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- / 91Chateau 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?]