Boerne Wine Club - Italy
Scenic Loop Cafe, San Antonio, TX
Tasted December 19, 2009 by Nutty08 with 1,011 views
Introduction
A phenomenal turnout just before the holidays. Thanks everyone for making it another successful event. We had a wide range of Italian wines, with a great representation of the Sangiovese grape from multiple regions, and a Barolo and Amarone to round things out.
My notes are below. As always, these are nothing more than my opinion and experience of the wines, nothing more. I put this together more for my own recollection, but the great things about wine is that there are a great diversity of opinion, and no one is wrong. The list below is linked to Cellartracker, which usually has pictures and prices of the wines and so is a great resource to look for that wine you liked but didn’t write down. I don't think any of these wines are difficult to fine, and you should be able to find them around town.
Flight 1 (15 notes)
White
2008 Tiefenbrunner Pinot Bianco
Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige, Alto Adige - Südtirol
Light citrus pineapple nose. Palate slightly sweet with a little residual sugar. Crisp and simple, with a short finish, but pleasant and refreshing.
White
2006 Giuseppe Quintarelli Bianco Secco Cà del Merlo
Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT
Lush warm nose. Dry slightly bitter palate, with a distinct mineral/slate background with a crisp finish. Nice, though I think this suffer from the residual sugar of the Pinot Bianco for me and would otherwise not taste bitter.
Red
2007 Cantine Colosi Nero d'Avola
Italy, Sicily, Sicilia
An herbal earthy nose. Warm dense dark fruit profile with wild berries and blackberry. Quite fruit forward with a pleasant wild berry finish.
Red
2003 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Fontalloro
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Focus cherry and berry nose. Lush palate with strong acidic and sour cherry note. Good finish of stones and sour cherry, seemed a little tight, but unsure if this will add complexity.
Red
2005 Petra Zingari Toscana IGT
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Fruity nose, with an interesting off putting well-water note, but the paate had clean fruit with cherry and raspberry, and a little herbal note for added complexity. medium finish. An interesting wine that stood out from the rest.
Red
2003 Ruffino Modus Toscana IGT
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Open aromatic nose with great complexity--hints of cherry, herbal notes, and fresh sea air. Sour cherry palate with layers of raspberry and a hint of leather. lengthy finish that adds a stony character. Great complexity with a focused palate of a young wine that hints of added complexity with age.
Red
2006 Querciabella Chianti Classico
Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG
Shy sour cherry nose. Acidic palate without being harsh. Solid red fruits, mostly cherry. Medium finish with a little stone and earth. overall solid and balanced with a fine tannic grip. Listed in Wine Spectator's 2008 top 100 wines of the year.
Red
2001 Castello di Gabbiano Alleanza Toscana IGT
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Full aromatic nose with leathery undertones and dark berries. Palate was mostly dark fruits, with blackberries and some cherry highlights with fine dry tannins. lengthy berry finish that was slightly austere but remained in balance. Quite good, possibly at peak, as I think the fruit will fade before it loses it's austerity.
Red
1997 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Wow, what a change in style. Big leathery nose with stewed fruits, lots of complexity. Full throttle palate, with layers od dense reduced fruit. Really hangs on with an impressive lengthy finish. Wish I spent more time with this. My WOTN.
Red
2003 Dezzani Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Our only representation of Barolo, and it was just too young. Closed nose that really wasn't giving much. Sour cherry well structured palate that became backwards and unforgiving on the backend. Some really nice red fruit peaking out. Has great density and purity, really hinting at a bright future but isn't really for prime time just yet. Hold 5+ years. Score on current enjoyment.
Red
2006 Robert Biale Barbera Gaudi Carli
USA, California, Napa Valley
I can see the Italian influence, though was a California wine through and through. leathery dense nose with gobs of ripe fruit. Round dense fruit--notably missing the strong acidity of the Italian wines--but was an enjoyable change for me. nice lengthy fruity finish. Ripe and fruit forward, but restrained for Cali.
Closing
Final Ranking:
Alleanza
Allegrini Amarone
Quercibella
Dezzani
Biale
Fotalloro
Quercerto
Palazzo
Rollone
Colosi
Zingari
Ruffino Modus
Quintarelli
Centina Zaccaghini
Santa Margarita
Chiarello
Whites:
Tietenbranner
Quintarelli
The giveaway bottle of the night was a 2000 Château Lafon-Rochet
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