Calderara Sottana remains my favourite Terre Nere cuvee. Drinking perfectly at this age with the right balance of fruit, ash and sous bois. Sadly I think this was my last bottle as it is much more complete than the Guardiolas and Feudo di Mezzos that I still have. Looking forward to the few more recent vintages incoming from auction (although pricing was unfortunately not as ridiculous as the frankly mispriced $55 SGD for this).
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This showed far better than my last magnum over 2 years ago - at the time I feared it was going over the hill, but I was wrong - this bottle had really nice fruit and impeccable balance.
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From magnum. Color is starting to turn fairly tawny. The wine is lively but starting to lose a lot of primary fruit. Once our food came out, the wine started to shine. Very reminiscent of burgundy.
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Appearance - Clear but A duller dark ruby. More of a brown tinge to it. Rim is clear.
Nose - getting dark fruit but definitely noticing alcohol. Nose hair singe rubbing alcohol. Black licorice. The bottle has been open for a few hours and I suspect the fruit has fallen off a bit. Initially the nose was more enticing.
Palate - black fruits. Getting plums, BlackBerry, compote. Acidity is medium. Alcohol feels medium plus. Palate tingles. Tannins are medium maybe even medium plus and they linger. There is an ashiness lingering on palate. Body is medium plus. I feel like it’s the acidity that keeps it going. The fruit is there, not old, but not vibrant. I wouldn’t call this youthful, but I can’t really pick out notes that tell me it’s developing. I do feel like the wine has seen better days, it’s on the decline, but it’s still very drinkable, tastes better with food, even cheese, than just sipping on its own. Peppery on finish. It doesn’t exactly feel balanced to me, alcohol predominating.
Still interesting but I suspect it’s time for younger versions.
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Nose - medium minus intensity. Getting floral notes. Red fruit. Some red cherry but more raspberry and strawberry. The wine is cold but the aromas are fairly muted.
Palate - medium plus to high intensity on palate (especially as compared to nose). Fruit and black pepper. That’s what I get. Ripe red and black fruits. Getting blackberry and some plum. Feels alive and tingly on mid palate. Tannins come out after you take your swallow. And you feel the cedar tingle on your gums. Tastes refreshing and juicy. Alchohol feels medium. Minerality. Feels crisp on palate. Acidity is medium. Body is medium. There is a bitterness on finish that I’m not loving right now. Not really stemminess but not sure what it is?
Nose is opening up somewhat. There is a sour cherry vs sweet cherry I’m getting. Picking up some vanilla extract and the usual baking spices.
Enjoying it but maybe not as memorable as prior bottle.
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(Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso Calderara Sottana) Medium dark red color; tart red fruit, green herb nose; tart red fruit, green herb, mineral, tart cherry palate; medium-plus finish
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3/23/2024 - geraldsng Likes this wine:
Calderara Sottana remains my favourite Terre Nere cuvee. Drinking perfectly at this age with the right balance of fruit, ash and sous bois. Sadly I think this was my last bottle as it is much more complete than the Guardiolas and Feudo di Mezzos that I still have. Looking forward to the few more recent vintages incoming from auction (although pricing was unfortunately not as ridiculous as the frankly mispriced $55 SGD for this).
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2/4/2024 - wirelesswine wrote: 93 Points
This showed far better than my last magnum over 2 years ago - at the time I feared it was going over the hill, but I was wrong - this bottle had really nice fruit and impeccable balance.
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8/29/2021 - wirelesswine wrote: 91 Points
From magnum. Color is starting to turn fairly tawny. The wine is lively but starting to lose a lot of primary fruit. Once our food came out, the wine started to shine. Very reminiscent of burgundy.
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3/21/2018 - Ellen5181 Likes this wine: 88 Points
My last bottle.
Appearance - Clear but A duller dark ruby. More of a brown tinge to it. Rim is clear.
Nose - getting dark fruit but definitely noticing alcohol. Nose hair singe rubbing alcohol. Black licorice. The bottle has been open for a few hours and I suspect the fruit has fallen off a bit. Initially the nose was more enticing.
Palate - black fruits. Getting plums, BlackBerry, compote. Acidity is medium. Alcohol feels medium plus. Palate tingles. Tannins are medium maybe even medium plus and they linger. There is an ashiness lingering on palate. Body is medium plus. I feel like it’s the acidity that keeps it going. The fruit is there, not old, but not vibrant. I wouldn’t call this youthful, but I can’t really pick out notes that tell me it’s developing. I do feel like the wine has seen better days, it’s on the decline, but it’s still very drinkable, tastes better with food, even cheese, than just sipping on its own. Peppery on finish. It doesn’t exactly feel balanced to me, alcohol predominating.
Still interesting but I suspect it’s time for younger versions.
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12/31/2017 - Ellen5181 Likes this wine: 87 Points
Appearance - clear, vibrant medium ruby.
Nose - medium minus intensity. Getting floral notes. Red fruit. Some red cherry but more raspberry and strawberry. The wine is cold but the aromas are fairly muted.
Palate - medium plus to high intensity on palate (especially as compared to nose). Fruit and black pepper. That’s what I get. Ripe red and black fruits. Getting blackberry and some plum. Feels alive and tingly on mid palate. Tannins come out after you take your swallow. And you feel the cedar tingle on your gums. Tastes refreshing and juicy. Alchohol feels medium. Minerality. Feels crisp on palate. Acidity is medium. Body is medium. There is a bitterness on finish that I’m not loving right now. Not really stemminess but not sure what it is?
Nose is opening up somewhat. There is a sour cherry vs sweet cherry I’m getting. Picking up some vanilla extract and the usual baking spices.
Enjoying it but maybe not as memorable as prior bottle.
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