“… without a doubt, the wine of the week was the Sassicaia 2012!”
Last week I was in a tasting of Italian wines, some of them little known, but of high quality.
The group of tasting formed by a group of old friends belonging to the brotherhood of the good wine (Cofradía del buen vino), a select group of wine lovers who have left their mark on the community. “El Gaucho” restaurant is the place where we met.
The wines we took:
Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2010, white wine produced near the Italian town of San Gimignano in the Tuscany region.
The oldest recorded mention of the wine appears in the log files of San Gimignano from 1276. Wine Vernaccia is mentioned by Dante Alighieri in canto XXIV of purgatory as the drink that led to the capital sin of gluttony to Pope Martín IV.
Color: soft straw yellow, with the aging has tendencies to take gold.
Scent: fine, characteristic, penetrating, fruity and floral.
Taste: dry, fresh, good body, good consistency, harmonious, with a characteristic bitter aftertaste.
Brunello of Montalcino Villa of Sassi 2009
The 2009 Brunellos are some of the most unequal and problematic young wines I have ever tasted. As a group, the 2009s are clear coloured and elaborate for drinking at short term
Colour: clear, red garnet colour with brick flashes.
Scent: medium intense, peel of Orange, dried flowers, cherry, licorice, nutmeg, damp earth
Flavour: dry, medium warm, tannins and acidity balanced, persistent; spices are comfirmed, dried fruit, earthy notes and elegant wine.
Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 2012, from the Tuscan region of Bolgheri.
Around forties the Marquis Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, great expert of horses, creator of the famous race Dormello Olgiata, and a great passion for French wines, imported of Château Lafite some vines of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The first harvest was marketed in 1968.
color: Ruby Red intense, aimed at the granada with a slow aging
Smell: intense, elegant, impressive
Flavour: dry, full, robust and harmonious, with good elegant structure and a frail hint of peach
Vin Santo de el Nonno delle Firenze 2008.
These wines can be straw (passitos) because most of the time are produced by drying the grapes freshly
harvested on mats of straw in a warm, well-ventilated area. Although technically it is a dessert wine, the sweetness level changes from completely dry (as a fino Sherry) to extremely sweet. Although it is believed that this type of wine originated in Tuscany, there are examples from all of Italy.
harvested on mats of straw in a warm, well-ventilated area. Although technically it is a dessert wine, the sweetness level changes from completely dry (as a fino Sherry) to extremely sweet. Although it is believed that this type of wine originated in Tuscany, there are examples from all of Italy.Color: yellow amber.
Odour: fruity, with hints of honey.
Taste: pleasant, good acidity, a little sweet.
Undoubtedly, the wine of the week was the Sassicaia 2012.
This wine is one of the called “Supertuscans” which are based on the grape noble Tuscan, the Sangiovese (blood of Jupiter), added with a minimum of Cabernet Sauvignon variety which is not accepted by the denomination of origin, since it is a French strain. Initially they could only be sold as “Vino de Tavola”, the lowest level of Italian wines, and this is because no can give the “Denominazione de Origine Controlata” for failing to comply with the rules. However, the mixture has achieved as good wines, which some are already catalogued as IGT (“Indicazione Geográfica Típica“) and have been quoted in high levels of price. These “Supertuscans” are sometimes made exclusively with Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine of the week