Notes from an Italian dinner last week.

With crostini with olive tapenade and anchovy butter:

2004 Batasiolo Champenois Methode Classico Dosage Zero - a long fancy
way of saying that this is made from Pinot Noir and chard, and gets no
added sugar - in other words, an Italian champers. Nice mousse, clean
in the mouth, soft low acid, pleasant but a bit simple.

With mushroom soup:

1999 Gianna Brunelli Brunello di Montalcino - best feature of this
wine was the nice black cherry nose. Good colour, nice middle, but
although the actual finish was respectably long, the fruit itself
didn't follow through. I only get this impression once in awhile, when
some characteristics persist in the finish but others fade, much
faster, but I always feel like I've been cheated - there was good
fruit there until someone snatched it away from me! I would call this
a newer style rather than traditional Brunello.

With gnocchi:

1999 Poliziano Asinone - Dark wine with an interesting nose of vanilla
(probably been hitting the old oak a bit hard), and herbs. Quite a few
elements in this nose reminded me of Bordeaux, although the whole
thing taken together wouldn't push you that way in a blind tasting.
Smooth, with good length, it still has a pretty good whack of tannins
in there.

With duck confit and pollenta (OK, so this was closer to French
cuisine - it was GOOD!):

1989 Sassicaia - These two wines showed very similarly with the 1988
just having an extra degree of everything the 1989 showed. I've seen a
couple of poor reviews of this vintage, but I've done several
verticals and it has always shown consistently, so I can only conclude
that the reviewer hit an off form bottle. Slight green hint in the
nose, and cocoa and herbal notes, slight bricking at the edge (the 88
had much more). Sweet and resolved and ready to roll although there is
certainly still tannin present. Given the fruit balance, this will not
improve, but should continue to hold awhile.

1988 Sassicaia - browning at the edges, either a symptom of the extra
age, or maybe the fact that this came from a warmer cellar than the
1989 did. More tannin immediately evident, the nose a carbon copy of
the 89, after an initial mild mustiness blew off. It showed a hint of
perfume that wasn't evident in the 89. Another layer of fruit and
depth, this one is now hitting prime time, with no rush. Guess it must
be time for me to start digging into my stash.

With osso bucco:

1996 Azelia (Luigi Scavino) Barolo Bricco Fiasco - this was the more
modern styled Barolo. Good fruit in the nose, with cherries and
vanilla, a bit tight right now even with several hours of airing. Good
length. a strapping big example of the new style winemaking and a good
future ahead.

1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric del Fiasc - ah - for myself, an admirer
of tradition Barolos, this was more like it. The nose was dense fruit,
tar, a hint of menthol, more than a hint of roses, and anise. A little
warm, this wine has a long way to go yet.


With panna cotta and reduced Balsamico:

2000 Fabiano Rugola Recioto - there are many Reciotos coming from
Veneto, and most are better accompaniments to hard cheese that Ports,
in that while they show a flash of sweetness up front, they usually
finish dry. This one had a sweet raisined nose, sweet entry, huge
concentration, and then finished predictably dry. These wines are very
enjoyable taken in moderation - they do not take the place of the
regular table wines made from the same grapes, and a constant diet of
them would be cloying, but they rarely fail to impress

Followed by cheese.

On Mar 9, 1:32�pm, "Bill S." > wrote:
> Notes from an Italian dinner last week.
>
> With crostini with olive tapenade and anchovy butter:
>
> 2004 Batasiolo Champenois Methode Classico Dosage Zero - a long fancy
> way of saying that this is made from Pinot Noir and chard, and gets no
> added sugar - in other words, an Italian champers. �Nice mousse, clean
> in the mouth, soft low acid, pleasant but a bit simple.
>
> With mushroom soup:
>
> 1999 Gianna Brunelli Brunello di Montalcino - best feature of this
> wine was the nice black cherry nose. Good colour, nice middle, but
> although the actual finish was respectably long, the fruit itself
> didn't follow through. I only get this impression once in awhile, when
> some characteristics persist in the finish but others fade, much
> faster, but I always feel like I've been cheated - there was good
> fruit there until someone snatched it away from me! �I would call this
> a newer style rather than traditional Brunello.
>
> With gnocchi:
>
> 1999 Poliziano Asinone - Dark wine with an interesting nose of vanilla
> (probably been hitting the old oak a bit hard), and herbs. Quite a few
> elements in this nose reminded me of Bordeaux, although the whole
> thing taken together wouldn't push you that way in a blind tasting.
> Smooth, with good length, it still has a pretty good whack of tannins
> in there.
>
> With duck confit and pollenta (OK, so this was closer to French
> cuisine - it was GOOD!):
>
> 1989 Sassicaia - These two wines showed very similarly with the 1988
> just having an extra degree of everything the 1989 showed. I've seen a
> couple of poor reviews of this vintage, but I've done several
> verticals and it has always shown consistently, so I can only conclude
> that the reviewer hit an off form bottle. Slight green hint in the
> nose, and cocoa and herbal notes, slight bricking at the edge (the 88
> had much more). Sweet and resolved and ready to roll although there is
> certainly still tannin present. Given the fruit balance, this will not
> improve, but should continue to hold awhile.
>
> 1988 Sassicaia - browning at the edges, either a symptom of the extra
> age, or maybe the fact that this came from a warmer cellar than the
> 1989 did. More tannin immediately evident, the nose a carbon copy of
> the 89, after an initial mild mustiness blew off. It showed a hint of
> perfume that wasn't evident in the 89. �Another layer of fruit and
> depth, this one is now hitting prime time, with no rush. Guess it must
> be time for me to start digging into my stash.
>
> With osso bucco:
>
> 1996 Azelia (Luigi Scavino) Barolo Bricco Fiasco - this was the more
> modern styled Barolo. Good fruit in the nose, with cherries and
> vanilla, a bit tight right now even with several hours of airing. Good
> length. a strapping big example of the new style winemaking and a good
> future ahead.
>
> 1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric del Fiasc - ah - for myself, an admirer
> of tradition Barolos, this was more like it. The nose was dense fruit,
> tar, a hint of menthol, more than a hint of roses, and anise. A little
> warm, this wine has a long way to go yet.
>
> With panna cotta and reduced Balsamico:
>
> 2000 Fabiano Rugola Recioto - there are many Reciotos coming from
> Veneto, and most are better accompaniments to hard cheese that Ports,
> in that while they show a flash of sweetness up front, they usually
> finish dry. �This one had a sweet raisined nose, sweet entry, huge
> concentration, and then finished predictably dry. These wines are very
> enjoyable taken in moderation - they do not take the place of the
> regular table wines made from the same grapes, and a constant diet of
> them would be cloying, but they rarely fail to impress
>
> Followed by cheese.

thanks for notes, will let my lone bottle of the Azelia sleep.