We had dinner last night at Sale e Pepe on Marco Island. Northern
Italian cusine very well done. We started off with a bottle of Nino
Franco Rustico Prosecco with our amuse of cherry tomato stuffed with
smoked gulf shrimp followed by a salad of Burrata topped organic
tomato and field greens, fresh lemon with evoo and aged balsamico.
The Prosecco had a lively mousse and nose of honeydew melon and wet
gravel. It was bright on the palate if not just a tad too fruity
although the soft acidity seemed to accentuate the fruit giving the
impression of residual sugar. Next we had gnocchi with porcini
mushroom and mint. We ordered a bottle of 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barolo
Falletto with the gnocchi and mushrooms. The gnocchi were light as a
feather and went well with the wine which we finished with our roasted
veal tenderloin. The wine was medium bodied and almost cherry red in
the glass. Lots of tar on the nose with an abundance of rose petals.
A bit of red raspberry, mushroom and tart cherry on the palate with
plenty of tannin but they softened in the glass and with the food. I
would put the Giacosa somewhere in the middle of old and new style
Barolo and it should drink well over the next 5-8 years.

On Jan 26, 10:46�am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> We had dinner last night at Sale e Pepe on Marco Island. �Northern
> Italian cusine very well done. �We started off with a bottle of Nino
> Franco Rustico Prosecco with our amuse of cherry tomato stuffed with
> smoked gulf shrimp followed by a salad of Burrata topped organic
> tomato and field greens, fresh lemon with evoo and aged balsamico.
> The Prosecco had a lively mousse and nose of honeydew melon and wet
> gravel. �It was bright on the palate if not just a tad too fruity
> although the soft acidity seemed to accentuate the fruit giving the
> impression of residual sugar. �Next we had gnocchi with porcini
> mushroom and mint. �We ordered a bottle of 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barolo
> Falletto with the gnocchi and mushrooms. �The gnocchi were light as a
> feather and went well with the wine which we finished with our roasted
> veal tenderloin. �The wine was medium bodied and almost cherry red in
> the glass. �Lots of tar on the nose with an abundance of rose petals.
> A bit of red raspberry, mushroom and tart cherry on the palate with
> plenty of tannin but they softened in the glass and with the food. �I
> would put the Giacosa somewhere in the middle of old and new style
> Barolo and it should drink well over the next 5-8 years.

Sounds lke a nice meal!
The Franco Rustico is a pretty dependable value.
I'd put Bruno Giacosa as pretty solidly traditional, but I think that
2000 is a fairly ripe and forward vintage, so might come across less
austere than a more structure-oriented vintage.
Enjoy your vacation!

On Jan 26, 3:37�pm, DaleW > wrote:
> On Jan 26, 10:46 am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > We had dinner last night at Sale e Pepe on Marco Island. Northern
> > Italian cusine very well done. We started off with a bottle of Nino
> > Franco Rustico Prosecco with our amuse of cherry tomato stuffed with
> > smoked gulf shrimp followed by a salad of Burrata topped organic
> > tomato and field greens, fresh lemon with evoo and aged balsamico.
> > The Prosecco had a lively mousse and nose of honeydew melon and wet
> > gravel. It was bright on the palate if not just a tad too fruity
> > although the soft acidity seemed to accentuate the fruit giving the
> > impression of residual sugar. Next we had gnocchi with porcini
> > mushroom and mint. We ordered a bottle of 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barolo
> > Falletto with the gnocchi and mushrooms. The gnocchi were light as a
> > feather and went well with the wine which we finished with our roasted
> > veal tenderloin. The wine was medium bodied and almost cherry red in
> > the glass. Lots of tar on the nose with an abundance of rose petals.
> > A bit of red raspberry, mushroom and tart cherry on the palate with
> > plenty of tannin but they softened in the glass and with the food. I
> > would put the Giacosa somewhere in the middle of old and new style
> > Barolo and it should drink well over the next 5-8 years.
>
> Sounds lke a nice meal!
> The Franco Rustico is a pretty dependable value.
> I'd put Bruno Giacosa as pretty solidly traditional, but I think that
> 2000 is a fairly ripe and forward vintage, so might come across less
> austere than a more structure-oriented vintage.
> Enjoy your vacation!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Not really a vacation. We've had a place on Marco for about 25 years
and once the kids grew up we sold the house and bought a condo on the
beach a few years ago. Since I semi-retired and we became empty
nesters we felt that 78F and sunny with the Gulf of Mexico at our
doorstep was better than 10F and snow up to our ass so we decided to
winter in Florida this year. Until this year I had never spent more
than a long weekend a few times a year on Marco in over twenty years
so it's different living here than visiting here. I've met few winos
and was invited to a tasting next week and I found a couple of decent
wine shops in Naples (about 25 minutes away) so other than not having
my cellar handy I'll make do.