Notes from a Tuscan evening.

1990 Rocca delle Macie Rocatto - a blend of 50/50 Sangiovese and Cabernet, this
wine is from the best vintage in many a year. Although it was hard to tell in
the twilight level of lighting in the restaurant, the edges are getting pale on
this one. The nose betrayed the method of winemaking - small barrels and
significant time in them gave a fair bit of vanilla, but other than that, it
showed more sangiovese than cab, I thought. There is no real tannin left,
although there is sufficient acidity at the end that it finished cleanly, and a
pleasant sweetness on palate. A nice wine that needs to be drunk up. Although
this bottle showed better than the one I had 2 years ago, it is teetering at
the edge of the plateau, about to head for the abyss, so drink up!

1994 Fonterutoli Siepi - interestingly enough, this wine was also 50/50, but
the non-sangiovese component was merlot instead of cabernet. It was a darker
wine with a green component in the nose that combined with an earthiness made
it a dead ringer for some Bordeaux - toss this into a Bordeaux tasting and
you'd encourage Graves errors.... Quite ripe, full in the mouth, and a sweet
finish with a hint of cocoa at the very end. One of the good wines from an
uneven vintage.

2001 Lamborghini Campoleone - a slight deviation into Umbria, from out Tuscan
theme, but there were no objections as the wine was lovely. It would have made
an interesting match with the Siepi, as it is also 50/50 sangiovese/merlot.
Lots of initial rubber in this nose, and some cassis and a slight hint of sweet
coconut and cocoa. It is still pretty tight and needs time, but nice to get a
peek now in the early days.

1998 Badia a Passignano Chianti Reserva - interesting wine made from 100%
sangiovese. Good depth in the nose, and some anise and blackberry, with a hint
of flowers lurking in the background. Lots of tannin and medium bodied, but
the flavours are well defined and it needs a few more years to really show its
stuff. I offered to open my back-up bottle, a 1995 Badia, but the crew showed
uncharacteristic restraint.

1993 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino - after a stellar 1990 vintage, the
Italian producers had nothing but garbage to offer for the next two years. The
1993 vintage came as a salvation for them and was highly touted (by them) at
the time, though their advice was taken with a large grain of salt by the wary
consumers - after all, they'd been telling us that the 91 and 92 wines were
'pretty good' and hadn't dropped their prices. Banfi has always made a somewhat
non-traditional Brunello, tailored to the international taste. This one had a
rather nice dried cherry nose, and was smooth and still firm, with very good
length. The tannins are very supple and I'm not sure that it will get much
better than it is now with any more age.

1997 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva Coltassala - (geez - next to
the Germans, the Italians have the longest darned wine names...) Dark wine,
with a more traditional nose, a little sharp and a bit hot, with some good
berry fruit. This is a young wine that could use some more time, but it has
good structure and should age gracefully.

1999 Acinatico Amarone - made by Accordini, this Amarone was lovely drinking
right now, with the typical dark sweet nose of raisined fruit with caramel, and
a great cheese wine, but it doesn't have the stuffing to make old bones.
Accordinis 1998 wines were built for much longer ageing, and even their Passo
is going to outlast this Amarone, yet it is so seductive now that it is hard to
resist. I'd drink this over the next few years, if you could wait that long.

> 1990 Rocca delle Macie Rocatto - a blend of 50/50 Sangiovese and Cabernet,
this
> wine is from the best vintage in many a year. Although it was hard to tell
in
> the twilight level of lighting in the restaurant, the edges are getting
pale on
> this one. The nose betrayed the method of winemaking - small barrels and
> significant time in them gave a fair bit of vanilla, but other than that,
it
> showed more sangiovese than cab, I thought. There is no real tannin left,
> although there is sufficient acidity at the end that it finished cleanly,
and a
> pleasant sweetness on palate. A nice wine that needs to be drunk up.
Although
> this bottle showed better than the one I had 2 years ago, it is teetering
at
> the edge of the plateau, about to head for the abyss, so drink up!
>
Thanks for the info, I almost opened a 97 the other night but opted for a 95
Carpineto Riserva.
I guess the 97 will plateau around 2008 ? have you tasted it?

thanks
...Chris

>I guess the 97 will plateau around 2008 ? have you tasted it?

I haven't tasted the 97 Rocatto, but expect that will be about right.