Notes from a Tuscan evening.
1990 Rocca delle Macie Rocatto - a blend of 50/50 Sangiovese and Cabernet, this wine is from the best vintage in many a year. Although it was hard to tell in the twilight level of lighting in the restaurant, the edges are getting pale on this one. The nose betrayed the method of winemaking - small barrels and significant time in them gave a fair bit of vanilla, but other than that, it showed more sangiovese than cab, I thought. There is no real tannin left, although there is sufficient acidity at the end that it finished cleanly, and a pleasant sweetness on palate. A nice wine that needs to be drunk up. Although this bottle showed better than the one I had 2 years ago, it is teetering at the edge of the plateau, about to head for the abyss, so drink up!1994 Fonterutoli Siepi - interestingly enough, this wine was also 50/50, but the non-sangiovese component was merlot instead of cabernet. It was a darker wine with a green component in the nose that combined with an earthiness made it a dead ringer for some Bordeaux - toss this into a Bordeaux tasting and you'd encourage Graves errors.... Quite ripe, full in the mouth, and a sweet finish with a hint of cocoa at the very end. One of the good wines from an uneven vintage.
2001 Lamborghini Campoleone - a slight deviation into Umbria, from out Tuscan theme, but there were no objections as the wine was lovely. It would have made an interesting match with the Siepi, as it is also 50/50 sangiovese/merlot. Lots of initial rubber in this nose, and some cassis and a slight hint of sweet coconut and cocoa. It is still pretty tight and needs time, but nice to get a peek now in the early days.1998 Badia a Passignano Chianti Reserva - interesting wine made from 100% sangiovese. Good depth in the nose, and some anise and blackberry, with a hint of flowers lurking in the background. Lots of tannin and medium bodied, but the flavours are well defined and it needs a few more years to really show its stuff. I offered to open my back-up bottle, a 1995 Badia, but the crew showed uncharacteristic restraint.
1993 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino - after a stellar 1990 vintage, the Italian producers had nothing but garbage to offer for the next two years. The 1993 vintage came as a salvation for them and was highly touted (by them) at the time, though their advice was taken with a large grain of salt by the wary consumers - after all, they'd been telling us that the 91 and 92 wines were 'pretty good' and hadn't dropped their prices. Banfi has always made a somewhat non-traditional Brunello, tailored to the international taste. This one had a rather nice dried cherry nose, and was smooth and still firm, with very good length. The tannins are very supple and I'm not sure that it will get much better than it is now with any more age.1997 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva Coltassala - (geez - next to the Germans, the Italians have the longest darned wine names...) Dark wine, with a more traditional nose, a little sharp and a bit hot, with some good berry fruit. This is a young wine that could use some more time, but it has good structure and should age gracefully.
1999 Acinatico Amarone - made by Accordini, this Amarone was lovely drinking right now, with the typical dark sweet nose of raisined fruit with caramel, and a great cheese wine, but it doesn't have the stuffing to make old bones. Accordinis 1998 wines were built for much longer ageing, and even their Passo is going to outlast this Amarone, yet it is so seductive now that it is hard to resist. I'd drink this over the next few years, if you could wait that long.