Thread: Italian Dinner

On Mar 29, 9:27*pm, "Bill S." <wspo...@aol.com> wrote:
> Notes from an Italian themed dinner I arranged, wines from my cellar
> and not tasted blind.
>
> With roasted spice chickpeas, pesto stuffed cherry tomatoes,
> rullepolse and tartine de foie gras:
>
> 1989 J. Lassalle Champagne Blanc de Blancs – now showing considerable
> colour and with a nice toasty nose, this has matured into a delightful
> taosty wine.
>
> With lentil and sausage soup:
>
> 2004 Russo Barbicone – the first of a pair of IGT wines based on
> sangiovese.ciliegiolo blends. Very enjoyable nose with hints of tar
> and spice, some tannin and good fruit and length. *Drinks well now.
>
> 1999 Roccaccio Fontenova – fruit driven nose, fresh and with a fair
> bit of fine tannin, mellow and tasty now. *Sweet finish.
>
> With wild mushroom (morels and chanterelles) gallettes:
>
> 1995 Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva – excellent dark
> fruit nose, good fruit in the midpalate and good length. Very smooth
> in the mouth.
>
> 1995 Ruffino Riserva Ducale Gold Label – a riper more roasted nose,
> mellow and smooth in the mouth and with good acidity. Slightly low in
> fruit and not as attractive as the Badia.
>
> We had a palate cleanser of avocado dressed with soy, EVOO, lemon and
> toasted sesame.
>
> With *roast lamb and vegetables:
>
> 1990 Parusso Barolo – my nose was still not up to par after a bout of
> flu and I failed to detect a whiff of TCA that others noted, but the
> slightly musty earthy nose wasn’t too far off and the tar and fruit
> worked well. On palate, tasty and balanced if a bit rustic, and of
> course if slightly corked, impossible to tell what the fruit levels
> would have been otherwise.
>
> 1990 Scavino Barolo – a more floral nose, more tannin in the mouth but
> quite smooth and less rustic, riper with more fruit in the middle and
> a better wine all round.
>
> With Roquefort stuffed pears:
>
> 1988 Taurino Patriglione – this Negroamaro based wine has always shown
> well and this, my last bottle, continued that tradition. Dark, with a
> ripe spicy sweet nose, and quite savoury flavours in the mouth, with a
> medium long dry finish, it went very well with the dessert and
> accompanying cheese.

I admire your patience in holding the Taurino this long. My 1/2 case
wwnt 5 years ago and I can't find it in the US anymore.

I still have most of a case of 1994 Taurino, so I am good for a few
years. I find that this wine goes very well indeed with cheese.