Loudoun was in town for the Virginia-Georgia Tech football game recently, so of course that meant more wines came out from the cellar (especially Saturday night after the Virginia win).
Friday night I opened one of my older bottles, the 1998 Beni di Batasiolo Barolo. This isn't a real high-end producer, but was instead a value choice from this region purchased when I was just getting into collecting and looking for the best values around. This wine got good ratings from Wine Spectator, especially for the price. Finally opening it I wasn't too surprised, especially without giving it much time to open up. The wine was somewhat simple for a Barolo, but did open up eventually to show some nice fruit. It never wowed me, but it wasn't a bad wine.
Saturday night we started with the 1998 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape. Again, this was a value choice from a great vintage, and again the wine was slow to open up fully. Once it did, it was again a good wine, but just not a wow. I actually think it could use a few more years, and for some of the higher-end 1998s I have I will continue to wait.
Our final wine was the 2001 Giuseppe Quintarelli Primofiore. Quintarelli's Amarone and Valpolicellas are legendary, but also quite expensive, with the IGT Primofiore less expensive and easier to find. The wine is mainly the typical grapes of the Veneto, but adds a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. My personal opinion was that the wine wasn't so good Saturday night with the Cab dominating the profile, by Loudoun loved it. The next night was a different story though - the wine seemed to have come into balance and was wonderfully complex with a great mix of flavors. I think the younger vintages I have will continue to age a while and hope that they end up with this great balance and complexity as well.
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