Recent Wines

[kazuo]

Some recent wines (on something of an Italian kick right now for some reason):

2001 Tua Rita Giustro di Notri - inky, youthful, but surprisingly ripe, enjoyable now but really needs a few years to show its best, not discernably Italian, but given that it is cab/merlot, I guess this is no surprise.

1998 Masseto - largely, if not 100%, merlot, and really very lovely to drink now, will no doubt improve, but shows nice black fruit and none of the "green" notes that merlot sometimes shows.

2001 Zuc di Volpe Focus - another Italian merlot, has just a hint of the green note that was absent in the Masseto, fruit and structure are not as developed as the Masseto either.

2000 Argiano Solengo - ok, now I get it. Prior vintages (95, 96 and 97) never really did much for me, but the 2000 is really lovely, full of sweet (albeit primary) fruit, with terrific balance, so nice now that I'm tempted to drink more but will wait a bit for the next bottle.

1998 Macchiole Scrio - opened by a generous friend, apparently only 50 cases or so made each year, still very youthful (bordering on infanticide, really), interesting black truffle/asphalt nose, lots of blackberry hidden under the tannins.

1997 Stag's Cask 23 - ugh, all the rumors about the fall in quality of this cuvee are true, nice enough cab but disappointing in the context of the vintage. The 84 and 85 were world's better.

[Brad Ballinger]

1997 Stag's Cask 23 - ugh, all the rumors about the fall in quality of this cuvee are true, nice enough cab but disappointing in the context of the vintage.  The 84 and 85 were world's better.

I had this wine about two years ago and was similarly nonplussed. Did absolutely nothing for me.

["T"]

Glad you liked the 2000 Solengo. I have a few bottles of this somewhere and I was thinking of bringing it to a tasting soon.

Some have said that the wine does not taste Tuscan or even from Italy. What did you think?

Cheers, T

[kazuo]

I suspect many would be hard-pressed to pick it out as discernably Italian if it was placed in a (blind) tasting with a group of relatively forward bordeaux. I guess I don't tend to get all that worked up about "typicity" especially where the Tuscan blends are concerned (Brunello, now that's a different issue). Still, I thought the Solengo was pretty lovely; if you have a few bottles, it's worth opening. I didn't decant out of pure sloth (the decanters live on a high and difficult to access shelf) but should have.

If you get around to trying it, please post your thoughts. I've got a pretty simple (ok, primitive) palate and always appreciate others' views.

Edited September 14, 2004 by kazuo (log)