Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A Space-Time Warp in the East Bay Hills


The usual suspects convened in a cul de sac deep in the hills of the East San Francisco Bay for an attempt at a space-time warp, connecting with Piemonte through wine and food, and maybe even a different era if we were lucky.


1999 Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs
Golden in color, a fine mousse, terrific energy and definition, but with a creamy aspect revealing notes of yeast and orchard fruits. At least one taster’s favorite of the night, this showed a complicating bitter element on the palate that went beyond the usual citrus with its suggestions of anise and quince. I might have guessed this blind as a 1996 because of its power, energy, and clarity on the palate. This certainly served its role as a suitably aristocratic aperitif, making the hairs on the back of the neck stand up in anticipation of what was to come.

2009 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Bricco delle Ciliegie
Bright, charming fall quaffer, certainly a bit simple compared to the big boys in the lineup, but offering a seductive combination of gravelly citrus and tropical fruit on the nose.

1999 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo
This was the best bottle yet of this wine, obviously benefiting from 2+ hours of aeration. On the nose, exceedingly complex, with asynchronous elements miraculously melding—nuts, apple, yeast, and a distinctly sauvage element of thistles and underbrush lurking there. On the palate the complexity is perhaps not so obvious, but the nutty apple and yeast flavors turn sweet, focused, and palate-coating in the mouth. This one gets extra points for its complete originality—this isn’t your mother in law’s wine, as they say.

1998 Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja
I guessed this to be a much older wine based on the apparent maturity of the nose, and as compared to a 1998 Giacosa Barolo tasted a couple of months ago with Rico Thompson. But this one apparently benefited from the six hours of air time that Lou gave it (in contrast to the hour or so that Rico gave his, but then he was upside down in the river prior to that), with sweeping aromas of tarry dark cherry and wild underbrush. On the palate, equally energetic, with sour cherry flavors beginning to emerge, but also an impressive viscosity and palate coating quality. It seems Giacosa never disappoints…

1998 Borgogno Barolo Riserva
Less approachable than the Giacosa, this has not yet shed it substantial tannins, but the depth and the dark cherry profile promise something special in the future. Surprisingly deep and rich on the palate, this is just beginning to emerge from its shell.

1967 Borgogno Barolo Riserva
Objectively, if I was a paid critic, I would probably give this 94 points or so in recognition of its perfect balance, its excellent depth, and harmonious aging. Subjectively, this is a different story, at least for me for whom it provided an out of body experience. Was Odysseus handing out points to the Sirens while chained to the mast? I think not. How do you analyze the pleasure this wine gives, which is so obviously subjective? I cannot discount the intellectual and emotional impact of the time warp here—one literally feels transposed to another time when tasting this wine. All I can say is that I had a hard time pulling my nose out of the glass, even stooping so far as to commandeer a few extra tastes from one of the others who had reached their limit. On the nose this provided a range of dried flower aromas that would take a botanist the better part of a year to catalogue, like opening an old mahogany chest of drawers filled with dried flowers as somebody remarked. Fruit seems to be an afterthought here, at least on the nose, although the suave, perfectly poised dark cherry flavors are there saturating the palate. This wine seems to have shed all of its tannin without sacrificing any of its fruit. This reconditioned wine is in perfect shape, or at its “apogee” as Parker might say, a textbook example of why you cellar wine.

1997 Avignonesi Vin Santo
Another completely original wine, so dark and viscous that the physical lingering of the wine on the palate contributed obviously to its length. Flavors of plum and dark cherry, with a vibrant acid core that seemed to energize the wine. Perhaps others could do better justice to this wine, since I was still strung out by the 1967 Borgogno…

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