2000 Feudi di San Gregorio "Serpico"

This Aglianico bottling ranks among my favourite wines of all time - always a treat to open one of these, and it was especially enjoyable to try this blind on some of my wine buds.

The 2000 Feudi di San Gregorio "Serpico" was very minerally on the nose, cooked dark berries, meaty and inky, later some hints of lavender - reminiscent of my prior Serpico tastings it coughs up its olfactory secrets slowly, but your patience is well rewarded.

Very, very, very, dry, tongue puckering dry, gobs of silky, silky, tannins ... such an incredibly long finish. Opened for some after dinner sipping, but it merited a pairing of roast meat (rack of lamb, perhaps?).
Cork. 14% alcohol
Score: 18/20
Price: C$89 (SAQ)

2001 Di Majo Norante Don Luigi

Another sad goodbye to a last bottle....

The 2001 Di Majo Norante "Don Luigi" (90% Montepulciano, Aglianico) was prunes, with tarry, minty notes...made me think Piemontese...some liquorice and flint. A velvety carpet of tannins carries dense, plummy fruit...minerally, a touch edgy at first, but softens up nicely. Very big and flavourful with a long, pleasing finish. A Top 50 Cellar Pick.
cork. 13.5% alcohol
Score: 17.5/20
Price: C$34.95 (LCBO)

Uber IGTs: A Tour of Italy's Most Expensive "Table Wine"

Eden's night of Tuscan wines was a prelude to a show-stopping, Uber-Tuscan night of over-the-top wines: Masseto, Sassicaia, Ornellaia....

Yes, our first IGT (Italian "table wines") night delivered an impressive slate of wines (even if the best wines were not IGT...) but what I really liked about this evening was the narrow score distribution - I think the group would agree that this may have been the narrowest distribution of scores in one of our grand tastings, which led to lots of debate and no consistency in the rank orders. But out of this disorder I managed to glean the following notes:

Well, it wasn't even close - with four first place and two second place rankings Cosme's 2001 Ornellaia (65% Cab Sauv, 30% Merlot, Cab Franc) was the clear winner. But wait, it's not an IGT? No one complained, as this 'Bolgheri DOC Superiore' wowed with an beautiful and exquisitely complex nose - clearly Bordeaux-like, with spicy oak and dark fruit, layers and layers of aromas...violets and roses, sour cherries and white pepper, leather and cloves with some underlying green pepper and vegetal notes. Soft and silky on the palate, very easy to enjoy today but I felt it was touch flabbier and unstructured vs. the others, and that became more evident as the evening progressed. Score: 18/20

Cosme took the silver as well, bringing a 1999 Sassicaia (85% Cab Sauv, Cab Franc) that ranked close behind the Ornellaia, but got there very differently. Another Bolgheri (didn't somebody tell him it was IGT night?), I did NOT like the way this one started out from the decanter - a heavy dose of sulphury oak at first sniff, it took a while to blow off and reveal some sour cherries, old leather, later some green pepper and notes of cheese rind. Powerfully built, pounding the palate with dense tannins and a finish that lasted all night. All power and no finesse today, but this is still in its youth and I predict great things when this bottle finally sorts itself out. Score: 18.5/20

We had a tie for third place, so I will start with what was probably the greatest value of the night. Cam's 2000 Ghiaie della Furba (Sangiovese, Merlot, Syrah), at C$41, was half the price of the next cheapest wine, yet was probably the softest, silkiest, and best balanced of the night, a combination of great winemaking and optimal bottle age coming together perfectly. Less complex than the others, and all ready peaking, but at this price? Score: 18.5/20 (one of my Top Cellar Picks)

Pramod's 2000 Flaccianello was deceptively good, and I wonder if another few hours in the decanter would have put it in first place instead of third. Classic Sangiovese tobacco notes mingled with sour cherries and spearmint, liquorice and black pepper, some vegetal notes. Tangy and spicy with an incredibly long finish, I am so glad I have a cellar full of this stuff. Score: 18/20

Lloyd brought a legendeary wine from a less than than legendary vintage, the 2002 Masseto. Fashioned from 100% Merlot, it delivered a nose of violets, ripe strawberry compote, and some smokey vanilla. Crisp and full-bodied, but not overbearing, with velvety tannins and a flavourful, long finish. I expected from one of the worlds most expensive merlot bottlings to be kinder, gentler...but the score kept creeping up over the evening. Score: 18/20

My 2000 Serpico, made from the Aglianico grape, was easy to spot - clearly not Cabernet or Sangiovese, but my "nekulturny" friends did not like this so you can take my notes with a grain of salt. To be fair the nose was simple - flinty prunes and some floral notes - but luxurious, tangy tannins and a very long finish made this a joy for me. Maybe I won't share my Aglianico any more...Score 18/20

Many thanks to Pramod and Sofia, perfectly setting up these wines with a spread fit for kings (including a rather tasty, but ominously named fatty meat called "lardo"), and to the gang for really digging deep into the cellar for a creative flight of wine.

Cheers!

2000 Di Majo Norante Ramitello (Redux)

Sometimes you raid the cellar and find something you had forgotten was in there. Sometimes you find a cheap wine aged way better than you thought possible. Tonight I got both:

The 2000 Di Majo Norante Ramitello, a blend of prugnolo (80%) and aglianico, had a wild and enticing nose of leathery dried fruit, dark berries, pine resin, black liquorice, and more. Great complexity on the palate, substantial crisp fruit supported by a nice acidic presence, and a rustic Italian edge that transports you to a tiny Italian village far, far away. This could be cellared for a few more years, and may improve - cellarwothy AND under 20$! Love this wine (I'm a sucker for quirky, rustic Italian reds) - a steal at this price.
cork. 13.5% alcohol
Score: 17/20
Price: C$19.80 (SAQ)

Tasted previously, but even better now (or better tonight...)

Open That Bottle Night 9: 2000 Serpico dei Feudi di San Gregorio

Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) was started by the WSJ's wine couple, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, to encourage wine drinkers everywhere to open that bottle we have been sitting on, waiting for the "perfect" moment that never arrives.

OTBN presents a challenge for me, as I tend to open bottles simply BECAUSE "I haven't had one of those in a while" - every night is OTBN at Joe's! Last year I grabbed a pricey chardonnay from Piedmont and I return once again to quirky, expensive, Italian wine for OTBN 9. Searching through my spreadsheet for a wine I was deliberately avoiding I happened upon tonight's 2000 Serpico Dei Feudi di San Gregorio. After all, who buys obscenely expensive aglianico? And what the heck do you serve it with? The first answer, of course, is obvious...

A dense and foreboding ruby red in the glass, explosively aromatic, a meaty, butcher shop nose with prunes dominate, progressively changing and opening to reveal secrets of rose, sour cherry, plum, cedar, liquorice and a hint of thyme. Very dry and full bodied with wave after wave of velvety tannin and sour cherry cascading across the palate. Beautifully integrated fruit and tannins, incredible balance, with an interesting, rustic edge. Please, send donations...
cork. 14% alcohol
Score: 18.5/20
Price: C$80 (SAQ)

...paired very well with rack of lamb marinated in a pistachio pesto, wrapped in pancetta

2003 Di Majo Norante Contado

After finishing two bottles of wine for WBW #32 - Regular vs. Reserve (post to follow), we moved on to the "after dinner" wine. I am a big fan of Di Majo Norante, a winery that produces a lineup of wines that seem to perfectly capture the passion and 'rusticity' I seek in an Italian wine. Norante's wines are also excellent values, and a nice change from barbera, sangiovese and corvina - their wines use aglianico, prugnolo and montepulciano grapes, amongst others.

The 2003 Contado uses 100% aglianico grapes from the Molise region of Italy. A deep cherry red, the nose was dominated by tarry, nutty, and tannic aromas, with some background spiciness (cloves), musk, cedar, tobacco, mint and strawberries. Fully-bodied, with a very long finish, the leathery fruit masks the substantial tannin in this wine, which put it slightly off balance. I should have decanted this wine, the Contado should improve with some more bottle time. It was an excellent match for a game of cribbage and lightly salted pretzels. 13.5% alcohol
Score: 16/20
Cost: C$18 (LCBO)
Great Value!