Finally getting around to posting tasting notes accumulated over the past couple of months in my phone (and other places). Most of these were from a big Italian tasting at the SF branch of Flatiron, though other notes are mixed in.
2019 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello: Redder and more powerful fruit on the palate than the Albesani; definitely a riper, slightly softer wine. However, there is still good acidity and firm, drying tannins to give this wine a precise architecture. Enjoyable and quite good, though I'm not really getting the hint of mintiness which I normally associate with Ovello.
2019 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Albesani: Dark cherry and floral nose. Has a taut, acidic spine that is relatively lean and mineral-forward with some purple fruit framing the palate. The tautness and tension really appeals to me.
2017 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Aleste: Second time I've had this in the past year. Rather ripe and fruit-forward, with a darker, more powerful presence than what you would expect from the Barolo commune (it feels more like Serralunga). But, I get that darker fruit profile from other wines I’ve had from the Cannubi Boschis. In that sense, it feels true to its terroir, despite the bigness of the vintage. I remember liking this quite a bit more than the ‘17 Le Vigne (which I had about a year earlier), which had a grittier tannic quality.
2018 Bruno Giacosa Barolo: This is quite good: beautiful, archetypal nose of black cherries, roses, and tar while on the palate, you have very understated dark fruit balanced by good acidity, minerality, with some grippiness from the tannins. Perhaps some may feel it's a little dilute, but I appreciate the early approachability and its relative gentleness.
2019 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté: This has lush dark fruit with hints of minerality; tannins are much more resolved than the Gavarini and this is quite silky and approachable at this point. Perhaps a little too big and obvious for my palate, but this is very good wine, especially if you like power in your Barolo.
2019 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera: Mineral-forward, earthy, lean, but powerful wine. There's hints of dark fruit, but this all about savoring its beautifully precise structure: a taut acidic spine with very drying, but finely grained tannins, and an exceptionally silky finish. Delicious (and no hints of new oak or barrique-influence).
2016 Colombera & Garella Bramaterra Cascina Cottignano: Cherries, flowers, citrus, and minty herbs on the nose. Very savory and complex on the palate, and surprisingly concentrated and powerful. Tannins are present and drying, but this seems to be decently open at this point and should be quite good with food.
2018 Colombera & Garella Lessona Pizzaguerra: This was more delicate than the Bramaterra, with an ethereal quality to the red fruit and the weight on the palate. I’m not sure whether this is a product of the vintage or the terroir (or probably both), but this is approachable right now and was a pleasure to drink.
2023 Il Colombaio de Santa Chiara Vernaccia di San Gimignano: Muskmelon and citrus on the nose. Ripe white fruit on the palate. A bit round texturally, though acidity is sufficient and there is some mineral complexity. Not bad. A nice summer white for the porch.
2020 Sassotondo Ciliegiolo Maremma Toscana: First time tasting this Tuscan indigenous variety. Apropos to its name, I get pronounced cherry juice aromas and flavors on the palate. An uncomplicated wine, but surprisingly tannic. I tried a bottle that was open for two hours, which still had a drying bite to it, but I was later given a taste of a freshly open bottle, and the tannins were considerably more formidable. I imagine this could serve a similar place at the table as a seriously-structured Dolcetto (pizzas, barbecue, grilled meats, etc..)
2021 Felsina Chianti Classico Berardenga: Bright, crisp, and refreshing. The tannins are drying, but are not overwhelming. Translucent texture. Dark cherry and earth with some green, herbal flavors and a distinctly “woodsy” note I imagine some would describe as “pencil shaving.” The person I was standing next to insisted this was from Slavonian oak, and indeed elevage is in “medium-sized” Slavonian barrels and used smaller oak (presumably French) barrels.
2017 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Sant’Antimo Fabius: Made from 100% Syrah grapes, yet having almost no Syrah varietal characteristics to speak of. If I had this blind, I would assume this was some Italian varietal wine, with its high-toned cherry and floral nose, and bright red fruit. I think I get a hint of that “smokiness” I associate with Syrah on the finish, but that may just be me trying to square the grape variety with what I was tasting. Perhaps this is a testament to terroir: the Tuscan sun and soil transmogrifying the Syrah into an oak-inflected Rosso di Montalcino. Or more likely a demonstration of the power of winemaking to reshape a foreign grape variety into something similar to the local style.
2019 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino: Dark cherries and floral notes on the nose. Big red fruit, punchy, velvety, and round. Adequate acidity, not cloying or sweet, but on the finish you get a hit of vanilla washing over your palate. Apparently, this is aged in Slavonian oak casks (according to Monica Larner), so I’m a little confused where the vanilla is coming from. Tannins also need some time to fully resolve.
2021 Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove: The second wine from Ornellaia. Has a warm, sunny, Napa Cab character to it. Oak is a little heavy-handed, but I still find this quite drinkable, and it does taste of the grape varieties that comprise it.
2013 Fattoria La Vialla “Occhio di Permice” Vin Santo: Amber color. A bit syrupy sweet with vanilla, sweet nuts, and dried apricots on the palate. Perhaps a touch hot. Decent acidity. Not profound, but a fun dessert wine, and the novelty factor gives it bonus points. Apparently aged in small “Caratelli” barrels made from oak and cherry wood. Made from Sangiovese and Malvasia.
2019 Chateau Montelena Zinfandel The Montelena Estate: Not Italian, but throwing this note in here. Big and powerful. Blackberry on the nose and dark fruit on the palate. A tannic bite on the finish, though apparently tighter and less approachable before being decanted. Decent acidity, but just too monolithically fruit-forward and jammy (in terms of ripe fruit and thick texture) for me.
2019 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello: Redder and more powerful fruit on the palate than the Albesani; definitely a riper, slightly softer wine. However, there is still good acidity and firm, drying tannins to give this wine a precise architecture. Enjoyable and quite good, though I'm not really getting the hint of mintiness which I normally associate with Ovello.
2019 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Albesani: Dark cherry and floral nose. Has a taut, acidic spine that is relatively lean and mineral-forward with some purple fruit framing the palate. The tautness and tension really appeals to me.
2017 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Aleste: Second time I've had this in the past year. Rather ripe and fruit-forward, with a darker, more powerful presence than what you would expect from the Barolo commune (it feels more like Serralunga). But, I get that darker fruit profile from other wines I’ve had from the Cannubi Boschis. In that sense, it feels true to its terroir, despite the bigness of the vintage. I remember liking this quite a bit more than the ‘17 Le Vigne (which I had about a year earlier), which had a grittier tannic quality.
2018 Bruno Giacosa Barolo: This is quite good: beautiful, archetypal nose of black cherries, roses, and tar while on the palate, you have very understated dark fruit balanced by good acidity, minerality, with some grippiness from the tannins. Perhaps some may feel it's a little dilute, but I appreciate the early approachability and its relative gentleness.
2019 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté: This has lush dark fruit with hints of minerality; tannins are much more resolved than the Gavarini and this is quite silky and approachable at this point. Perhaps a little too big and obvious for my palate, but this is very good wine, especially if you like power in your Barolo.
2019 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera: Mineral-forward, earthy, lean, but powerful wine. There's hints of dark fruit, but this all about savoring its beautifully precise structure: a taut acidic spine with very drying, but finely grained tannins, and an exceptionally silky finish. Delicious (and no hints of new oak or barrique-influence).
2016 Colombera & Garella Bramaterra Cascina Cottignano: Cherries, flowers, citrus, and minty herbs on the nose. Very savory and complex on the palate, and surprisingly concentrated and powerful. Tannins are present and drying, but this seems to be decently open at this point and should be quite good with food.
2018 Colombera & Garella Lessona Pizzaguerra: This was more delicate than the Bramaterra, with an ethereal quality to the red fruit and the weight on the palate. I’m not sure whether this is a product of the vintage or the terroir (or probably both), but this is approachable right now and was a pleasure to drink.
2023 Il Colombaio de Santa Chiara Vernaccia di San Gimignano: Muskmelon and citrus on the nose. Ripe white fruit on the palate. A bit round texturally, though acidity is sufficient and there is some mineral complexity. Not bad. A nice summer white for the porch.
2020 Sassotondo Ciliegiolo Maremma Toscana: First time tasting this Tuscan indigenous variety. Apropos to its name, I get pronounced cherry juice aromas and flavors on the palate. An uncomplicated wine, but surprisingly tannic. I tried a bottle that was open for two hours, which still had a drying bite to it, but I was later given a taste of a freshly open bottle, and the tannins were considerably more formidable. I imagine this could serve a similar place at the table as a seriously-structured Dolcetto (pizzas, barbecue, grilled meats, etc..)
2021 Felsina Chianti Classico Berardenga: Bright, crisp, and refreshing. The tannins are drying, but are not overwhelming. Translucent texture. Dark cherry and earth with some green, herbal flavors and a distinctly “woodsy” note I imagine some would describe as “pencil shaving.” The person I was standing next to insisted this was from Slavonian oak, and indeed elevage is in “medium-sized” Slavonian barrels and used smaller oak (presumably French) barrels.
2017 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Sant’Antimo Fabius: Made from 100% Syrah grapes, yet having almost no Syrah varietal characteristics to speak of. If I had this blind, I would assume this was some Italian varietal wine, with its high-toned cherry and floral nose, and bright red fruit. I think I get a hint of that “smokiness” I associate with Syrah on the finish, but that may just be me trying to square the grape variety with what I was tasting. Perhaps this is a testament to terroir: the Tuscan sun and soil transmogrifying the Syrah into an oak-inflected Rosso di Montalcino. Or more likely a demonstration of the power of winemaking to reshape a foreign grape variety into something similar to the local style.
2019 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino: Dark cherries and floral notes on the nose. Big red fruit, punchy, velvety, and round. Adequate acidity, not cloying or sweet, but on the finish you get a hit of vanilla washing over your palate. Apparently, this is aged in Slavonian oak casks (according to Monica Larner), so I’m a little confused where the vanilla is coming from. Tannins also need some time to fully resolve.
2021 Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove: The second wine from Ornellaia. Has a warm, sunny, Napa Cab character to it. Oak is a little heavy-handed, but I still find this quite drinkable, and it does taste of the grape varieties that comprise it.
2013 Fattoria La Vialla “Occhio di Permice” Vin Santo: Amber color. A bit syrupy sweet with vanilla, sweet nuts, and dried apricots on the palate. Perhaps a touch hot. Decent acidity. Not profound, but a fun dessert wine, and the novelty factor gives it bonus points. Apparently aged in small “Caratelli” barrels made from oak and cherry wood. Made from Sangiovese and Malvasia.
2019 Chateau Montelena Zinfandel The Montelena Estate: Not Italian, but throwing this note in here. Big and powerful. Blackberry on the nose and dark fruit on the palate. A tannic bite on the finish, though apparently tighter and less approachable before being decanted. Decent acidity, but just too monolithically fruit-forward and jammy (in terms of ripe fruit and thick texture) for me.