Trabucchi, Recioto della Valpolicella, 1998
A fairly light red with a russet tinge already. Cherry, licorice, and
flowerpot aromas. Blackberry, balck raspberry liquore that has a
medium-sweet, almost tawney-port like finish. A little simple. Quite soft.
Tightens on the slightly bittersweet end and brings on sweet Italian
plums. Well-made, if not overly complex. B+ / 88

Tommaso Bussola, Valpolicella Classico Superiore, TB, 1999
Slight purplish, ruby red colored. A restrained Amarone-like nose with an
autumnal feeling. Cherry-vanilla along with dried cherry fruit leather and
an almond marizipan finish. Lush and ripe, and sweet, all in a very
restrained way, but one that is quite seductive. With a little more air, a
floral dimension shines through, with raspberry (both red and black), and
a dried clay aspect to it (one I find common to many Italian reds) on the
finish. Almost like liquid torrone. This is much better-- and fuller--
than Bussola's regular Valpolicella (the "BG"), but at 2x the price, it
oughtta be. A- / 90

Michele Satta, Tuscany IGT, Vigna al Cavaliere, 1998
Black cherry red colored. Smoky licorice, cherry-mint, and vanilla aromas.
Umm....blackcurrants (freshly sqeezed), pomegranites, with a spicy sweet
finish...very smooth tannins (at first: later these come through,
illustrating how concealed they really are) that seem like they came from
grape pips. Seductive, with a lingering dried currant finish. The balance
on this is beautiful and I like the profile it presents. A mild
astringency on the end gives a nice balance to the sweet fruit.
100% Sangiovese. Keep until 2008-9. A- / 91

Chateau Trotte Vielle, St. Emillion, 1999
Crimson red. Blueberry and charred flowers for scents. Lots n' lots of
toasty oak, along with chewy black licorice candy and mint, an austere
finish. Charry oak a little too predominate and I have doubts this will
resolve in its favor. B / 85-7

Jaboulet, Hermitage, 'La Chapelle', 1994
Light bric red. Funky nose at first, with smoky licorice and red-black
fruits following. Spicy red fruits with a sweet warm spicy finish, not big
or concentrated, but pleasant. Luncheon syrah. The finish is short, but
before it goes away prune-filled funk with a topping of cinnamon come
through. B+ / 89-90
[I feel this bottle may have shown better than other's perceptions of the
same wine, because this felt a bit more dense than their descriptions, so
maybe I was lucky?]

--