Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  2/9/2009 (link)

  (TERRENO Chianti Classico Riserva) Riserva Dear Friends, I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend with friends and family. To begin the week, I have two examples below that would be interesting to serve this year at the same dinner party. If you are looking for value in the young or the mature, each gives a look into a great growing season and both will be enjoyed with aplomb. Quantities of each are small so I am combining them in the same offer: 1997 Terreno Chianti Classico Riserva Terreno's 1997 Riserva will give you an insight into the ageing process of Chianti Classico from a great vintage that produced many memorable examples. Ready to drink, I believe many of you will be enamored by the food-worthy presence of this delicious wine as it gives as much on the nose as it does on the palate and it is fully mature. Aged Chianti Classico can give many of the same highlights as aged Bordeaux with a Tuscan twist of red cherry essence and smoked tobacco from the unique soil composition and preponderance of Sangiovese in this region. Produced near Greve from one of the oldest estates in the region (inhabited since B.C.), the goal of Terreno is traditional expression (with present-day skill) and the whiffs of brick, mushroom and soil remind the taster that we are indeed in central Tuscany - not in Bordeaux. The aromatics combine to provide a delicate foil to the mysterious morello tone of the palate and the overall impression is mature and expressive, especially as an accompaniment to your evening meal). We spend a great deal of time championing a multitude of new releases so it is refreshing to come across a library selection directly from the winery cellar with freshness and provenance intact. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as a mature wine to drink in 2009 (this is not the Lignanello - in 1997 the regular Riserva was better with far less oak). 2006 Icario Rosso di Montepulciano I've watched this property over the last 3-4 years and they are starting to hit their stride. Certainly aided by what is shaping up to be the second coming of 1990 (2006), the base bottling from Icario is what people actually drink in Europe - it gives a window into a new style that combines an element of tradition with a youthful vigor and modern-influence framed by the past (with the philosophy of pleasure in the everyday). This is akin to a winery like Fontodi adhering to a mid-1980's style with updated techniques that allow lighter pressing, less human intervention and more interaction with what nature intended. Don't get me wrong, Emidio Pepe this isn't, but the raw materials are kept pure and vigorous with just enough cooperage to give a more regal presence than a rustic impression of yesteryear. This is also a wine to drink over the next few years as an alternative to Chianti Classico or even Rosso di Montalcino (which has become far too expensive for the relative quality level): (This is the same wine as the US labeled "Rubi delle Pietrose" although the European version "Rosso" appears to have less cooperage) Both are directly from the winery cellar with perfect provenance. Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Italy6888 Italy6889