1997 Tenuta Le Velette Umbria Calanco

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 92 points

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  10/26/2021 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  The bottle was opened and slow-oxed for three and half hours prior to the tasting, then aerated in a decanter for about 20 minutes. A blend of Sangiovese (65%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (35%), aged for 10 months in French oak barriques. 13% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Quite deep, dark and only very slightly translucent blackish-red color with a hint of evolved pomegranate hue. Quite brooding and somewhat sweetish nose with dark-toned aromas of dark plums and juicy black cherries, some lifted, cool notes of minty herbal character, light toasty notes of dark chocolate and cacao nibs, a little bit of cassis and a mature hint of old, dry leather. The wine is quite ripe and moderately full-bodied with vibrant, dry flavors of redcurrants, crunchy cranberries and some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of dark plummy fruit, light tobacco notes, a savory hint of woody oak spice and toasty touch of cocoa. The overall feel is impressively structured and rather tightly-knit, thanks to the high acidity and ample, quite textural and moderately grippy tannins. The finish is quite long, moderately grippy and rather ripe with savory flavors of juicy blackcurrants, some sour cherry bitterness, light leathery notes, a little bit of toasty oak spice, a hint of gravelly minerality and a touch of tobacco.
  
  This was an interesting wine, tasted blind among similarly aged Bordeaux reds; the style was surprisingly Bordelais, not in small part due to the Cabernet component cutting nicely through the Sangiovese portion, but the wine still had a somewhat Italian feel to it. Compared to the true Bordeaux wines, this wine felt slightly sunnier and more ripe in fruit, yet the wine showed also at least as much acidity as any Bordeaux red with perhaps even more pronounced tannic structure. Perhaps the sour cherry component that lent a little bit of bitterness not that typical for a Bordeaux was what set this wine apart from the other wines - and even then my initial guess was that this was a Left Bank red from a warmer vintage, perhaps 2000 or 2001. All in all, a very nicely crafted Super-Umbrian that is drinking really nicely right now and will keep for many years more. At mere 8€ this is an epitome of bargain.

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