TN: 1997 Ferrari Carano Tresor

[tjaehnigen]

1/25/03

Brought this as a BYOW to a dinner at Tosca in Washington DC tonight. This was one of the two bottles Mrs. TJ and I hauled back as the freebies from the 6/15 NY WS Forum Event that Board-o set up.

Opened it at 6, did not decant. First consumed about an hour later and drank over the next hour or so. Served in what appeared to be Bordeaux Spiegelau stems, nice.

This was pretty tight, what with me not having opened/decanted it prior to consuming. It was in my glass for about 15 minutes before I really dug into it. It took most of that first hour to really open up, but here are my notes for what it is worth...

On the nose and to an extent in the mouth, I got a sense of charred, but not burnt, toast -- almost as if you plopped to toast on a grill a la BBQ. I also got candied black fruits. It took a good bit to finally settle down. Near the end, it evoked a sense of blueberries, lilac and more black fruits -- it was just coming into its own.

To drink this now I would say you'd need to decant for an hour or so at least. This wine was quite delicious, especially at the end. It did seem a bit heavier than I expected, but then again, I did not know what the varietal mix of this blend was...

TJ rating 89 as it is. If I'd waited, I think it could easily have inched up to 90, probably 91 and maybe higher. Not sure what this retails for, but worth at list a decent chunk of change in my book...

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3/29/03

TJ Rating 90, maybe 91

Had this again at the VC Rocks at Equinox event on 3/29/03. Courtesy of latour67. I believe that this was paired with the veison course and it paired rather well.

Nice dark color with thick, slow moving legs. Lots of them, too. They almost oozed down the glass. Interestingly enough, I did not get the same sense of charred toast as I had before. Rather, I got a magnificent sense of rose petals and delicious black fruit. I am not sure, but perhaps latour67 decanted these bottles prior to coming to the dinner. Nice lingering finish.