arnaldo caprai

originally posted by Carl Steefel:
Tough crowd...

Can't say that I agree that the Caprai will not improve with age, since I tasted an older one that had improved over younger examples...
Assuming all other things (e.g., winemaking procedures and vintage conditions) being equal, no?
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
Tough crowd...

Can't say that I agree that the Caprai will not improve with age, since I tasted an older one that had improved over younger examples...
Assuming all other things (e.g., winemaking procedures and vintage conditions) being equal, no?
Yes, hard to compare with certainty, but the comparison was between the 2001 and the 2004 and 2005. My understanding is that most people consider the 2004 and 2005 to be very good vintages, but I agree, we still may be comparing apples and oranges (or at least Granny Smiths and Fuji)...

What is more, the 2001 showed some of those signs that wines show when they are aging more or less properly--integration of oak, softening of tannin, development of a brighter fruit core, start of development of secondary characteristics. It is true, however, that the 2001 Caprai I had showed less development than the 2001 Bea, perhaps due in part to the overly heavy oak regime for the Caprai (I doubt the wines see much new oak...).
 
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
Tough crowd...

Can't say that I agree that the Caprai will not improve with age, since I tasted an older one that had improved over younger examples...
Assuming all other things (e.g., winemaking procedures and vintage conditions) being equal, no?
Yes, hard to compare with certainty, but the comparison was between the 2001 and the 2004 and 2005. My understanding is that most people consider the 2004 and 2005 to be very good vintages, but I agree, we still may be comparing apples and oranges (or at least Granny Smiths and Fuji)...

What is more, the 2001 showed some of those signs that wines show when they are aging more or less properly--integration of oak, softening of tannin, development of a brighter fruit core, start of development of secondary characteristics. It is true, however, that the 2001 Caprai I had showed less development than the 2001 Bea, perhaps due in part to the overly heavy oak regime for the Caprai (I doubt the wines see much new oak...).

I'm not sure I understand. Are you putting forth that a heavy hand with the oak has slowed development of the Caprai vs. the Bea? My experience has been that the oak treatment of the Caprai wines simply remains unintigrated and unbalanced. That Sagrantino will need time is a given, hence, an older Caprai might show better than a younger. But I don't think removing the mask of oak means the Bea is developing faster per se.
 
Not sure I understand either. Oak often allows a wine to show well earlier on, presumably due to the extra air it gets. However, the oak may also impart tannins that are slow to fade (see Florida Jim's post above), which may require additional time to integrate, as you mentioned. But probably the contrast between Caprai and Bea involves other factors that are more important.

Various people have said that Bea takes a long time to come around, but this has not been my experience, although I have only had 3 bottles. The 2001 was surprisingly mature, in contrast to the 2001 Caprai that was just starting to turn...

Otherwise, the 2001 and 2004 and 2005 Caprai I tasted did not show a great deal of unintegrated oak in my opinion, although I could see a purist having some problems here.
 
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