2024 Vintage Ports have also been widely declared, some very high scores on the wines, not tasted finished Ports as yet will report when I have
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Somehow I don’t think that I will last long enough to see their maturity .
I do have a bottle of 1970 Dows Port that I was planning to open for my seventieth, but my intended guest passed away a couple of months months before we would have opened it
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Dinner with a friend Saturday night. The one that got me in to wine and Brookfields.
Latitude 41 Chardonnay NZ
Brookfields Gold Label Reserve Cab Merlot 2020 NZ
1818 Brut Champagne FR
All 3 lovely with Nigella’s Lasagna recipe.
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A good friend popped in Friday and we had a couple of bottles of wine with dinner.
2010 Brunello Di Montalcino Mastrojanni & 2010 Brunello Di Montalcino Castelgiocondo.
Both decanted about 3 hours before the meal, we started with the Mastrojanni. Ruby colour with some bricking at the rim, stunning nose, dark cherries, pencil, tobacco. Palate opens with nice acidity and complex medium tannins, graphite and tobacco are there with some lovely woody notes. Then a lovely rounded fruit burst, cherries, cassis, and a wonderful spiciness, a hint of floral perfume, powerful in the palate. It’s approaching maturity with years left to go, a seriously lovely drink.
The Castelgiocondo looks more mature, a garnet shade with more bricking visible. The nose is lovely, cherries again and something darker with herbal notes. Good acidity and tannins in the palate, cherries, plums, leather and graphite, medium weight. Not as powerful or complex as the first wine, but really enjoyable. Fully mature with a few years left at peak.
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My friend was tempted back Saturday by rack of lamb from my local free range butcher (Al trims the lamb as you wait). The wines were Torres Mas La Plana 2008 and Trottevielle 2008.
We opened with the Mas La Plana which was a lovely ruby shade, the nose was stunning with cassis and red fruit with leather. Strong acidity, nice tannins, deep powerful flavours of cassis and berries, some mature tannins, leather, herbs, beautiful mouth filling wine. It’s fully mature with many years to go.
The TrotteVielle was also dark ruby with a bit of bricking, powerful nose of cassis and dark fruits. Palate has good acidity and tannins, powerful bassia fruits with plum, nice complex forest floor and cedar tannins, really nice drink. It’s fully mature now, but lots of life left.
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Nice to see a mention of the Castelgiocondo here, Eoin.
I was given a 1995 for my fortieth. We drank it on my fiftieth. For all the reasons you gave, it was one of the wine experiences of my life.
Thanks for posting.
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I hope the rest of the day was as enjoyable as the wine Christopher.
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Thanks, a super day.
Best, C.
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