|
By Manos Angelakis
Gambero Rosso, Tre Biccheri Tasting
It is not often that one can taste over 155 award-winning wines in one day. That could have occurred at the March 19th, Gambero Rosso, Tre Bicchieri, wine tasting and a vintner’s dinner afterwards at a trendy restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea district. The Gambero Rosso is the Italian wine bible, focused on evaluating Italian food and wine.
In reality, one cannot really taste that many wines and form an accurate opinion. After 35 or so samples, the palate becomes too desensitized to really discern the many characteristics of a wine – especially young wines. Therefore, I tried to sample no more than 30 wines on site, and, later on in the evening after my palate had rested, 6 additional wines that were poured during dinner.
The tasting was open to the trade and press during the afternoon, and after 5 pm, was also open to the public.
I have an objection to opening the tasting to the general public. These are very young wines, most of them tannic and astringent; with bottle age, they will develop into great wines but in their present form, many do not taste particularly good. Presenting them to untrained palates at this stage of development could possibly turn off potential purchasers. I remained during the public time of tasting, to meet with a client whose cellar I’m developing. After he tasted some of the wines I recommended, his comment was “I hope you are not getting this swill for me” or words to that effect. This young man is prominent in the banking industry, but comes from a non-affluent Middle America background. He is learning about good wines, but he still thinks mostly on a “get it and drink it now” level, rather than cellaring and reaping the rewards ten years down the road. I had to remind him that these wines were to be held from 7 to 15 years before they were ready to drink.
The following wines caught my attention:
Tenuta San Guido, 2003 Bolgheri Sassicaia. A mouth filling Cabernet-based wine with spicy Mediterranean softness. Too young, needs at least 7 years in cellar. Nevertheless, it will develop into a lovely meat eater’s drink.
Villa Medoro, 2004 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Coline Teramane Adrano. A lovely Sangiovese with proper tannins and acidity. Sour cherries, smoke, and violets on the nose. A great wine, from a young, up-and-coming Abruzzese winery.
Travaglini, 2001 Gattinara Riserva. The Travaglini sisters presented a lovely wine from Alto Piemonte, two years after their father’s untimely passing. A fine Nebbiolo, full-bodied, with intense flavors of cherry, raspberry, and spice. Almost ready to drink now.
Sartarelli, 2004 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Balciana. Dry, soft, with floral aromas dominating. Full body, well balanced. The same evening, with pass around Hors d’Oeuvres, I tasted the 2004 Tralivio from the same producer. A little less aromatic; a little more pronounced acidity; just as nice as its award-winning sibling.
Ercole Velonosi, 2003 Rosso Piceno Superiore Rogio del Filare. A wine with personality and pleasing aromas of black forest fruit, carob, and violets followed by licorice, leather, black pepper, and vanilla. Tannic but balanced, with a full body. In the evening, we had with our antipasto the 2003 Il Brecciarolo from the same producer, which had a slightly alcoholic attack, but good body and intense flavors.
Fattoria Le Pupille. 2004 Morellino di Scansano Poggio Valente. Fruity and fresh but quite powerful, 85% Sangiovese, 15 % Alicante and Malvasia Nera. An interesting wine with finesse, even though it will require considerable cellar time. From the same producer, with the evening’s dessert, came the 2004 Sol Alto, a sweet and aromatic blend of 40% Traminer, 40% Sauvignon Blanc, and 20% Semillon.
Cantina Viticoltori di Caldaro. 2003 Alto Adige Moscato Giallo Passito Serenade. An absolutely lovely and highly aromatic dessert wine. Light golden in color with a beautiful aroma of apricots, honey, and musk. Full-bodied, harmonious, with excellent concentration. Long finish with ripe, lush, spicy fruit. Was featured by Gambero Rosso as The Sweet Wine of the Year. Also, looking at the price vs. quality, an outstanding bargain.
An earthy, ready to drink beauty was the 2004 Merlot from Castello delle Regine. A big wine, full bodied with velvety tannins. Black and red forest berries, coffee and toffee on the nose. Sour cherry and blackberry on the palate, with a long rather smoky finish.
From Venezia Giulia, 2004 Vistorta, by Conte Brandolini d’ Adda. Smooth, elegant, medium-bodied wine, soft with smooth deep cherry fruit nose enlivened by hints of plums, cigarbox, and spices. Very long, luscious blackberry finish.
Bertani. 1999 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Bertani is one of my favorite Italian wineries, making impressive reds from the Veneto. Ripe fruit, cacao, truffle, leather and ripe prunes, harmonious tannins and ends in a long, intense finish.
Finaly, from Castello Banfi, 2003 Sant’ Antimo Excelsus. One of the few samples that was close to be ready to drink. On the nose, cassis and dark chocolate, black cherries and smoke, with hints of violets, lavender and licorice. In the mouth, it is vividly mineral, dense and chewy, but sleek and polished.
Eviva! (Alternate Greek expression, instead of Is Igeian - to your health)
© May 2007 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
|
