After I realized that this was a screwcap that looked like a metal capsule covering a cork, I twisted off the cap and found that this Alois Legeder wine is much more than clever marketing for the bottle. When the wine is cold it has delicate aromas: florals, minerals, chalk,
Two weeks ago I returned home from The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, held at the Meadowood Napa in St. Helena the week prior to Premiere Napa Valley. I’m kicking myself for not accepting the invitation to stay for Premiere – the Napa Valley Vintner’s annual “bake sale,” as NVV
The color is inky dark with maroon edges. The nose is lightly jammy blackcurrant with a background of vanilla and eucalyptus. The palate is more harsh than the nose. Blackcurrant leads, along with some vegetal tobacco leaf as well a higher tones of mint and eucalyptus. It does not show
Roses and cedar aromas, nice mouth-filling classic Chianti flavors on palate. Fruity but balanced. Nicely integrated tannins with fruit in a moderate finish. Drink with plain grilled meat. Recommended. BSE WHO: Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi Castello di Nippozzano WHAT: Sangiovese WHERE: Chianti, Tuscany, Italy WHEN: 2008 HOW MUCH: around $20 (media
A baby that shows every sign of being a great grownup when it fully matures. Deep purple with a seductive nose of blackcurrants, chocolate, and rosemary. Great gobs of blackberry fruit and pistachios on the palate, with balanced tannins. Finishes beautifully and languorously. This has not yet been released at
For Mormoretto’s 25th anniversary, the Frescobaldi family has created a vivid super-Tuscan style blend. Beginning with violets, tobacco and wild herbs in the aroma. On the palate, nice targeted tannins are curled around the blended flavors of fruit and leather. This wine is just beginning to come into its own,
The color shows the wine’s age, just starting to go from deeper colors in the center to a brick red at the edges. The nose shows classic Northern Rhone - a bushel blackberries in a room full of dry-aging beef. The same blackberries and meat show on the palate, with
by Becky Sue Epstein Cherry and orange aromas, toasted sugar on palate, along with bright fruit, and a big, longish finish. Pair with plain meat, poultry and other light dishes. Recommended. WHO: Angelini WHAT: Sangiovese WHERE: Colli Pesaresi, Marche, Italy WHEN: 2007 HOW MUCH: around $22 (media sample)