Community Tasting Note
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Sir Galahad wrote: 96 points
August 21, 2013 - Color: Dark ruby-red and rust orange edges.
Nose: After more than three hours of decanting, the wine finally opens itself and a very subtle and very complex fragrance slowly leaves the glass. Incredibly elegant and very subtle nose and I notice cinnamon, lavender, some dry red flowers, subtle feminine perfumes, notes of leather, warm herbs, balsamic notes, fir-needle, shale stone, some tar, earth and very fine tuned limestone minerals. A great complex, broad-spanning and delicate nose!
Taste: A mid palate of dark cherry, preserved dry raspberry, sourish blackberry, some saline mushrooms, truffle, some tar, a little savory, iron, limestone minerals, plenty of earthy notes and hazelnut. Tannins are thick, chewy and solid in the end as expected from this site, but not harsh or heavy, and they are elegantly building the structure to the long finish here. They are unexpectedly already approachable, polished and of high quality, no doubt. Very good concentration, texture is great and the wine is mouth-filling without any weighting power and structure is actually slimmer than expected. High complexity and quite deep aromas too. Even though the acidity still is just a little gnarly, you can feel its quality in just a few years. Even more so, the acidity and tannins are already dancing together and all is very balanced, complex and elegant indeed.
Open the 2005 now but I think it is probably even better to open it 2016-2030 to let the acidity calm down just a little more. If you open it earlier make sure to air it in a decanter for at least four hours, but follow the wine. If you do, you are rewarded as it starts up by firing off Christmas spices like cardamom, clove and cinnamon after two hours and then changing again to a more subtle and versatile fragrance. Yes, this is great with its complexity, remarkable balance and with unexpected level of elegance! A fantastic work done by the Massolino brothers!2 people found this helpful 4,010 views