Tonight a buddy came over to wish me well the night before I head off to Italy for an Amarone tasting and winery tour in Verona. Fives bottles were opened, none of them finished. Dinner was a mini-bucket (8 pieces) of Kentucky Fried Chicken ... not the best food to be pairing with wine, but what the heck we had to eat something, especially something that reminds us of our misspent youth, and, as my buddy said, "what would be a better than this for your last meal on North American soil" (I still have lunch tomorrow but still he makes a good point). The wines we tried reached as far back as 2001 to as current as a 2009 ... here's how they all fared:
Bottle 1 - Cantina Tollo 2004 Colle Secco Montepulciano D'Abruzzo ... this turned out to be a quaffing wine, dark fruit oriented with a raisiny-pruny quality that intensified the longer it was opened.
Bottle 2 - Tawse 2006 Echos Bistro Red ... a little more on this on my Taste it Again blog, but this one has turned very much into a spiced wood concoction.
Bottle 3 - Charles and Charles 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah ... I have reviewed this one in the past few weeks and my review still stands.
Bottle 4 - Southbrook 2001 Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon ... another wine to appear on another blog (should be on the Lost & Found but ...) - no doubt about it, no matter how you slice it, this one was buggy, as in lady bugged.
Bottle 5 - Southbrook 2002 Cabernet / Merlot ... might be the best wine of the night, especially considering its age. Check the Taste it Again blog for my notes, but I this one reminds me of shish-kabob on the BBQ.
Showing posts with label Montepulciano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montepulciano. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Monday, July 26, 2010
Aussie to Start – Italians to End (Australia / Italy)
After the Scotch on the Rock tasting it was time to head back to familiar territory, so I opened a bottle of Thorn-Clarke 2008 Terra Barossa Estate Grown Shiraz … at first it seemed a little tame next to all those Scotches, but it finally came into its own and the chocolate, plum and pepper came thru.
Dinner was started off with a nice salad and garlic bread course, it was Italian night on the island, and for this I had two special Italian wines for the occasion. Umani Ronchi 2007 Jorio Montepulciano D’Abruzzo started things off in an elegant way. This wine has some rustic notes to it but there is also plenty of good fruit, pepper, herbs and spice – it was the best wine of the night hands down, lots of complexity and enjoyability and had I had another bottle with me we would have opened that. Instead I opened a bottle of Vinicola Torrevento 2006 Torre del Falco Nero di Troia, this wine had lots of plum and vanilla notes with rich, ripe fruit. The plumminess really took over here and it felt like a Zinfandel in the mouth with all that big fruit; not surprising it comes from the home of the Primitivo grape (Zinfandel’s kissing cousin) in Italy, Puglia.
Where the Jorio showed old world charm with balance, the Falco show a new world style with big fruit. I liked them both for what they were but the Jorio just stood out as the complete package.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Umani Ronchi 2007 Jorio (Italy)
I tried this wine yesterday at an Italian tasting ... I liked it so much that I just had to find some. So I called a couple of stores and found a few bottles, even picked some up for mom as a Mother's Day gift (hope mom doesn't read my blog regularly). This Montepulciano D'Abruzzo is a black fruited spicy number that is simply lovely and juicy, it has enough tannins to sit for another 5+ year but it drinks quite well now. The nose is blackberry and cassis with hits of spice and vanilla. The palate seems to follow suit with nice blackberry, drying tannins, and some juicy black raspberry in the middle; for those interested it also has a beautiful colour. The finish seems to dry the palate out but then it makes you want to take another sip to quench it - pretty sneak wine that way. Lovely and very palatable ... now I'm off to find something for dinner, cheers.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Zonin 2000 Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (Italy)
So, after sipping on one of the more unique Ontario wines for most of the afternoon (the review of which will appear in my newsletter this coming Thursday as a "Something Special" selection), I decide it was time for something red. I went way back into my cellar (which is organized by year) and pulled out this Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. The nose smelled of leather and dried figs, while the palate also showed much leather (but the smooth and supple kind) and dried raspberry notes. I really enjoyed this wine and appreciated it for its age and how well it was drinking. My mother, who partook in this bottle with me this evening, was not a fan; she could not get past the leatheryness of the nose or the palate. She asked me if I would have enjoyed the wine if it were younger and still had these characteristic; I admitted to her that no I would not have enjoyed this wine if I knew it were younger because I would be expecting a heck of a lot more fruit. But because this wine is almost 10 years old it really is quite lovely for its age. Its all relative my friend, all relative.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Cantina Tollo 2001 Rocca Ventosa Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (Italy)
I bought this bottle for a whopping $6.75 (no date of purchase is on file) ... now trust me, if you live in Ontario $6.75 for a bottle of wine is considered cheap - or sorry - inexpensive. Now eight years from vintage date I open this on a wing and a prayer, wondering if I had actually waited too long to drink it. Happily no, but I would never go so far as to tell you this wine was fresh and lively, age showed on both the nose and palate - and even on the rim of the glass with some slight bricking (turning from red to brownish-red). The nose was forest floor like, with wet leaves and some rot, but sweet pleasant rot, not the festering disgusting kind (trust me it's not bad). The flavours are of sweet dried cranberry and dried leaves along with a touch of some herbs and gentle spice, very nice. Not sure I should have waited this long to drink it, but it is pretty tasty and found a place at the table with a lime, maple and garlic chicken.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)