spice along with a lovely weighty savouriness - almost chicken stock like. Really lush on the palate. Tight, powdery tannins with an almost rubbery grip were noticeable under the plush exterior at first, but that integrated nicely with time in the decanter, leaving the wine very lush and polished, but still with a nice posture. Lovely balance overall, with structure, good acidity and lots of power and fruit - dark cherries, rich, sappy blackcurrants, raspberry, plums and high-toned orange peel, all evolving with time. Good long finish, with plenty of power and a touch of menthol and smoke at the end. While the Soldera started fading after a couple of hours, this just kept on going through the night. Perhaps a little clumsier than the almost sculpted structure of the Soldera, but very impressive.

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• 1999 Fattoria Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Beautiful - a whole different level from the non-Riserva from the same vintage. Not quite as powerful or lush as the 2000 Gaja Renina or the 2000 Soldera that we had alongside which were from a hotter vintage, but more than made up for it with sheer charm and beauty. Much more traditional in style, the nose on this wine showed mushroom, truffle, earth, and dusky mineral along with clean dark fruit accents. Very, very nice when we first poured, and it kept getting better and better with time in the decanter, with a touch of flowers, cherries and red fruits coming out. Super-attractive, yet somehow seeming more restrained and controlled than the other two wines. Much the same on the palate - it started out nice, with lots of fresh acid and some chewy tannins along with a nice seam of cherry fruit, but really hit its stride after some air. It attacked with power at first, but went a little belly-up after the midpalate. But after half an hour or so, the empty spaces filled up with lovely, crystalline cherry fruit, raspberries, plums and more flowers along with a faint hint of herbs. Plenty of complexity, good sense of structure, yet always lithe and elegant with a nice sense of fresh liveliness and nervosity running through its spine. The finish was not as power-packed as the other two reds, but it grew to be almost as long - with red fruit notes wafting around the mouth and lingering beautifully. A super-charming wine and absolutely enjoyable, this has the structure to age for a really long time to come. My favourite of the night by a whisker.

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• 1997 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 93 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Cape Peninsula, Constantia

  Very good, but a little disappointing after having recently had the stupendous 1999. Beautiful orangey amber hue, almost glowingly so. Nose opened with very South African burnt rubber notes. It took awhile to get past that to the apricots, figs, honey and flowers - very rich and lush. The palate had a thick, syrupy texture. Again, tons of richness, but so nicely balanced out with fresh acidity. I got layered, complex flavours of orange zest, musky, dusky earth tones, tobacco, ash and pure cherry fruit along with brown sugar, liquified flowers and a mushroomy undertone, all beautifully integratedFinish was rather shorter than the 1999, but still good, with an interesting spicy touch at the end. This went very nicely with the foie gras and even better with the desert. I just had a slight problem with the rubberiness - have saved some in the fridge, hopefully that will go away by day 2.

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