July 16, 2014 - Little nose; some cherry with soft texture; light finish.
September 30, 2012 - Earthy and soft with light cherry-blackberry; earthy on the palate; light acidity and tannins.
August 24, 2012 - Cork breaks up; light fruit; little body.
July 28, 2010 - Deep rich opulent cocoa blackberry cherry; rich sweet tannins.
June 28, 2009 - Cork in bad shape; musty some eart and some cherry.
March 27, 2008 - 95 point nose, with strawberry, oak, slight mint & eucalyptus aromas I was excited to try it for the first time in 13 months.
Unfortunately, there's way too much grip from the mid palate all the way through to the almost non-existent finish. Although I do think that another six months to a year will possibly cure these ills.
I decanted for a few hours & even though I filtered the wine there was still a bit of sediment that found its way into my glass.
Paired well with pan seared filet mignon steaks, dry rubbed, cooked in a white vinegar reduction sauce.
February 24, 2007 - I went against my gut & opened another. This wine's ready to shutdown. I decanted this one for over ten hours & it never reached the same level as the 1st bottle which took only two hours to open. It didn't even reach the mediocre level of the 2nd bottle which took over eight hours for it to open up, but not fully. I'll let my other three bottles sit for a couple of years.
December 31, 2006 - Not as good as the previous two. I'll hold off for six months to a year before opening another.
November 26, 2006 - This bottle took almost 5 hours to open up. Compared with the previous bottle that took only 2 hours. However it was worth the wait. waves of chocolate & fruit in the mouth, and a fantastic finish.
October 5, 2006 - Masciarelli Montepulciano D`Abruzzo Villa Gemma Riserva is one of the finest wines out there. This highly appoachable '99 is drinking beautifully right now & if you have the opportunity to stock up on it do so, as it will keep for at least 10 more years IMO. Ruby in color with berry flavors that open up beautifully well after two hours of decanting. The wife & I had it with porterhouse steaks, but a wine this big will match well with most any red meat. I'm tempted to try it with porkchops with a spicy dry rub, just to shake things up a little.