"Italy boasts noble wines to close out last century"
Fredric Koeppel Wine Today
[As Published in The Carroll County Times, Wed. Jan 23, 2002]
Italy has benefited from a series of very good to excellent vintages at the end of the 20th century. 1990 was a good start to the decade, though another even modestly good year didn't come around until '95. 1996 was potentially excellent, but winemakers had to be careful not to make wines that were too tannic. 1997 came close to being the vintage of the century, especially in Tuscany and Piedmont, while '98, '99 and 2000, though not up to the wonder year of '97, each offer ranges of excellent.
Today, we'll look at products from Tuscany and Piedmont. Next week will be the turn of the Northeast and the South.
Tuscany
Brunello di Montalcino is made from the sangiovese grosso grape around the town of Montalcino, about 70 miles south of Florence and the Chianti region. Because regulations stipulate that Brunello di Montalcino be aged in barrel and bottle for 42 months, a younger wine, Rosso di Montalcino, is released after one year, a boon for consumers and producers.
• The Greppone Mazzi Brunello di Montalcino1996, from the Ruffino estate, displays classic proportions of leather, dried spices, plums, currants and cherries in a large but smooth framework. A dense and chewy wine, its touches of lavender and anise gradually become more exotic and the spicy, fruity qualities deeper. Excellent. About $60.
• The Rosso di Montalcino 2000, from Col d'Orcia, is delightful. Dark, rich and spicy, wreathing plum and black cherry flavors with touches of dried flowers and herbs, it's perfect for pizzas, pastas with red sauces and steaks. Very good+. About $16.50.
• Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino 1999 is lovely and bright, vivid with plum, red currant and black cherry flavors that are a bit roasted and a spectrum of dried spices, violets and lavender. Polished, grainy tannins make it firm, dense and chewy. Excellent. About $19.
Think Tuscany and most people think of the Chianti region that lies between Florence and Siena. Those hilly, pine-flocked vineyards produce three well-known regulated wines- Chianti, Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Riserva - and a newer classification, Chianti Rufina.
Chianti, Chianti Classico and Chianti Rufina are geographical designations; Chianti Classico Riserva is a classification for theoretically higher quality wines aged longer than Chianti Classico.
Sangiovese is the primary grape in what was traditionally a blended wine, but recent regulations allow for Chianti Classico (and Riserva) to be 100 percent sangiovese or for 10 percent nontraditional grapes such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot or syrah.
• The Casafrassi Chianti Classico 1999 almost smolders in the glass with smoke, spice, minerals and a ravishing floral element. Tasty plum cherry flavors nestle in a dense structure of chewy and rather formidable tannin. It could age two to four years. A Great Value at about $13.
• Castello Banfi turned out a winner in its Chianti Classico Riserva 1998. Dense, luscious and succulent and beautifully balanced, the wine features hints of leather, lavender and violets, dried spices and raspberry tea, plum and black cherry flavors. Excellent, about $17.
• The Castello della Paneretta Chianti Classico 1998 displays loads of depth and character for the price. Thick, dense and chewy; bursting with touches of smoke and ash and juicy, intense plum and black currant flavors, it finishes on a serious note of austerity. Very good+. About $19.
• No touch of the so-called 'international" style mars La Selvanella Chianti Classico Riserva 1997, from the Melini company. Dust, dried spices and potpourri surge in the gorgeous bouquet that also features black cherry, plum and cranberry scents buoyed by touches of smoke, minerals, lavender and dark chocolate. Loads of depth and personality, lovely cherry and plum flavors and layers of spice lead to a slightly austere (and fairly typical) finish. Excellent. About $21.
• The Castello del Rampolla Chianti Classico 1998 offers no edges but a subtle and supple wreathing of dried spices, Earl Grey tea, red currant and cherry flavors with a touch of plum jam, leather and tobacco and enough oak and tannin for a firm but unobtrusive structure. Excellent. About $30.
Piedmont
The noble grape of Piedmont is the nebbiolo, the grape of fog. Nebbiolo is made into barolo and barbaresco, wines that may reach superb heights, and lesser wines like gattinara. The other major red grapes of Piedmont are barbera and dolcetto.
• Notable purity and intensity characterize the seductive Marchese Marenco Dolcetto d' Acqui 1999.It features a lovely bouquet of lavender, licorice and baking spice, plum, raspberry tea and tobacco. These elements carry seamlessly into the mouth, where considerable tannin provides structure and dictates two to four years' aging, though it's delicious now. Excellent. About $18.
• The Rupestris Barbera d'Asti Superiore 1997 from the Benotto firm is super-deep, super-ripe, super-spicy. Exhibiting remarkably intense black cherry and plum fruit, it suddenly unleashes licorice and potpourri, bittersweet chocolate and raspberries and, finally, a tide of polished tannin. It could age three to six years. Excellent. About $30.
Not for the faint of heart, this quartet of wines from Bruno Giacosa is stunning, for quality, for longevity and price.
First, three barbarescos
Leather, tobacco, cloves and sandalwood teem in the bouquet of Giacosa's Barbaresco Rabaja 1997. Earth and minerals come up, along with a powerful floral element and very intense and concentrated currant and plum flavors. A huge tannic and oaken structure will require 10 to 15 years' aging. Excellent potential. About $120. The Barbaresco Asili 1997 is even bigger, more intense and more concentrated, though if a truculent, slumbering, minerally giant can be succulent and seductive this is the one. Twelve to 18 years. Excellent potential. About $120. Third, the question about Giacosa's Barbaresco Asili Riserva 1996 is, "How can a wine of such depth, breadth and scope, how can a wine of such tremendous power, grip and density, of such awe-inspiring tannic presence, be so incredibly drinkable?" Beats me, but I'm happy. Give it 12 to 20 years. About $150.
• Bruno Giacosa's Barolo 1997, Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba, is, frankly, gorgeous. It's an expansive, generous wine of almost startling ripeness, floral fragrance and flavor intensity, and its essential power and elegance seem to revel in a state of remarkable purity and ageworthiness. Eight to 15 years. About $150.
Gattinara wines from the Travaglini firm are widely available in the United States, but I haven't tasted any I could heartily recommend since the 1989 regular bottling and the 1988 Riserva. These wines typically suffer from excessive aging in wood, leaving them dry and austere. New releases are the best I have tried in years but don't measure up to the potential of the nebbiolo grape or the vintages.
The Travaglini Gattinara 1997 opens with a ripe, earthy, smoky bouquet of macerated plums and black cherries, tea and walnuts, iodine and violets, but in the mouth formidable oak and tannin pull a curtain over the flavors, which seem sadly in abeyance. Still, Very well. About $30.
• The Travaglini Gattinara Riserva 1996 at first seemed to offer more character, depth and personality, but woefully strident and astringent tannins force us to ask the old question, "Where's the fruit?" I can't imagine this wine going anywhere. About $35.
Koeppel's pick of the week
Don't miss the direct and appealing Castelvero Barbera 2000, a darkly spicy and forcefully flavorful wine that seems to grow in intensity as each minute passes. Tasty plum, cranberry and black cherry fruit receives plenty of support from moderate, rustic tannins. A great hamburger, pizza and pasta wine, and a terrific value at about $9.
E-mail Fredric Koeppel at koeppel@gomemphis.com or write c/o The Commercial Appeal, P.O .Box 334, Memphis, TN 38101.
Copyright, 2002, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN. Used here with permission. No additional reproduction or distribution of this article in any form is permitted without the written approval of The Commercial Appeal (http://www.gomemphis.com).