For an explanation of this post's (uncharacteristic) brevity, please see the first installment.
9 September 2003 – San Francisco, California
Estate Wines (part six – Tuscany and the rest of Italy)
(Notes, as with any large portfolio tasting of this nature, are brief. I return for second tastes of some of the more difficult-to-decipher wines, but most are relatively quick takes, and should be considered in that context.)
Piazzano 2001 Chianti Rio Camerata (Tuscany) – Little, sugary strawberry candies with a big glass of industrial milk chocolate. Falls completely apart on the finish.
Mori 2001 Chianti (Tuscany) – Burnt toast with asparagus. Ugh.
Fattoria di Magliano 2002 Morellino di Scansano "Heba" (Tuscany) – Thyme and marjoram in a chocolate-flecked rhubarb soup. It's certainly…interesting.
Ricasoli Firidolfi "Rocca di Montegrossi" 2000 Chianti Classico (Tuscany) – Wow. This actually smells like a Chianti. I was starting to forget. Earthy strawberry, plum, and a little game are nice, but the finish is hot. Still, it's wine, and that's an improvement over what's preceded it.
Sderci "Il Palazzino" 2000 Chianti Classico Argenina (Tuscany) – Thick, solid concrete dotted with light, anonymous fruit. No finish.
Sderci "Il Palazzino" 2000 Chianti Classico La Pieve (Tuscany) – Massive tannin with absolutely no fruit. Why does this exist?
Vannucci "Piaggia" 2000 Carmignano "Riserva" (Tuscany) – Dense strawberry with huge, leathery but ripe tannin. It's just a touch green, but there's both quality and potential here.
The other Vesuvio
Dei 1999 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Tuscany) – Ashen blueberry syrup, disjointed and hard to drink, but OK if one must have sticky gobs in their wine. I guess.
Gorelli "Le Potazzine" 2001 Rosso di Montalcino (Tuscany) – Big strawberry and apple on the attack, beaten back by tannin in some sort of murderous conflagration, because there's absolutely no finish. Still, OK for the very, very short term.
Collosorbo 1999 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany) – Coffee and rotting fruit on the nose, elegant rhubarb and cranberry on the palate, and completely ruined by a florid, fecal infection.
Sassetti "Pertimali" 1999 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany) – Thick, dense vanilla and herbs with excellent structure, but the fruit quickly disappears on the finish. Maybe? Maybe not. Flip a coin.
Valle dell'Asso 2002 Primitivo Salento Vigna S. Giovanni (Puglia) – Weird blueberry vinegar and green saltwater algae with huge tannin. Did I mention weird?
Taburno "Fidelis" 1999 Aglianico (Campania) – Rough and tough, showing peanut and raspberry but completely dominated by tannin (not that this is unusual or unexpected from aglianico). Where it fails is that it's just dull.
Bonaccorsi "Val Ceresa" 2000 Etna Rosso (Sicily) – Fruit buried in an eruption of dirty volcanic ash. I usually like these ash-driven wines, but this one seems extra-unclean, and there's not much more to recommend it.
Zenner 2001 Nero d'Avola Sicilia IGT Terre delle Sirene (Sicily) – Huge, chewy grape jam with great acidity and, despite a hard, tarry note, very fruity. A fun wine.
Caggiano 1998 Taurasi Vigna Macchia dei Goti (Campania) – Several bottles in a row were corked, and so I didn't get to taste this one.
Boy, what a dismal experience this was. A good nero d'avola and one barely-drinkable Chianti Classico. Nearly enough to put me off wine forever. Though the last batch wasn't exactly unparalleled joy, either.
![[Café Vesuvio]](http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/user_images/tci_ca03_vesuvio_exterior.jpg)