On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 15:59:20 GMT, Dana Myers >
wrote:

>Michael Scarpitti wrote:
>> How many bottles of a given producer does it take to get a good idea
>> of their quality? I have tried several bottles of Vietti wines
>> (Piedmont, Italy), and, despite the high ratings often given to them,
>> I have not found them all that exciting for their types (Dolcetto,
>> Barolo, Barbera, etc.). Several bottles were in fact poor. Could this
>> be a shipping/storage problem?
>
>Certainly could be. Next time this happens, you might
>seek out a second opinion on the wine. It might be that
>you simply prefer these wines made in a different style
>than that which garners high ratings. If this happens
>consistently over several vintages and you're certain
>that the wine is handled by more than importer, then that
>pretty much rules out shipping/storage damage.
>
>It might also be that you're not letting these wines
>breathe a bit before passing judgement ;-)
>
>Dana

I agree with Dana. It could be the style doesn't appeal or it could be
that bottles currently available in merchants are still quite young to
show--especially the Barolo.

I've also found, over the years, that Italian wines (and Spanish as
well) don't seem to travel very well to the heartland shops. If your
supplier doesn't sell a lot of them, there's a high probability that
the wines aren't being handled very well during their extended tenure
on the shelves.

My current personal policy on Italians is that I do my "shopping" at
restaurants with a good wine list--they've done the pre-tasting and
sorting to refine the list for quality and price. Then I find the wine
online from one of the major houses like Zachy's or Sam's and order
from them. My satisfaction with the wine has gone up immensely.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
"Phantom Flights, Bangkok Nights"
Both from Smithsonian Books
***www.thunderchief.org