SOBER (fka TWITS) Tasting
My place
Tasted November 28, 2006 by trankin with 732 views
Introduction
Well, it was my turn to host SOBER. While I originally thought about doing just a barolo evening, I decided instead to do 3 quite different flights - a flight of mature barolo, a flight of brunellos, and to do something entirely different for this group, a flight of Aussies.
We started with the Deutz. I had basically no expectations for this wine - due to lack of knowledge - but WOW! This was just a gorgeous wine. Kept coming back to it. And it was just as amazing every time. Really holding up beautifully - actually it's shining, not just holding up.
The barolo flight was somewhat disappointing to me - not just a corked wine that seemed like it would have been beautiful, but also a disappointment for something I've had before and loved. And the WOTF wasn't all it could have been.
But the Brunello flight was wonderful. That Sassetti is the real deal!
The barolo's were opened around 3pm, and then decanted for about an hour prior to serving around 7:30, the 90 brunellos were decanted for about 2 hours, the Sassetti for about 3, and the Aussies for about 2.
The barolos were served with an assortment of Italian cheeses and mushroom and stilton quesadillas. The brunellos were served with a Stracotto and mushroom risotto.
Flight 1 - A starter (1 note)
White - Sparkling
1975 Deutz Champagne Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne
From magnum. Gorgeous nose, slightly bready, but very clean. Lovely minerality and dry fruit. On the palate, this is clean, vibrant, and lovely. Can't quite place the flavors on the palate, but it's wonderful. For some, this was the WOTN. For me, this is probably third.
Flight 2 - Mature Baroli (3 notes)
Red
1961 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Nose of cedar and soy. Rather simple, cherry, a bit of a disappointment. Clean and nice, and extremely young for a 45 year old wine, but really not complex in any way, and clearly not a great bottle of wine. This was a library release purchased recently. JG thought that part of the issue may have been travel shock. His advice is to wait at least a year after any real movement of a bottle of barolo this old.
Red
1971 Giuseppe Contratto Barolo Riserva
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
CORKED!!! Which is a real disappointment, because based on what could be discerned beyond the TCA, this may very well have been the WOTF. Some interesting wild things going on back there.
Flight 3 - 1990 & 1997 Brunellos (3 notes)
Red
1990 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Nose of red and purple fruits, with nice minerality. On the palate, more excellent dark fuit, though somewhat redder fruit compared with the Rennina. Again, an excellent wine, slightly more elegant, but somewhat less complex. A bit of something like a limestone. This is moving into its prime window based on this bottle.
Red
1997 Pertimali (Livio Sassetti) Brunello di Montalcino
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Nose of tar, dark fruit, tree bark, and coffee. Really opens up over time. On the palate, gorgeous red and black berries. Still slightly tannic but beginning to open up nicely. Needs more time, but this is already gorgeous and will undoubtedly improve from here.
Flight 4 - A Couple of Aussies (2 notes)
Red
1991 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Nose of serious coffee, dried roses, and a touch of chocolate. On the palate, serious red and dark fruit, a ton of minerality - slate, gravel, liquid tar. Very nice. I think I'm the only one who liked this better than the Grange.
Red
1992 Penfolds Grange
Australia, South Australia
Nose of buttered popcorn, evolving to dark fruits and gravelly notes. Lovely, elegant wine, despite the fact this is huge. Big blackberries. Tough to put this after those lovely Italians, but this is a beautiful wine. Should have given this several more hours in the decanter (this was decanted about 2.5 hours) and/or several more years in the bottle. Will continue to improve for several more years. Gave this a 93 at this point.
Vacu-vinned and finished the last glass 2 days later...OH MY!!! This Grange is gorgeous tonight!!! Really settled down nicely. Wonderful minerality and the fruit is still going strong. The blueberries are so much darker and less bright blue. Definitely give this another 5-10 years in the bottle. This is easy 94 points, maybe more.
Closing
It was fun to throw the group for a loop with the Aussie's. A pity they didn't show better. I really should have decanted them longer - the Grange a couple days later was just awesome. Live and learn I guess.
Anyway - another really fun night.
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