Brancaia Tre 2006

Brancaia is a Tuscan producer with an interesting array of proprietary blends including the illustrious "blu". The Tre - a blend of sangiovese, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon - is their entry level wine and I suppose could be equated to a Rosso or a basic Chianti with its nose of herbs, forward spicy underbrush, cherry fruit and a bit of earth. This wine is surely made for easy drinking with its very soft, almost plush, palate of cherry, blackberry, earth and spice. Overall, simple, pleasant, balanced, but boring - very boring. Unfortunately, in the end I think this is not worth the money and doesn't taste like much more than a decent Chianti Classico.

Good+
$30 ($23 on sale) at BCLDB

Apollonio Copertino 2001

Having recently tried and loved the Apollonio Valle Cupa, it was a simple decision to pick up this Negroamaro based wine from the Copertino DOC in Italy. With earth and highly extracted red fruit on the nose, this wine reminded me somewhat of 2003 southern Rhone wines, especially Gigondas, because of the heat combined with the rich red fruits and scorched earth notes.

While this wine has a rustic charm, it is also superbly concentrated and fruit driven with a nice soft texture. My biggest complaint here was the amount of heat on the back end of the wine, which made it somewhat fatiguing over time. Nonetheless it's still tasty for the price, although not quite the same quality as the Valle Cupa.

Very Good
$24 at BCLDB (note that this sells for as low as $11 in the US)

Apollonio Valle Cupa Salento Rosso IGT 2001

Somewhat off the traditional vinous road through Italy lies Apulia, a region in southeastern Italy within which one can find the Salento Rosso IGT. Essentially the heel of Italy's boot, Salento is an extremely dry region, with almost no precipitation in the summer and only about 500mm of rain per year. However, the limestone bedrock is permeable and therefore the region has abundant groundwater despite its dryness. It's an interesting region that most have likely never heard of and producer Apollonio is doing a fine job using indigenous grapes but producing in a fairly international style.

This particular wine is a blend of 50% primitivo (aka zinfandel) and 50% negroamaro, an indigenous grape. The nose was surprisingly modern with ripe cherries, chocolate, nuts, earth and baking spices. The fruit character was extremely rich, and yet more earthy and spicy than many zinfandels from the US. The palate was very interesting with cherry, blackberry, earth and mushroom. This was full bodied, but held solid acidity and certainly was very food friendly. Despite its internationalism, there is certainly a sense of 'terroir' here and interesting underlying characteristics that are more old than new world, such as the earthy components and higher acidity. This is a hybrid wine style that is absolutely fantastic value and worth seeking out.

Very Good+ and Highly Recommended Value
$20 at BCLDB

Prunotto 'Castamiole' Barbera d'Asti 2000

I decided recently to skip over a bunch of my older tasting notes and start writing about wines I was actually drinking around the time of posting. I find it much more enjoyable to write up a wine in proximity to its consumption. However, today marks an opportunity to get through at least a couple older tasting notes (I have notes for around 40 wines sitting around!).

For this wine, however, I don't really need a note - I remember it clearly. Prunotto has been a favourite of mine since I had a large sampling of their range at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. I had heard good things about their Barbera, but didn't chance upon it until the new massive Everything Wine warehouse opened up in North vancouver. I am glad I got my hands on this.

A nose of roasted meat, smoky bbq, and very rich raspberry. The palate was smoky still, but in a more subtle way, with tar, cigar, and a core of luscious raspberry again. But this is a style of raspberry fruit that you could only get from Italy - raw and forward and built to pair with food. With an elegant mouthfeel, a proper structure and excellent balance, this, to my mind, is as close to perfect as Barbera gets. Prunotto does it again.

Excellent+
$60 at Everything Wine

Altesino Alte D'Altesi 2003

I very much enjoy Altesino wines, at least the Brunellos and Rossos I have had before. This, however, is Altesino's forray into the land of SuperTuscan blends and comprises of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. While certainly international in style, in a crowded market, I just didn't find that this stood out enough.

The nose was very herbal and meaty, but overall it seemed unbalanced. On the palate I found wood, herbs, meat, earth, spice, dark berries, and wild blueberries. This had a firm structure, but was not elegant and despite its potency and the sweetness of its fruit, I found it too clumsy to warrant the price. This is a $20 bottle.

Very Good
$65 at BCLDB ($34 US)

Felsina Fontalloro 2000

I thought I'd make Monday a little more exciting than usual by opening a bottle of this, one of Tuscany's most respected sangiovese -based IGTs. Felsina is a classic chianti producer who knows how to turn sangiovese grapes into wine that greatly exceeds the norm in quality.

This was dark rudy brown in the glass and had a nose of black currants, cassis and cedar. The palate was tart but well balanced and very nuanced. I detected leather, spice, dried prunes, currants and sweet blackberry fruit. This also had a very long finish with very fine and integrated tannins. So, even though this oxydized fairly quickly after I opened the bottle (probably 2-3 hours), this was a beautifully structured and elegant sangiovese - one of the nicest I've tasted.

Excellent

$70 at BCLDB

Luigi Einaudi Barolo 2001

Being from Piemonte, I figured this Barolo would pair well with another Italian Northwestern treat: truffles. Or, more accurately Cacio Di Basco Al Tartufo cheese. The nose on this was all intense blackbery coupled with tobacco and tar. All of this continued on the palate, which was quite tart, with a dose of savory herbal flavours. The finish was mostly tarry and earthy, which I liked a fair amount. The tannins were pretty and refined, especially for a Barolo. A very nice effort from a very good year and definitely better than the 97 I tried earlier.

Excellent

$90 at BCLDB

Mauro Veglio Dolcetto D'Alba 2006

Dolcetto is an underappreciate grape. Grown in the northwest Piemonte region of Italy, it is often forgotten, with Barolo and Barbaresco stealing the show. However, Dolcetto is a supremely food friendly wine that should not be overlooked, especially with the right pairing.

This Dolcetto was extremely small production (350 cases) and boasted a nose of light red berries and earth. The palate expanded the earthy component, which was quite rich, to add mushroomy flavours. Not at all tannic, this was very structured, with a tight acidity that paired perfectly with a Bechemel, morrel, prosciutto linguine. With such a fantastically smooth texture in the mouth and such potential for food pairing, this particlar Dolcetto outshines other solid examples of the grape. A very very strong expression. Not having a picture of the bottle, I opted for one of the grape itself. If you haven't yet had a Dolcetto, it is worth checking one out.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with proper pairing)

~$38 at Steamworks Liquor Store

Lucente 2005

I had this during the last Vancouver International Wine Festival and thought then that it was excellent value. So much so that I picked up a bottle to drink later. As usual I couldn't keep it for long - and this is what I tasted:

Dry, dusty cherry on the nose and tart cherry raspberry on the palate with a hint of earth. This had nice balance, but I found the length somewhat short and lacking complexity. At the same time, this wine also had very good grip and liveliness.

Very Good+

$40 at BCLDB

Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2004

Work has been keeping me busy, so the updates have slowed a bit. Nevertheless, the wine drinking continued. I had this a few nights ago as foray into the fantastic 2004 vintage in Tuscany. I think that Vino Nobile di Montepulciano can offer tremendous value in sangiovese - with prices between cheaper Chianti's and more expensive Brunellos. A good middle ground.

The nose had bright berry fruit that opened into a fairly simple, but authentic palate. This was very fruity, but in a pure unmanipulated manner. Other flavours were a little savory, and were undergirded with a bit of caramel. A simple and medium length finish rounded this out well. I'd pair this with a pasta or stewed meat of some sort - but I'm not an adventurous wine-pairing afficionado.

Very Good

$40 at BCLDB

Stefano Farina Barolo 2003

The recent lack of updates is due to some crazy hours at my firm of late. Hopefully things will calm down and the updates will again flow regularly! I had this a while ago, but didn't write about it until now largely because it was a pretty disappointing wine. Mostly blackberry and black current on the nose, the herbaciousness was a bit green and the acidity tangy and unbalanced. Barolo rarely provides such simple and unpleasant flavours. Enjoyable enough for a $20 bottle, this is something to pass by at $45.

Good+

$45 at BCLDB

Poderi Luigi Einaudi Barolo 1997

Barolo is wonderful wine, especially when given a few years to ruminate. When aged Barolo loses some of its big tannic muscle, but gains smoothness and elegance. This decade old Einaudi Barolo was made in a traditional style by one of my favourite Piemontese producers.

Integrated flavours of blackberry, earth, leaf, and tobacco seduced my palate. The nose was well structured, but perhaps a bit tight given the fantastic flavours to follow. A velvety smooth texture and true extension and length provided a full bodied experience. Surprisingly elegant, but not at all dull or mild. Well integrated acidity kept this enticing over an entire evening. A great example of this style of wine making.

Excellent

$90 at BCLDB

Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva 2003

This wine approaches two hurdles quite well. The first is that this is Chianti, often a simple and boring take on Sangiovese. The second is that the vintage - 2003 - was very hot and tended to produce (at least in my experience) baked and thin wines. Carpineto was one of the first Chianti producers to take wine production more seriously, and having had both their normale bottling and this riserva, I think they still deserve recognition as a high quality producer.

This was quite an aromatic wine with hay, manure, cherry and raspberry on the nose. The palate was long and balanced, with well structured acidity. I enjoyed the finish, which I found refined and elegant for a chianti, albeit not overly complex. This is an excellent clasically styled Chianti that surpasses its vintage.

Very Good+

$45 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars

Damilano Barolo 2001

It's been a while since the last update, but that's what happens during exam and paper season! I tasted this wine at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, but I had an opportunity to have a bottle recently and I thought it would be interesting to compare the experiences. It was an interesting experiment comparing impressions for the same wine of the same vintage but consumed merely weeks apart. It perhaps says something about our perceptions of taste, but I am planning a future more in-depth post about that so I'll leave that idea as a nascent thought.

The nose on this was quite fungal upon first opening the bottle - also quite concentrated and a little earthy at the core. A few hints of blackberry on the nose expanded on the palate for a relatively fruity flavour for Barolo (strange given the last time I tasted this it was a lot more vegetal). The tannins were quite smooth and built the semi-tart fruit of the palate into a longish finish. I would recommend decanting this for several hours, though, since after a day in the fridge it really opened up and gained added depth and complexity. However, I didn't love it as much as when I first tasted it - an interesting shift. I have one more bottle in my cellar and am excited to try that maybe in a year or more and see how it has changed (I have a hard time cellaring anything beyond a couple years).

Very Good+

$50 at BCLDB

Castello Dei Rampolla Chianti Classico 2004

I write this after a day of trudging through the first half of an essay on Sustainable Development law. It seems to me that we often use that term without really understanding what it means, and that while we have trouble defining it, that it still points to something of merit. So after the complexities of a philosophical and legal discussion of development and the environment I thought something simple was in order.

Chianti is a superabundant wine, but rarely where it counts. It often suggests something simple. These days, however, Chianti is growing in complexity and density and is becoming a little more exciting. This wine hints at that potential.

This particular producer became a bit of a cult hit with its Cab based super tuscan blends, which are likely the polar opposite of this wine. The nose is burnt red fruit. It almost smells like burning hay. The palate continued this trend and coupled those flavours with a high level of acidity that demanded food. This is not a sit on the patio sipper, but a wine built for a simple stewed meat or pasta. So, while the fruit is simple, the wine is good and even has a bit of chalky tannin. The acidity is high enough, though, that this without doubt a food wine. Enjoyable, but overpriced.

$38 at BCLDB

Very Good

Capitel della Crosara Monopolio Montresor Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 1999

So sometime last week I felt that I needed to celebrate absolutely nothing and open a really nice bottle of wine. This has been sitting around in my cellar for a while and recent reading revealed to me that the Amarone's of the late 90's are peaking right about now; so there was no real reason to wait on this one. And boy was that a good choice.

This is a beautiful Amarone with a nose of classic dark and raisiny fruit, but with absolutely amazing intensity. The palate was simply brilliant with cedar, blackberry, plum, dried cherries and berry liqueur. All of these flavours were integrated perfectly with nothing out of balance. This type of integration and consistency is very rare in wine since there is often a hole in the development from the nose, over the palate and down the throat. With this Amarone, however, there was absolutely no break in the development and the flavours kept growing and changing so consistently over the entire experience that it was simply amazing. Plus, the finish was nearly endless, lasting in the mouth for several minutes. This wine was a beautiful and seductive temptress in a dimly lit bar - think Casablanca.

Excellent+

$100

Vancouver International Wine Festival - Round 2

Things have been hectic around here so I've been a bit delayed posting this continuation of the Wine Fest series. However, today we are in for a treat as I highlight the wines of Piemonte.

Piemonte

Damilano Barbera D'alba

Mushroomy nose with a very earth palate. Closed and tannic right now. A heavy Barbera that probably needs age.

Good+ - $35

Damilano Barolo 2001

Very veggie, with wood spliters and smoke and moderate tannins. This was quite a unique wine that woke my brain up. After you taste enough wines you get used to certain flavours and even bored when the same old thing comes your way. However, this wine, the first Barolo I tasted at the festival, woke me up to the delights that wine is capable of. It was still a bit closed, but showed a lot of promise.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with Age) - $50

Damilano Barolo 2003

Another vegetal wine that is what I like to call "atom-dense". Drinking this is like pulling teeth and getting pummelled by a heavy-weight boxer. If you're a masochist wine drinker, this is great. Otherwise, needs time - but should be pretty good with enough coaxing.

Very Good - $50

Damilano "Cannubi" Barolo 2003

Wow. Very fruity and alive with a great flavour profile. The structure is there for this to last quite a while, even for a 2003. The finish is a bit short right now but I suspect this will develop with age.

Excellent - $85

Damilano "Liste" Barolo 2003

The best of the bunch. Amazing concentration and purity with loads of complex earth aromas and flavours. Yet, it is actually 'spritely' for a Barolo with a perfectly constructed acid and tannin balance - I love this sense of wit.

Excellent+ - $85

Prunotto Costamiloe Barbera d'Asti DOC 2001

Barnyard and heavily fragrant. An amazing Barbera to pair with a fancy pasta or Osso Buco. This one has aging potential.

Very Good+ - $56

Prunotto Nebbiolo d'Alba Occhetti 2005

Big bodied Nebbliolo with ripe tannins, but enough depth to make this a kind of "mini" Barolo. The rough-edged younger brother of the Barbaresco's to come who has not developed quite as much class.

Very Good+ - $35

Prunotto Barbaresco 2004

Wow. Crazy intensity here coupled with outstanding character. The fruit is big and powerful and very in your face. Yet, this is no new world wine - it's got a rustic temperament. This could sit in the cellar for quite some time and it will probably mellow into something quite special. Right now it's just a lot of fun.

Excellent - $55

Prunotto Barbaresco Bric Turot 2001

Very Rich, but also very soft. The tannins are well balanced. This is a reflective wine - something to drink on a cold sombre day in front of the fire place. It's the classy relative to the 2004 Barbaresco, and equally good. A wine for each mood.

Excellent - $80

Prunotto "Bussia" Barolo 2000

This will be a favourite amongst traditional Barolo lovers. It's tight right now, but not so closed as to be inexpressive. This has intensity, real intensity: the kind of intensity you rarely find in wine. It's broody too and I think it needs patience and cellaring to bring out its full character. This is another 'atom-dense' wine, but it has tremendous depth to boot.

Excellent - ~$100

Prunotto "Bussia" Barolo 2003

Chewy prune fruit with currently a lot more fruit concentration than the 2000. The tannins may be a bit much for some, but they will mellow with time. For me, this is drinking great now and in the next few years. It's the kind of wine that'll make you pause, take a breath, and reconsider, with each sip. Definitely one of the highlights of the show.

Excellent+ - ~$100


In the next installment I will be going international to explore the remaining wineries from across the world that I managed to taste.

Vancouver International Wine Festival - Round 1

This weekend I attended the Vancouver International Wine Festival - a rather large event with over 700 wines poured. Amazingly I managed to taste 100 of those. The theme this year was Italian wine, which was a fantastic treat for those of us into old world flavour and style. There were a lot of great showings this year and in the next series of posts I will be providing my impressions on the top 40-50 or so wines I tasted, concluding with my top picks of the festival. Also, I don't have prices for many of these since only some are available right now in the BC market. Let the craziness begin!


Given the sheer quantity of wine I tasted, I am going to try and organize my notes by country, beginning with Italy. Since there were so many Italian wines I will be organizing my Italian notes by region. A nice map of the Italian wine regions is below:

I propose to begin with the Veneto, an old favourite.

The Veneto

Bertani Amarone 2000

The nose was typical, but rich, raisinated fruit. The palate was very nicely structured and built with notes of pitted fruit like plums. The wine was still a bit closed, but Bertani's are built to age and I think this one will do so beautifully.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with age) - ~$100 CAD

Bertani Amarone 1990

I was also lucky enough to taste the 1990 Bertani, which had a nose of some sort of coffee like liqueure, maybe kalhua. The palate was very heavy on the over-ripe raisin flavours with smoke and barnyard. I was a bit disappointed with this - it just seemed unbalanced a bit too sickly sweet or something. Still enjoyable, but not so much for the price.

Very Good - $120+ CAD

Bertani Villa Novare Valpolicella Ripasso 2003

My notes for this are sparse, but to the point: Fruity and raisinated with classic berry aroma.

Very Good

Tuscany

Tignanello 2004

The first super tuscan. I'd been wanting to try this for some time. A blackberry nose revealed, upon sipping, a very dry and tannic youthful wine that was slightly gamey, but still closed. Excellent to superb structure. Needs time.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with age) $96 CAD at BCLDB

Ruffino Tenuta Greppone mazzi Brunello Di Montalcino 2003

The best way to describe this wine is "refined barnyard". What a beautiful nose - just remarkably evocative of terroir, and gamey, earthy fruit. This wine is structured amazingly on the front end and the mid-palate and is a sheer joy to drink. The finish drops off a bit early, but I can't fault the wine too much for that given its beautiful flavours of hay-tea-like red berries.

Excellent+

Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale "Oro" 2004

I've had and loved the 2003 version of this wine. 2004 is regarded as a superior vintage and generally as a fantastic vintage in Tuscany generally. This was very intense and tannic and had an incredibly amount of body, especially compared to the '03. This is not drinking super great now, but it has the ability to age for quite some time. The 2003 on the other hand is drinking great right now, but won't age for long. Good job, but needs time.

Very Good+ $50 CAD at BCLDB

Banfi Barrel Sample - Janus Clone 10

I was lucky enough to taste several barrel samples from Banfi for their upcoming 2005 brunello. This clone was very mouth-forward and incredibly tannic in the finish. It was a bit barny and definitely had the suggestion of brunello, but this is obviously meant to develop the structure of the wine.

Banfi Barrel Sample - Janus Clone 50

This was very fruity in the nose and in the forward palate. However, it dropped off quickly. I suspect that the right blending of this and the last clone will produce an excellent wine. Quite a fun experience.

Carpineto Chianti Classico 2005

Wooh! Manure. At least that's what I got. It was pleasant in a strange way and I think it will drink fantastically well with the right kind of food. This is earthy, fungal and rustic. These guys made one of the first Chianti Classico's ever made and they clearly still know what they are doing. Great value.

Very Good+ - $22 CAD at BCLDB

La Braccessa Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano 2004

You don't see too many Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano's around Vancouver, so this was a treat. The nose was subdued fruit and earth. The palate had a fantastic development of plum and very smooth tannins. This tastes like the countryside - just a fabulous sense of terrior.

Excellent - $40 CAD

Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2003

This was quite surprising because the nose revealed the intensity of a new world minty and fruity cab sauv, even though this is made from Sangiovese. The palate was fruity and long and had very lovely smooth fruit and earth.

Very Good+

Altesino "Montosoli" Brunello Di Montalcino 2003

This single vineyard Brunello was a knockout. It will also kock you out with its price tag - which is around $150 CAD. Fungus and mushroom on the nose - this had great style and complexity. It was really earthy and had tremendous depth of flavour and the finish lasted ages. If only I could afford such things!

Excellent+ - $150 CAD

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino 2003

This is basically a toned down version of the last wine, at less than half the price. It's got character and a nice smooth style, but the loss in structure and finesse really hurt this.

Very Good+ - $70 CAD

La Vite Lucente 2005

Luce is run jointly by Frescobaldi and Mondavi and is trying to position itself as a sort of Opus One of Italy. Another Super Tuscan - but a good one. The nose was very mocha and the palate, while tannic, was nice and chewy and dense and had tremendous potential, especially for the price. Given the value on this wine, I think it deserves a hefty rating.

Excellent - $40 CAD

Luce 2004

This blend is 60% merlot and 40% sangiovese. The nose gives up dusty earth, but the palate is, as my notes say, "pucker pucker". Way to young right now - needs a lot of time and as such I don't feel I can judge this completley accurately. Not sure if it has the potential to turn into something great.

Very Good - $90 CAD

PHEW! Well, that's it for today. In the next installment I will be touring Piedemonte, including a host of Barolo's. I hope this post gave you the sense that there are some fantastic wines coming out of Italy these days. Clearly Tuscany as a region was a higlight of the show, but there is oh so much more to come.

Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre 2004

Keeping with the tradition of pairing a cheaper Italian wine with a simple tasty pasta, I chose to pair my lamb sausage, feta and mint pasta with Allegrini's Palazzo Della Torre, an IGT wine (IGT is a new designation set up by the Italian government that has less strict requirements than the traditional DOC and DOCG labels, but is still supposed to indicate a 'finer' wine) from the Veneto and made in a unique style inspired by Allegrini's methods for the production of Amarone. I won't get into the details of that, since I find it kind of boring - but suffice it to say that it is not a typical ripasso style, although it still borrows intensity from the Amarone grapes, albeit with different techniques. The wine is made from 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, and 5% Sangiovese.

The nose was black cherry and wood and felt a bit hot. On the palate the wine was moderately tannic and minerally with a health dose of sweet plum. It reminded me of a certain stoney-earthyness and its decent acidity gave it structure and sparkle. If I have a critique it is that the wine is too hot and alcoholic and so tends to have a bit of a harsh feel when swishing it around one's mouth. This mellowed a bit with air and food, but it was not a perfect match with the pasta. I think, instead, I would recommend a rich stewed or braised type meat. So, while not as balanced as I tend to like wine, this still had great concentration and flavour and ended up being decent and enjoyable.

Very Good

$30 at BCLDB

Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Oro 2003

This week brings another Wine Blogging Wednesday Extravaganza brought to you by Andrew from http://www.spittoon.biz/. His clever theme involved picking any Italian wine and then giving a tasting note in 7 words. WBW's have had an illustrious tradition of encouraging the humble wine blogger to break their regular patterns and do something creative, whether it is trying an unheard of region, a unique varietal, or in this case approaching wine in a unique fashion.

The wine I chose for this week was a special pick from my cellar - a 2003 Ruffino Chianti Classic Riserva Ducale Oro - a renowned chianti. And, without further ado here is the review:

"Fruit alive with wit, but classically tempered."

I look forward to reading everyone else's notes! My full tasting notes are as follows:

This is a beautiful wine - in fact one of the best I've ever tasted. It consists of stunning fruit, excellent balance, perfect acitidy (crisp but mellow), and moderate and well structured tannins. The fruit is very light berry flavours like rasberry and strawberry, but it is tempered by earth and stone-like sentiments and structured, as I suggested in my 7 word review, with great wit and yet with a strong classical temperament. Great wine, great theme, great night.

Excellent+

$50 at BCLDB