Friday was a great Shalom Japan recipe for gravlax rice bowl, with some leftover white and rose. Then over to Roger?s for local wine group, theme was reds from Italy. Roger had some sausage, cheeses, etc and a welcoming white., the 2020 Terre Nere Etna Bianco, I really enjoyed this, citrus and pit fruits, good acids, minerally and just a tad nutty. B+/B
On to blind reds
2020 Occhipinti SP68 Served chilled, the guy who brought it mentioned Frappato and I got wine (not that many choices). Bright cherries, tobacco, spice, a little citrus zest. Fun. I liked more than crowd. B+2018 Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo I thought young Barbaresco maybe, black cherry with tar, noticeable but manageable tannins. This could use a bit of time. B
1967 Marcarini Brunate Barolo Riserva Mine, chosen because it was one of few Nebbiolo I had standing up sufficiently in advance. Double-decanted when I got home from work, the air was needed. Red and black cherry, woodsmoke, smoked meat, violets. Seamless and long to me, ?too old? for a couple of people A-/B+2015 Barolo This was soft and fruity, a bit short, I started off with it?s not Nebbiolo. Oops.Not a fan. But totally confused as to producer.Never seen anything like this. Label was 2015 Barolo, Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. But no mention of a producer. Nothing on backlabel either. Bottle is embossed with Albeisa , but that seems to be an association, not a producer.
Theme was supposed to be Italian, and we hadn?t had any Sangiovese. Luckily I had a 2nd bottle, the 2017 Montesecondo Tin. Tangy, tart in a good way, fresh cherry with a little fennel seed and pepper. B/B+
Fun night with guys
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.