Barolo, Sassicaia, Recioto

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.