Browse Category

essays

Borgo invasion

Borgo di Colloredo 2003 Aglianico Terre degli Osci (Molise) – Big, black fruit. Chewy, with good acidity. Softer than many aglianicos, but still hightly structured. Lingering black minerality, some asphalt, and fermented flowers combine on the finish. Good, but not better than that. (2/07)

Bork!

[label]Oppigårds Winter Ale (Sweden) – A coffee/tea blend, with drying hops married to dark, dry grains and cereals. The hops dominate the aroma. Good, aggressive beer, but not something you want a lot of. (1/08)

Pira review

[bottle]Roagna 1993 Barolo Rocca la Pira “Riserva” (Piedmont) – Lovely, leafy aromatics over nuts and grain. Softly structured and long, like a rich memory of autumn. (1/08)

Nibiô & tuck

[bottle]Bellotti “Cascina degli Ulivi” 2005 Monferrato Dolcetto Nibiô Terre Rosse (Piedmont) – Nibiô is, essentially, what we might call an heirloom dolcetto in the States. Barky, sour, and wild; full of meadow flowers, charred forest, and dark soil. There’s a fascinating complexity here, with a long finish deep into its crescendo before it finally comes to a halt. Raw and untamed, for sure. (1/08)

Young Tyroldego

Mayr-Nusser “Nusserhof” 2003 “Tyroldego” (Alto Adige) – If I gave out points (which I don’t), this one would get 100 of ‘em just for the label pun (for the less geeky, that’s the teroldego grape from the Südtirol, the name of the Alto Adige region amongst German speakers). Dusty and dark, with chewy cherry and fennel, plus a bit of peanut. Balanced, long. Perhaps a bit stiff, but otherwise solid. (1/08)

The Swiss mint

cascina ‘tavijn 2006 Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato (Piedmont) – Exotic florals and bitter candy. A strange combination. There’s a lot of lurid fun to be had, though it’s a little more structured than the last vintage I tasted (2004), with a long, spandexy finish. Hey, no one promised slavish conformity here… (1/08)

Serra smile

Bera 2005 Dolcetto Monferrato Bricco della Serra (Piedmont) – Very floral, with good, chalky tannin and fine acidity that slices up black cherry skins. The finish is long and drying, with the dust and shells from freshly-ground peppercorns and other lingering floral suggestions. Good…only just…though there’s a potential future upside. (1/08)

Poverty line

[apples]Poverty Lane “Farnum Hill” Kingston Black Cider “Reserve” (New Hampshire) – So many ciders start out dry and firm, but disintegrate into sticky insignificance on the palate. Not so this bottling, which retains a brittle, skin-like minerality throughout. This isn’t beginners’ cider, by any means. (1/08)

To the four winds

Thienpont “Clos des Quatre Vents” 2000 Margaux (Bordeaux) – Lush and fruity, but no internationalized bomb; the dark, concentrated berries rest in a stew of graphite and ripe tannin, with cedar and dried flowers floating at the edges. This is large, to be sure, but it’s recognizably Bordeaux, and will easily reward another decade of age. Probably more. (1/08)

Diamond in the rough

[bottle]Rombauer 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) – Very austere, aromatically, with the palate showing tarred rosemary and not much else. It’s imbalanced in favor of its tannin, as well, which adds to its dry severity. (5/07)

Rombauer 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon “Diamond Selection” (Napa Valley) – Much more structured than the regular cabernet, but more balanced as well, showing espresso, dark black fruit, and leather with a light charred coconut aspect to the finish. More expressive and longer than any of the wines so far, though there’s also the faintest touch of brett. (5/07)