Better late than never, here we go:
2008 Ameztoi "Rubentis" Getariako Txakolina (Getaria, Spain)
Good, we start with an orange wine, like a relay baton from the last Convivio mega tasting. Oxidative almond and cherry aromas. Lovely acidity, some light fizz (unsure if secondary fermentation or deliberate). Rich and satisfying, would love to cellar some of this, but I understand Keith Levenberg has cornered the market (and understand why he would).
Flight 1:
2005 Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett (Mosel, Germany)
Awesome aromatics, mineral, flower, peach and almonds, but a Garden of Babylon, more than the sum. The sweetness is lovely, though it overwhelms the acidity just a wee. Still a beauty.
2008 Gaia Estate Thalassitis (Santorini, Greece)
Medicinal aromatics, good weight, nice bitter finish. Attractive. Santorini? I loved Joe Versus the Volcano. Was I the only one? I also hated Cinema Paradiso. Was I the only one? But I digress.
2007 Contrade di Taurasi (Cantine Lonardo) Grecomusc' (Campania, Italy)
Fascinating nose of gunpowder, fresh herbs and anis. Like reaching the crime scene right after bullets flying to and fro. Original, different, one of the wines of the night for me. Paradoxically, sometimes a defect (if this was), or even too much of a good thing, can make something vault into the category of special.
2008 La Sibilla Falanghina (Campi Flegrei, Campania, Italy)
Also herbs and anis, minus the gunpowder. Nice weight, good balance, could use a touch more acidity.
2007 Cantine Farro 'Le Cigliate' Falanghina (Campi Flegrei, Campania, Italy)
Wet stones, flowers and glycerin. Good acidity, but the sweetness has a candy aspect that I didnt love. Still, very nice wine. Little experience with this appellation, glad to learn that I should explore.
2007 Meinhard Forstreiter 'Tabor Reserve' Gruner Veltliner (Kremstal, Austria)
Minerals, flowers, chalk. Good weight, sprightly acidity. Very good.
2006 Meinhard Forstreiter 'Tabor Reserve' Gruner Veltliner (Kremstal, Austria)
Similar aromatics, with an additional yeasty note. Also good weight, but the acidity is not as attractive as that of the 2007.
Flight 2:
2007 I Vigneri di Salvo Foti "Vinudilice" Rosato (Sicily, Italy)
Oxidative almond aromas. An oxidative ros? Good weight and pleasant acidity. I quite liked.
2007 Tenuta delle Terre Nere "Prephylloxera, La Vigna di Don Peppino" Etna Rosso (Sicily, Italy)
Fabulous nose of cherry, pomegranate and medicinal herbs. Lively and spellbindingly different. Ends on a salty, sweaty note. Most surprising wine of the night for me and possibly my favorite, though maybe more from fascination than pleasure. If this had been the Magma, I would have thought now I understand what all the fuss is about. But it wasnt, so theres no fuss (that I know of) to understand. But Don Peppinos the man.
Frank Cornelissen "Magma" R 6va (Etna, Sicily, Italy) undecanted
Exotic aromas of gunpowder, herbs, spices and tar. Attractive sweetness, liked the mix of concentration and nimbleness. Intense but not at all difficult.
Frank Cornelissen "Magma" R 6va (Etna, Sicily, Italy) decanted for two hours
Fading fast. Burnt rubber aromas. So inferior to the freshly opened bottle that Im not sure if the two hour decant explains the entire difference.
2004 Cappellano Otin Fiorin "Pi Franco Michet" Barolo from magnum
Lovely leather, cherry, violet, and licorice aromas. Rich mouth feel, powerful acidity, should be great in a decade.
2001 Cappellano Otin Fiorin "Pi Franco Michet" Barolo from magnum
Similar aromatics but much more subdued/closed. Try in five years.
1999 Cappellano Otin Fiorin "Pi Franco Michet" Barolo from magnum
Beginning to oxidize and somewhat fruit deprived. Nobody at my table seemed too keen on it, but at Salils table it sounded like they were drinking a different wine.
It was generous of Kevin McKenna to bring three magnums of Cappellano, a producer I place in the highest firmament. The 07 and 08 Cappellano barrel samples that I was fortunate enough to taste in Serralunga last November were among my most memorable wine experiences ever, so I had high expectations for this trio. Impossibly high. I remember Augusto Cappellano imitating the sounds of wines fermenting and remarking how they were happiest when still in the botti, becoming angry when bottled. These appeared to be terrific wines that werent tasting terrific on this day because they were either too young or too closed or, in the case of the 1999, possibly a little oxidized. Compared to the magic of that experience, here the genie had been bottled. SO2 also plays a role in making the genie groggy.
1998 Marchesi Alfieri San Germano Pinot Nero (Monferrato, Italy)
Lovely, rich cherry and leather aromas. Attractive acidity and light bitterness. Extremely dry, attractively uncompromising. Found this quite interesting and perhaps liked it better than others at my table. It was also the beneficiary of no expectations.
Flight 3, all Loire Valley Cabernet Franc:
2007 Catherine & Pierre Breton "Franc de Pied" Bourgueil
From gravel under a layer of sand. Cherry, leather, funk. Nice enough, but nothing special. Scott says better nose than palate.
2002 Catherine & Pierre Breton "Franc de Pied" Bourgueil
Corked. Damaged. Dommage.
2005 Charles Joguet Chinon "Les Varennes du Grand Clos"
2007 was the last vintage. Very tight. Good structure, but not giving much at this point.
2005 Bernard Baudry Chinon Franc de Pied
This was lovely, with rich, ripe pomegranate, excellent acidity and balance, ending on a coup de grace savory note.
2003 Bernard Baudry Chinon Franc de Pied
Wonderful leather and funk aromas, forward and ripe. Rich and balanced, despite a touch of heat (all three were labeled 12.5% but ze buds whispered no).
2002 Bernard Baudry Chinon Franc de Pied
Best of an excellent trio, the fruit augmented by an evanescent smattering of armpit and barnyard laced with just the right amount of acid, making the yings every bit a match for the yangs. An uppercut to the chinon, and one of the better cab francs that Ive tried. I generally prefer Baudry fdp to Breton fdp, and David Lillie says this may be because at Baudry theres limestone under the sand, whereas at Breton theres gravel. Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road has some great songs on it.
Flight 4:
1995 Antonio Bernardino Paulo da Silva 'Reserva Velho Tinto' Colares Chitas (Sintra, Portugal)
By this point I was beginning to tank, thanks in part to continual distraction from the food, which made my palate a moving target, and the lively conversation compromising my attention. But most damaging was the impossibility of squirting undesired sips in a graceful arc towards the central bucket, partly for fear of hitting David Lillie, who was sitting directly across. This Colares, my first (I brought it inviolate) was definitely no carbonic fruit salad, as E.T. (the extraterroirist) would say. Cherry, leather and eucalyptus were there for the sniffing but vanished in the mouth thanks to vigorous acidity that overwhelmed the retro fruit. Came across as old world, austere, unyielding (you catch my drift), yet admirable in its aquiline severity. Was it compromised? Hard to tell with no internalized Platonic Colares to compare it to.
1995 Quinta do Ribeirinho (Luis Pato) P Franco Bairrada (Beiras, Portugal)
Rich nose with cherry and spices. Lovely tannins, ideal acidity, perfect balance. A thing of beauty. Portuguese man o war.
1996 Quinta do Ribeirinho (Luis Pato) P Franco Bairrada (Beiras, Portugal)
This felt both more subdued and decadent, an odd combination, perhaps because the riper fruit was still emerging from closure. This was a donation from Luis Pato for our tasting, and I wonder why he chose this vintage rather than, say, the 1995.
2004 Atalayas de Golban Ribera del Duero (Castilla y Leon, Spain)
Cherry and coconut, like American oak without the dill. Tasted very modern and garish in (and after) present company. Little did I know that this was a harbinger.
Flight 5:
2007 Domaine Gauby "Muntada" Ctes du Roussillon Villages Rouge (Roussillon, France)
Didnt like this but didnt write down why.
2007 Clos Saron Home Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sierra Foothills, California)
Vanillin diluted in alcohol. Horrible.
2004 Cantina Santadi "Terre Brune" Carignano del Sulcis (Sardinia, Italy)
With appropriate inspiration, I can whip out a one word TN: yuck.
2004 Cantina del Taburno "Bue Apis" Aglianico del Taburno (Campania, Italy)
Dishrag yuck. Bueshit.
2003 Cantina del Taburno "Bue Apis" Aglianico del Taburno (Campania, Italy)
Charred yuck. Ditto.
1991 Quinta do Noval "Nacional" Porto (Douro Valley, Portugal)
Ripe plum and figs. Not multilayered, but lovely, despite the mercy killing level of alcohol and my sensory degradation.
A spectacular event. The excellence and sheer volume of the wines, coupled with the superbly flavorful food and lively conversation, competed too much to allow optimal appreciation of any of the parts. To more properly evaluate this much wine, Id have to spit, but then the affair would have become more stilted. I was the only person not ITB at my table, and others seemed to be handling the cascade of pleasure with professional ease. Perhaps I would have been better off at Salils table, discussing filigrees of poop. But it was fun to sit between Brad Kane and Scott Reiner, and I wouldnt want to have given that up. All in all, an embarrassment of riches.
