An attempt at fine wines

[Andre]

An afternnon is always a good opportunity to enjoy reserved wines.....

Brunello di Montalcino Il Paradiso di Manfredi 1996

Deep red dark impressive color.

A well-balanced nose of soft ripe fruits, dusty older oak, spice and green herbs. A minute later and dark chocolate, nutmeg join sun-dried Soltanina raisins & prunes.

Soft on the entrance ….soft on the exit. Ooops, aside from some spicy and chewy tannins, this wine forms a huge gap of emptiness from whatever expectations the impressive nose had elevated.

The only positive thing about it – simple enough to compliment food.

Tasted Feb 3rd 2005.

Barolo Colonello, Poderri Aldo Conterno 1997.

[selected vines of low yield within Bussia Soprana]

Red toward dark red very deep color.

Quite alcoholic on a first sniff with dominant aldehydes. A very mild Barlo nose develops after a while with some concentrated dried fruits mixing with some mild spice.

The mouth is a disappointment. Medium bodied with nothing even resembling complexity or intensity with a rather short finish.

This is an easy drinking Barolo for beginners.

Tasted Feb 3rd 2005.

Hermitage Jean-Louis Chave 1983

Light red with a good depth and brick colored rim.

A beautiful older Hermitage nose with Cacao and dried fruits perfectly balanced in a manner reserved for royalty.

Full bodied, soft and multi-dimensional texture lead by cherry and prunes.

Very ripe soft flavours with just the right amount of acidity to back them up.

What an experience – Chapeau!

Drink now-2006.

Tasted Feb 3rd 2005.

Chateau Angelus Saint Emiliion Grand Cru Classe’ 1991

A very deep Bordeaux color with beautiful lighter red rim.

A rather mild nose with dominant spice and some oak.

A massive tannin attack indicates the youth of this wine, yet any hope for anything else other than shades of over-ripe fruits comes tumbling down.

Some more tannins with a little bitterness indicated the winemakers effort to extract what was not there.

Tannin lovers may have a go at this one though the experiment may prove dull.

Drink 2005-2008.

Tasted Feb 3rd 2005

Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County, Ernest & Julio Gallo 1978

A taster may sometimes loose his patience when it comes to wines like these but the elder must be respected.

Brick red towards hints of brown with little depth.

Molasses mixes with oxidized aromas with a sweet toasted oak smoothly blending with sweet prune juice.

The wine proves of a sherry texture where the acidity is converting to acetic and a hot alcoholic finish dominates whatever should have been there.

Now that we paid respect for this one the summery will be of two words: Too late.

Tasted Feb 3rd 2005.

Patience is the deserts greates wisdom.

[Rebel Rose]

Andre, these are great notes on an interesting variety of vintages. It's edifying to hear about wines that aren't quite balanced, as well as what happens when a wine is kept a little too long.

Did you enjoy these wines with friends and food?

[Andre]

Thank you,

I enjoyed these wines with friends and although there was food on the table, personally, I don't even sip water between the wines.

I may enjoy the food with the wines if there is anything left afterwards.

I also try to taste these wines over a period of half an hour to see if there are any changes.

I try to foccus on the movie rather than the picture keeping in mind that whoever created the wines, spent a long period of hard work before I had the privelage to tatse it.