We finally found the Caprai winery near Montefalco after coming into town along smaller roads on the advice of our navigation system. We were stoked for the visit since we had had two bottles of the 2005 Caprai Sagrantino Collepiano a couple of days earlier with dinner at the Villa Montali restaurant south of Lake Trasimeno. By the way, this restaurant is highly recommended—in my opinion, the best meal we had in Italy. And very reasonably priced wines.
We tasted through the 2005 Caprai collection on our visit, which included:
2008 Caprai Grecante Grechetto Colli
This is 100% Grechetto juice and shows a surprisingly intense citrus palate, with faint tropical fruit notes on the nose overwhelmed by slightly bitter citrus aromas, almost a quinine character. The wine shows fine balance, with a healthy dose of acidity. I really cannot remember why I didn’t buy any of this, but it must have been my limited luggage space…
2006 Caprai Montefalco Rosso (70% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot, 15% Sagrantino)
The new oak in this wine was pretty prominent on both the nose and the palate, but had a enough tannic structure that the effect was not overwhelming. Still this showed more Merlot character than I care for, giving it a slightly “international” or amorphous style that leaves me cold, or at least unimpressed.
2005 Caprai Rosso Outsider
According to the lady serving us, this wine spends 18 months in barrique. This 50% Merlot, 50% Cabrnet Sauvignon wine shows a healthy dose of new oak on the palate as you might expect, but the delineation and structure is much more evident here, especially as compared to the Rosso. On the nose, dusty aromas with a touch of toast probably reflect the time in barrique. I can certainly see somebody like Robert Parker or Jeff Leve liking this wine with its excellent depth and length,--this would give many a Bordeaux a run for the money.
2005 Caprai Sagrantino de Montefalco Collepiano
As good as the 2005 Rosso Outsider was, this wine trumped that wine ultimately through sheer force of character and originality. The wine shows a distinct floral character on the nose, with aromas of lavender and violet emerging as if from some great depth. The bottles we had at dinner a couple of nights earlier were even showier, perhaps because of the pairing with the truffle ravioli in a Sagrantino reduction. A beautifully balanced wine that, while still primary, is quite drinkable now if one can handle firm and authoritatively structured wines.
2005 Caprai Sangrantino de Montefalco 25 Anni
Another step up, similar in overall character to the Collepiano, but with another level of structure, nuance, and detail on both the nose and palate. The deeply pitched, fragrant nose has one thinking that they have stumbled into a violet patch. Slightly sweeter, deeper, and rounder in the mouth than the Collepiano, the long finish is positively palate staining, with newly found nuances emerging even on the diminuendo.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
A much smaller wine group, whittled down by the recession and other competing duties, got together chez Steefel to explore Chambolle terroir in the form of some 2006 wines from Barthod. Our preference was to try something older, but planning started too late to source anything beyond the 2004 and 2006. The nod went to the 2006 because of the favorable reports on their floral character at Barthod, and because we did not want to have to face the issues of whether 2004 was a suitably typical vintage or not.
The Barthod were tasted double blind by two of us, single blind by the other two. As far as I can tell, this would otherwise be similar to a Grand Jury Europeen format (all wines tasted at the same time blind), although we restricted ourselves to just four bottles. All were tasted at the same time from the same type of glasses, all at the same temperature. Bottles were opened about two hours in advance of the tasting, double decanting about 40 minutes in advance.
First up as a warmup was a 2006 Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc, always a great quaffer that pushes the quality envelope, challenging the likes of many of the white Bordeaux and Loire SB in my opinion. This was as lively as ever, showing aromas of freshly mown grass and fainter brassy citrus notes, and a firm, almost petillant palate that seemed to balance perfectly between fresh fruit and acidity.
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Beaux Bruns
This slightly dark ruby red wine showed excellent depth both on the palate and on the nose, perhaps more than I had expected. Aromas of strawberry and underbrush merged with the floral notes of violet on the nose. On the palate, the flavors are intense, if slightly less elegant in presentation than those of the other wines in the lineup. This shows the strongest tannic finish of any of those tasted, perhaps the tannins here are a bit more coarse-grained, although this is relative. There is good depth of material here and I can’t help but feel that this wine was slightly underrated by some critics…
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Baudes
On night one, this was probably the least impressive wine, with a markedly reticent nose only reluctantly giving up aromas of soil and red Pinot fruit. Still, there was an airy, almost ethereal quality to the aromas that suggested that this wine might just be sleeping. On the palate the acidity is higher and the fruit slightly leaner than the other Chambolle in the lineup, so it comes across as a bit more tart than than the others. On night 2, the wine seems to have gained some muscle, although still no fat—my guess is that it just needs some time to flesh out…
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Cras
I had expected a somewhat leaner, more airy nose on this wine, similar perhaps in style to the Baudes. Instead we were greeted with a waft of quite ripe red Pinot fruit, with exuberant strawberry that emerged on the rich almost creamy palate as well. Some fainter coffee notes suggested an oak influence to some, but I am not so sure myself that it wasn’t just a faint hint of torrefaction emerging from the rich ripe fruit. This was a big wine, perhaps not perfectly balanced at the moment, but time should bring it around.
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Charmes
This wine showed a distinctive menthol note on the floral nose and an overtly spicy palate, giving it the most exotic character of any of the Barthod tasted. There is good density in the mouth and length on the finish, and a substantial structure that suggests a bright future for this wine that is already drinking well. This was perhaps the most balanced and complete wine we tasted, already showing precise detail that the others could only hope to achieve with some more time in the bottle. The WOTN for most of the tasters…
A couple of nights later, the big ripe character of the les Cras vineyard was apparent again in the 2002 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Cras. Another big whiff of quite ripe red Pinot fruit suggests at least some similarities in style to the 2006 example, although this is a denser, creamier wine on the palate. Once the initial ripe attack on the nose and palate had scaled back a bit, it became apparent that this was still a tightly wound wine that needed another 5-10 years to come around. Excellent raw materials again, however...
The tasting confirmed the general impression of the Barthod wines, that they are mineral-driven, elegant wines that need some significant bottle age to come around.
The Barthod were tasted double blind by two of us, single blind by the other two. As far as I can tell, this would otherwise be similar to a Grand Jury Europeen format (all wines tasted at the same time blind), although we restricted ourselves to just four bottles. All were tasted at the same time from the same type of glasses, all at the same temperature. Bottles were opened about two hours in advance of the tasting, double decanting about 40 minutes in advance.
First up as a warmup was a 2006 Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc, always a great quaffer that pushes the quality envelope, challenging the likes of many of the white Bordeaux and Loire SB in my opinion. This was as lively as ever, showing aromas of freshly mown grass and fainter brassy citrus notes, and a firm, almost petillant palate that seemed to balance perfectly between fresh fruit and acidity.
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Beaux Bruns
This slightly dark ruby red wine showed excellent depth both on the palate and on the nose, perhaps more than I had expected. Aromas of strawberry and underbrush merged with the floral notes of violet on the nose. On the palate, the flavors are intense, if slightly less elegant in presentation than those of the other wines in the lineup. This shows the strongest tannic finish of any of those tasted, perhaps the tannins here are a bit more coarse-grained, although this is relative. There is good depth of material here and I can’t help but feel that this wine was slightly underrated by some critics…
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Baudes
On night one, this was probably the least impressive wine, with a markedly reticent nose only reluctantly giving up aromas of soil and red Pinot fruit. Still, there was an airy, almost ethereal quality to the aromas that suggested that this wine might just be sleeping. On the palate the acidity is higher and the fruit slightly leaner than the other Chambolle in the lineup, so it comes across as a bit more tart than than the others. On night 2, the wine seems to have gained some muscle, although still no fat—my guess is that it just needs some time to flesh out…
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Cras
I had expected a somewhat leaner, more airy nose on this wine, similar perhaps in style to the Baudes. Instead we were greeted with a waft of quite ripe red Pinot fruit, with exuberant strawberry that emerged on the rich almost creamy palate as well. Some fainter coffee notes suggested an oak influence to some, but I am not so sure myself that it wasn’t just a faint hint of torrefaction emerging from the rich ripe fruit. This was a big wine, perhaps not perfectly balanced at the moment, but time should bring it around.
2006 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Charmes
This wine showed a distinctive menthol note on the floral nose and an overtly spicy palate, giving it the most exotic character of any of the Barthod tasted. There is good density in the mouth and length on the finish, and a substantial structure that suggests a bright future for this wine that is already drinking well. This was perhaps the most balanced and complete wine we tasted, already showing precise detail that the others could only hope to achieve with some more time in the bottle. The WOTN for most of the tasters…
A couple of nights later, the big ripe character of the les Cras vineyard was apparent again in the 2002 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Cras. Another big whiff of quite ripe red Pinot fruit suggests at least some similarities in style to the 2006 example, although this is a denser, creamier wine on the palate. Once the initial ripe attack on the nose and palate had scaled back a bit, it became apparent that this was still a tightly wound wine that needed another 5-10 years to come around. Excellent raw materials again, however...
The tasting confirmed the general impression of the Barthod wines, that they are mineral-driven, elegant wines that need some significant bottle age to come around.
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