Wine on a Tuesday Afternoon

Spent a lazy afternoon at a neighborhood pizza and pasta place with a few friends and some bottles of wine. Nothing was tasted blind, nobody was trying to wow anyone. The wines were the excuse for conversations that started with the wines and as food and wine will do, they shrank the world to the space around us as our thoughts and ideas expanded.

The wines were all interesting. The Freeman Pinot Noir 2007 is a Russian River Pinot Noir new to the market. It is another terrific 07 Pinot in the big rich Russian River style. Big aromas with unmistakable perfumes of  Pinot Noir, mouth-filling flavors with rich plums and berries covering the hints of forest floor that linger on the spicy finish. A big wine for a big price and a big meal.

Everyone's first thought was that the next wine should have been opened first. The Fire Road Pinot Noir 2008 (another nice New Zealand Pinot under $20) was a clear pale ruby color and looked like a dark rose'. Complex aromas of fresh strawberries led to flavors of creamy raspberries, strawberries and blueberries all dancing with a vibrant acidity. I know the description sounds like a rose', but there was way too much going on both in the glass and on the palate. Conversation drifted to bacon wrapped shrimp and paella, chorizo and smoked paprika.

While the Freeman was as big, luxurious and delicious as it should have been and certainly lived up to what $50 should deliver in the current Pinot market, somehow, the Fire Road, with its pale color and big flavor managed to capture our fancy. Maybe it was just the pizza!

We then jumped to Italy for the 2007 Tre from Brancaia. A blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot that sees time in barrel, the Tre comes in around $20, definitely on the high end its category. The wine was very tight at first, but its heritage began to show more and more as the afternoon passed. The black fruit of the Bordeaux grapes came out first and eventually the Sangio' woke up and the wine showed its true Italian heritage with flying colors.

And last there was a Brunello. 2004 Casanova di Neri. When we really started to tuck into the wine it had been about 4 hours since the wine had been double decanted and the wine was flat out singing with dark aromas of soy and cherry leading to a fruity core of black cherries and cranberries mingled with earth, brush, spices and integrated tannins. Priced in the mid $50's, the wine is a veritable steal in the pricey world of Brunello's.

At this point, the pizza was gone, the wine was gone. Other customers had long since left the restaurant and there was maybe time to get something done before the afternoon was over. Or not. There was talk of espresso. There was more talk of grappa.....

Brunello di Montalcino 2004: Notes on a Blind Tasting

Blind Tasting of 10 Wines Selected for Regional Characteristics
VINO 2009, New York
January 2009
Led by Karen MacNeil
Notes by David Waddington

Montalcino is a hilltop village in Tuscany located about 40 km south of Siena and 40 km from the sea. Vineyards surround the town on the northern, eastern and southern slopes. The hill was formed in different geologic eras, yielding a variety of soil types. The only grape allowed are the localized clones of Sangiovese. The result is a wine producing region with slightly different clones growing in a myriad of terroirs. Thus Brunello di Montalcino is one wine with many different expressions. The tasting was organized by the governing organ of the region, the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, who chose the wines for their different expressions of the region.

Generally the wines showed black cherry fruit at their core surrounded by layers of tannin, acid and minerals. According to the Conzorzio, the average alcohol for the 2004 vintage was 14% which is unusually high, showing great ripeness. The powerful tannins and elegant acids are both strong preservatives and create the great aging potential of Brunello.

TASTING NOTES

Wine #1
Aromas: Black cherry fruit, anise
Palate: Bitter black fruit, high acid, moderate tannin
Impressions: Quite delicious!

Wine #2
Aromas: Reticent black cherry, soy mineral
Palate: Soy, minerals, intense black fruit at the core
Impressions: Very lean, almost salty

Wine #3
Aromas: Dark raisins, soy
Palate: Deep dark flavors, black fruits, soy
Impressions: Big, full, brooding dark wine

Wine #4
Aromas: Dark black cherry, bitter chocolate
Palate: Complex dark fruits
Impressions: Surprisingly more open that the nose would suggest

Wine #5
Aromas: Tar, anise
Palate: Tar, anise, core of black fruit, tannic finish
Impressions: Definitely a wine for bottom feeders!

Wine #6
Aromas: Damp earth, soy
Palate: Soy, earth, umami
Impressions: All shadow and forest floor, not flawed, but no fruit today!

Wine #7
Aromas: Dark soy, red and black cherries
Palate: Broad black fruits laced with acid and tannin
Impressions: Nice

Wine #8
Aromas: Floral, reticent black fruit
Palate: Herbal elements, core of black fruit
Impressions: Finishes with good acid and tannin

Wine #9
Aromas: Black cherry, cassis, mineral
Palate: Dark fruits, tar and soil
Impressions: Powerful and concentrated

Wine #10
Aromas: Tart black fruit, spice
Palate: A fruit bomb with truffles and sweet integrated tannins
Impressions: Today was this wine's day to shine! A fun finish to an intense tasting.

So, there it is, Brunello 2004. As you can see, there is a definite pattern to the wines with the same flavors flowing in and out of the various wines. Depending on where the estates are located, they all taste different. The point is that overall, THEY ALL TASTE LIKE BRUNELLO!

Now THAT was a fun morning in the wine biz!