Wine biz in NYC in 80s. Sucked at sales. Since 1990, a lawyer. But still love wine!
This is a very good bargain-basement Etna in the classic medium-bodied style. Nose has lots of pure dark cherry and crushed stone. These carry through on the palate, with fruit initially but giving way quickly to minerality and savory notes. Nice, but unobtrusive, acids. A fair amount of very soft tannin in the lengthy finish. This has that nice transparency I like in Etnas, reminiscent of a cross between an annata Chianti Classico and a Valtellina. — 11 days ago
Nose is fresh and bright, with tart(-ish) red berry fruit and clean stony minerals. I’m kind of surprised that a wine from a historically hot growing season is so fresh tasting. Not any great depth; it has sort of a horizontal feel, but very nice. — 2 days ago
Popped and poured. Nose is developing some complexity, showing brambly earth, macerated blackberry, tree bark, uncracked black peppercorn, and a savory note reminiscent of iodine. Intense but compact, there’s not an ounce of fat on this, it’s all lean muscle. The long finish shows some austerity, but the balance of acids and soft tannins is nice. I’d say these are peaking. Should go great with the porterhouse I’m about to grill.
UPDATE: On night 2, surprisingly, the Zin fruit was considerably more prominent. I guess that even at 9 years old this guy needs air. — 5 days ago
Really good value in a lighter but spot-on Northern Rhône Syrah. Loads of higher-toned crushed stone leads on the nose, following by very pure mixed berry fruit and a little holiday spice. Soft and fresh in the mouth, on the leaner side, but with nice minerality and length. A nice honest weeknight dinner wine. — 7 days ago
Another terrific bottle of this. Intense complex nose features dark macerated cherry, porcini, minerally gravel. Rich and mouthfilling, there still is quite a bit of soft tannin, but the acids are very soft, so I think this is peaking. Flavors of leather, dark cherry, and tertiary old mahogany furniture notes. Quite long. — 12 days ago
Really fine annata. Very interesting nose shows fresh and macerated cherry, tomato leaf, powdered rock dust, and a wee bit of spice. Nice intensity in the mouth, with a big whack of dense, pure cherry and rock dust minerality, turning savory in the long finish, which has very nice acidity and a slight and pleasant bitter component in the tail end. Drinking wonderfully now, I think it will improve over the next year and hold for at least a couple more after that. — 3 days ago
Lotta oak in play here. Almost like 1980s Cali Chardonnay. Nose features melted butter and toasted vanilla, with nice underlying stony soil tones. Ripe pear fruit. In the mouth, there’s that oak again in the forefront, but behind it there is some nice fruit and decents acids for a wine that is 14%. Finish is long. — 6 days ago
So drinkable and fresh. Red berry-skin fruit and herbal/iodiney garrigue scents. So soft and flavorful. Very little tannin, and the alcohol is in check. Finish is savory, clingy, and has some nice minerally freshness. — 9 days ago
This second wine of Malartic-Lagraviere is drinking just beautifully. Open nose has loads of red fruit, underbrush, savory, gravelly notes, and even a lightly-roasted beef note. Soft and mouthfilling, but light on its feet. Fruit, earthy notes, and savory, low-toned minerals on the palate. Not much tannin in the slightly drying finish. I wouldn’t keep these more than a couple more years. — 15 days ago
Tom Casagrande
I wish Barbarescos would come with a back label telling you how tannic the wine is, kind of like Alsace now does the sweetness bar. Many of the less expensive ‘19s are drinking well now, but this one is quite tannic. The nose has nice cherry fruit and a leathery note. It’s got nice flavor intensity and ripeness on the palate, but then the mouth-puckering tannins hit. Needs a few more years. — 7 hours ago