Wine Blogging Wednesday #48: Back To…Brunello?

August 13th, 2008

Brunello di Montalcino, Italian wine, Sangiovese, WBW, Wine Blogging Wednesday

This is going to be a brief post. It’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, and the theme from Lenn Thompson is a good one: to choose a wine that gets you back to your roots as a wine drinker and wine lover. Sort of ‘the wine that changed your life,’ if you will.

Personally, I hadn’t much been interested in wine until about the year 2000, when I took a trip to Italy. I went back on my honeymoon a few years later, and both times my husband and I stayed in the Montalcino area.

On one of those trips the two of us took a tour of Castello Banfi, which was impressive and grand (albeit not a typical producer, being American-owned and massive in scale). More so, overall we consumed quite a large amount of Brunello - I believe the 1995 vintage the first time around, and the 1997 vintage on our second trip. My exposure to these wines, in the region where they were made, the local history and culture — this really solidified what is now not just a hobby for me, but a way of life.

So I had my wine picked out for WBW #48. Well, two wines. The 2001 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino, and their upper-end bottling, the 2001 Castello Banfi Brunello Poggio Alle Mura. I checked all sorts of online resources including Cellartracker, eBob and the Spectator, and the consensus seems to be that they won’t be ready to drink before 2009. I have only one bottle of each, and I couldn’t bring myself to open either of them before their time.

Maybe it’s rubbish, or maybe I’m being protective of the wine that captured me so (sure, they’re from a different vintage from the originals, but supposedly an even better one). I’m not ready to have the romantic notions that seduced me into a life of wine shattered, and hope that next year when I pop the cork on at least one of these, I’ll fall in love all over again.

So, am I an idiot? Should I have ignored conventional wisdom and opened one of these bottles, perhaps prematurely? It’s still Wednesday, and I could possibly be persuaded to reverse my decision to sit this one out.

2 Responses to “Wine Blogging Wednesday #48: Back To…Brunello?”

Taster B
August 13th, 2008 at 8:19 am

We were talking to a wine shop owner about Brunello. He said that back in the day, they were not made to age forever but, then producers started making them that way to compete with France BUT THEN the whole Parker/Rolland thing turned the tide again so that now a lot of the Brunellos are actually drinkable at release. I can’t speak for your bottles. I can’t speak for any of it really. That’s just what a wine dude told me. I’d say open one today and save one for next year.
noble pig
August 13th, 2008 at 9:26 am

I am really enjoying everyone’s posts today about their wine experiences in the early years. Yours is also fascinating!

get your wine on

2007 Scholium Project Naucratis Verdelho

Abe Schoener strikes again, this time with a great Verdelho at a slightly lower price-point than the Gemella. This is 100% tank-fermented and a very dry, mineral-laden wine. This is one of the reasons why Schoener is earning status as a winemaker as a cult winemaker. It delivers. $28 for Scholium goodness.

2007 Skylark Cellars Alondra Chardonnay

I admit, I really don’t dig Chardonnay, so you don’t see many around these parts. I do, however, love this one. Not surpisingly, it’s unoaked. $18 of un-oaked, un-malo’ed goodness!

2007 La Fenetre “A Coté” Red Blend, Santa Barbara County from Timeless Palate Wines

This is astoundingly good for the money. It’s 60% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard, and 40% Merlot from the Bien Nacido Vineyard. The winemaker, Josh Klapper, is a mere 29 years old and one to watch. This is red, juicy and lush but not over the top. $18 and worth every penny.

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freshly pressed

Wine Store Design Continued: More Racks and Lights and Stuff:

Just a couple of images for the now…

Some of the single-depth racks, assembled (thanks again to Tim Krablin of Modern Cellar for the photo)…

And the interior of one of the lampshades, of which there will be 48, in three different shades of blue-ish purple. Keep in mind this is 36″ in diameter — as in three feet (the exterior is aluminum, non-powdercoated. I’ll let your imagination do the work).

Maybe one day I’ll post about the wines I’ve been tasting and stocking, and actually try to sell you something…which would possibly help me pay for all these neat things…ummmm, maybe next week…

Wine Store Design Continued: More Racks and Lights and Stuff

June 19th, 2009

Wine Store Design Part 4: Wine Rack Construction

June 5th, 2009

Wine Store Design Part 3: Urinal Defense Fund

June 3rd, 2009

wine jargon

Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.

Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.

Frizzante

March 29th, 2008

Scorekage

March 23rd, 2008

Rioja

March 3rd, 2008

grapewise

I recently stopped by Venokado, a new-ish shop in LA. I bought a Lirac imported by Kermit Lynch, and it was yummers. Last night I had the pleasure of spending some time with one of its owners, Susan Brink.

domaine547