My parents came to Atlanta this past weekend as we celebrated my nephew's 2nd birthday, but it also meant two nights full of great wines. Since they had flown up, my Dad didn't bring anything from home so we had to head out around town to find plenty of choices for the weekend ranging from easy quaffers to some serious wines for dinner. I won't go through everything (perhaps because I can't remember all of them) but instead touch on the highlights.
Friday night's best among the pre-dinner choices was the 2006 Collosorbo Rosso di Montalcino. Dad and I tasted many 2006 Rossos at Vinitaly, so we knew the potential of the vintage. This wine did not disappoint, with gobs of jammy fruit exploding out of the glass both on the nose and then in the tasting. I had never actually had anything from this producer, but I was certainly impressed.
Friday night's dinner wine was the 2002 Tommaso Bussola BG Amarone. Since 02 was a generally poor vintage in Veneto (as with most of Italy), Bussola only bottled one Amarone (as opposed to three in good vintages). With such severe selection, he was able to craft a wonderful Amarone, available at a decent price (well, decent for suc quality as it was still $55). I certainly plan to pick up another bottle of this for myself, as it is really a wonderful example of what a great winemaker can do even in an off vintage.
Saturday night we had the "normale" 2004 Produttori di Barbaresco before dinner, and while my Dad thought it was off, I thought the wine was quite nice, just very young. For a $30 normale Barbaresco, my opinion is that this wine can be something quite special with time. For now, I think it's just too young.
We also drank the 2001 Col d'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino out of a 375ml bottle. I enjoyed some Col d'Orica in Rome last year, and thought this 2001 was nice and elegant, though not necessarily a blockbuster. But I don't believe Brunello should necessarily be a full-bodied monster, so to me it was quite nice.
Finally, Saturday night's dinner featured the 2004 Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape. Coming after the other wines we had tried, it was quite different, but I enjoyed it. It displayed a more rustic side of Chateauneuf to me, which is what I really enjoy. I had always heard good things about this producer, and my first bottle certainly made a good impression.
Again, there were many other wines tried, but these were really the highlights of the weekend. It's always nice to be able to drink through such a great variety with my family and discuss/compare our thoughts.
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