Bettina walks me through the various rooms (barrel storage/ageing, etc.), and explains the history of the building as well. Since I was a fan and student of history well before I discovered wine, and since I’ve seen pretty much every type of barrel/ageing room there is, I really just focused on her description of the…
Category: Sangiovese
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…
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…
You don’t know me…yet. Casa Emma, part V
It’s 1970, and Alessandro’s father (actually his wife, unbeknownst to her husband), who hails from Certaldo, about 35km to the west, purchases some land in Chianti Classico region. There’s nothing on the land at this point, just native plants, and lots and lots of stones. His father has some history as a farmer, but not…
You don’t know me…yet. Casa Emma, Part IV
Here’s what I haven’t told you so far, what compelled me to seek a visit to the estate. One thing, the 2011 Chianti Classico Riserva. Coming off the heals of the heralded (still!) 2010 vintage, one that most of the mainstream media went bananas over, was 2011. And when it did come out, the media,…
You don’t know me…yet. Casa Emma, Part III
My friend Valerio and I pulled into the Casa Emma estate and winery at 10am. The day was clear and cool, though one could tell that the mid-day’s warmth, when it arrived, would be spectacular, and it was, nearly 24C, not bad for 26 April (2014). I mention Valerio because he is a native Italian…
You don’t know me…yet. Casa Emma, Part II
It’s like any other day at Vin Italy, there’s too much to do, too many people, and not enough time (and it’s too warm, but I digress). But, as I’m walking by the various stands (each space is referred to as a stand – we’d say booth – and something clicks in my head (not the…
You don’t know me…yet. Casa Emma, Part I
The email said that a friend was selling his entire cellar – health reasons – and the sender, an acquaintance of mine, asked if I might be interested in buying it. I took a look at the attached spreadsheet, absolutely yes, I was interested. I bought that cellar, well, most of it, anyway. Buried within the…
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