Red Wine: No great wines, only great bottles
@ Salil's home, Albany, NY, 1/9/2024
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This was the 2nd evening of Mikhail's visit.
Notes and pix
from the first evening can be found here.
Once again, Jared and I joined him at Salil's.
This time the delicious food was made by DeFazio's in Troy, NY
(except for a special dessert, see below).
The two wines that I thought would show best didn't.
But some old wines stole the show.
Dinner
Pizza from DeFazio's in Troy, NY. Still the best!
(BBQ Chicken; Sausage, Peppers, & Onion; Veggie.)
Italy
-
2001 Fattoria Galardi Terra di Lavoro -
Italy, Campania, Roccamonfina IGT (1/9/2024)
[Double decanted for 2 hours at around 4pm.] Lovely nose of black fruit and minerals.
In the mouth, flat and tannic. Missing fruit. People more sensitive to TCA than I am
say it's corked. They must be right. Too bad. (NR)
-
2016 Villa Raiano Taurasi -
Italy, Campania, Taurasi DOCG (1/9/2024)
[Pop and pour.] Big, juicy nose of wet earth and red fruit.
Tannic, young, but tasty. Drink over the next 10 years or so.
(91 points)
-
1979 Fanetti Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Tenuta San Agnese Riserva -
Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (1/9/2024)
[Pop and pour.] Onion skin edge, red center looks promising.
Somewhat unpleasant nose blows off in 10 minutes,
leaving lovely red fruit and forest floor.
Fully mature in the mouth, but still plenty of red fruit and mulch in a complex
and expansively long finish. Wow! Certainly the surprise of the evening.
(94 points)
USA
Dessert
Salil's heavenly Canelés de Bordeaux:
-
1989 Château d'Yquem -
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (1/9/2024)
[375ml. Pop and pour.] Nose of thick honey and botrytis. Rich in the mouth.
Delicious but doesn't have the brightness, depth, or complexity of
the bottle on 11/21/2023. Still worth drinking, and very good with
Salil's fabulous Canelés de Bordeaux. (92 points)
2nd photo by
Mikhail Lipyanskiy.
People Pix
The happy baker:
The two photos above by
Mikhail Lipyanskiy.
Mikhail, Jared:
Conclusion
Another great evening with good friends, good food, and mostly good wines.
My tasting notes posted from
CellarTracker.
All original content © Ken Vastola