It’s not often (enough!) that I’ve got a glass of wine that makes me repeat, like a broken record (dating myself here, oh well) exclamations, like wow!, and fantastic!, or really?, that’s amazing!; this was one of those wines/experiences. (below: inside a part – there are more than half a dozen – of the old…
Author: Tim Heaton
Passionate student.
Mature beauty – 1997 La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino
It’s been far, far too long since I’ve enjoyed a wine from La Rasina. That said, the bottle I enjoyed yesterday more than made up for a prolonged absence. Sangiovese, as you probably already know, can be many things; fresh and young, mature and graceful. And, to be clear, these are not things specific to…
2004 San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucére
Scores and reviews/descriptors for this wine have been all over the place since this wine’s release (and afterward, too). Some said drink now, other said hold. One critic in particular was far removed from all the others, with his lofty score that that created a price bump on release. However, the only thing worth commenting…
Great surprise – 1997 La Palazzetta (Flavio Fanti) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
Wow, opened this thinking (given the notes in Cellar Tracker) it was over the hill. Not. One note, from one of my favorite authors, Gian, said (seven years ago) that at the time it looked surprisingly young. I recently bought a few based on that one sentence, and a belief in the producer, the grape…
Nebbiolo, you rascal you – 2010 Pietro Cassina Coste della Sesia Ca’ Daj Tass
There’s a certain amount of excitement that comes with tasting a wine for the first time; maybe there’s some trepidation, too. That said, what I’ve come to expect from the red wines of Alto Piemonte, and in particular, those that are 100% Nebbiolo, is to have my expectations exceeded. The degree to which things exceed,…
Built to last – 2001 Tenuta Lamborghini Campoleone
I will admit, I really didn’t know much about this particular wine/winery before I opened it; last night’s bottle instigated further inquiry. That said, I decided on the title of this post before I dug a little deeper, i.e. as I was enjoying the bottle. For whatever reason, I thought this was La Fiorita, and…
More is (not always) preferred to less – 2012 Bruno Giacosa Barbera d’Alba
“More is preferred to less“, that’s what my first Economics professor exclaimed. I wasn’t comfortable with this idea, and thirty years later, I’m still not, though I understand the context a little more now. Last night I pulled a 2012 Bruno Giacosa Barbera d’Alba, a bottle I acquired in a great little shop inside San Gimignano…
A surprise in my cellar – Tenute Sella Lessona Omaggio a Quintino Sella
Just about every night, around the same time, I make the trek into the basement, head over the the racking and look for a bottle(s) to go with dinner. Most times I’ll spend too long down there, aimlessly searching for a bottle that I feel is ready AND will make a nice complement to the…
Exactly as it should be – Az. Agr. Monchiero Fratelli
Sometimes it happens when we least expect it – we come across something that stands apart, it rockets up from a set of expectations, and it enters your inner circle along with all your other prized memories, possessions, experience, etc. That’s precisely what happened one day when I happened to stop by the Cantina Communale dei…
HOW TO MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION – MASSOLINO (AZ. AGR. VIGNA RIONDA), PART II
Referring to the map he’s provided me with, Franco (a graduate of the oenologic school in Alba) gives a quick overview of the Barolo area – he mentions the eleven communes/villages (see below), and points out the Massolino Cru (i.e. single) vineyards, three of which are in Serralunga d’Alba proper, and one, Parussi, located in…
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