Ordinarily Systembolaget isn't up to much, but it can at least organise a decent wine tasting. Last Wednesday was my first visit to one of their regular shindigs, and I have to say I was impressed. The theme was none other than Super Tuscans - which i thought would be perfect preparation for the family Taylor trip to Italy in June. I wasn't disappointed.
Our host was a fairly young and extremely competent dude, who introduced his subject with an ease that spoke volumes about his experience of tasting Italian wines. We were to taste two flights of wine, all blind, and all classified as Super Tuscans. We began with three wines from the same producer. Always one to put my foot in it, I began by proclaiming that the third of these had a more pronounced Sangiovese nose than the previous two - only to find to my shame that it had in fact the least amount of this grape varietal of the entire flight. Oh hum! I guess Stephen Spurrier's place at Decanter isn't under threat just yet... But this revelation threw me into a conundrum. I'd said this about Sangiovese because the third wine had the most "Italian nose" of the three (this at least all of us were in agreement with), but if it wasn't the Sangiovese that was doing that, what was it? It can't have been the grapes (which were more Bordeaux in style than Italian), so what was it then? Frustratingly, the answer is still out there somewhere, but I for one have no idea where it is...
The second flight upped the ante a little, and turned out to be a tour de force of some of the best Italian wines around. Despite this, I came away a little confused by some of these. The best weren't in the class of some of the better Bordeaux wines I have tasted at home - despite being in some cases about five times the price! So in that sense I was a little put off. Then again I did come away with more of a feel about what new Italian wine is all about. Not all of it was to my taste (or wallet!), but it was definitely an enjoyable experience. Check out the wines below. Oh, and if you get the chance, book yourself on one of Systembolaget's upcoming events before it's too late. Cheers!
First Flight (all from Mazzei)Bronzone 2004. 100% Sangiovese. Dark cherry red; roasted, fruity vanilla nose; warm in the mouth with a good level of acidity, toasted oak and vanilla, fruity with good length; pretty good! 7.5
Serrata 2004. 65% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot; Dark cherry red; a more roasted nose than the Bronzone; taste smoother and more rounded, less vanilla, more berries; good to very good! 8.0
Belgvardo 2003. 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot; same dark cherry red; a very "Italian" nose (but clearly not related to the Sangiovese element!); rough tannins (needs more time?), shorter on length and less balanced with lower acidity; good; 7.0 (but most expensive of the three!)
Second Flight
Gaja Ca' Marcanda Magari 2003. 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc. Medium dark red; very big, perfumy nose, flowery rather than elegant; nice and rounded taste, fruity, light and balanced acidity; easy, good drinking! 8.5 (Others in the group called this "too nice" and "characterless" - they were wrong, but worth the asking price? No way!)
Le Stanze del Poliziano 2003. 10% Sangiovese, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot; Dark cherry red; slightly sharp and greenish nose (still too young?); still fairly tough tannins, long legs, Pretty good but needs time? 8.0 http://www.carlettipoliziano.com/
Antinori Solaia 2000. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, 5% Cabernet Franc. Dark cherry red; pungent and fairly flat nose; nice and rounded taste, smooth, noticeably "old" taste, woody; very good. 8.5 http://www.antinori.it/ Wine of the night, but only just.
Le Macchiole Messorio. 100% Merlot. Brickish red with lots of debris (high sediment, almost soup!); burned, spicy, peppery nose, complex and rich, but too "brown"; not as exciting a taste as it should be, fairly flat and tired; this one was not for me! Supposedly one of the most Petrus like wines in Italy, and not far off in price either! 100 GBP a bottle and upwards. 7.0 http://www.lemacchiole.it/
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