Some Italians from 2010

Twenty ten is my daughter’s birth year so I needed to think hard about the wine or wines I would lay down for her. Not only could it shape her wine habit in the long run but it meant I had to look at the wines ability to age.

 

The weather conditions in Tuscany and Bolgherti was characterised as a challenge with mildew pressures in Tuscany. The slow start to the season was brought on by a lower than normal temperature during spring which resulted in small bunch sets and eventually bunch weights. The sun shone brightly during the critical months but the vines handled it well due to the large amount of reserves they had from the wet and snow seasons. The sorting table must have been used to make top quality wines.

 

 

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2010

 

From perspective I wanted this to be the all-time best wines that I could lay down for Amelie. It is the estate’s history and the link that they still have with the founding family that is most satisfying.

This year’s wine is savoury as hell with nuggets of fresh cut flowers, brambles, plum skin and spice on a medium bodied frame with elegance to burn. There is a moment of cassis and clay on an otherwise extremely long and svelte train of tannins. They just keep going and going but this is not the little train that could. This is a beautiful piece of artwork bottled.

 

Alcohol:

Price: $199

Rated: 95

Drink: 2017 - 2034

 

 

Tenutadell'Ornellaia Ornellaia 2010

 

This wine is the 25^th anniversary from this winery so I guess they had an extra degree of expectation on them. The estate was founded by Marchese Antinori in 1981 with the first vintage in 1985 off of 4 year old vines. In 2002 the Estate was acquired by Mondavi along with the completion of a few newer vineyards. Out of the three wines this has the most power and intensity. Yes it is monumental with 55% Cabernet, 39% Merlot and a nudge of Cab Franc and Petit Verdot bringing up the tail end. The Merlot lead the way with its flavour of chocolate coated plums and tobacco before the Cabernet kicks in. What this wine does is balance out the massive structure and flavour with the lightness of the Cab Franc adding interest.  This is still a baby but it is massively long in the mouth and so exquisitely put together.

 

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: $260

Rated: 97

Drink: 2018 - 2035

 

 

Isole e Olena Cepparello 2010

Like always this year’s wine is 100% Sangiovese but this version sees 25 new oak for 18 months before bottling. Initially this wine was more about savoury characters than the normal cherry fruit that comes through. Think more along the lines of roasted spices from the Turkish bazaar mixed with dried earth and fresh twigs but as the wine uncoils itself from the tannins there are moments of blood plums and wild cherries. The intensity of the wine is most impressive, even more so than the 04 or the 06, while it still is only medium to full in weight. At the moment I would be scared to open this as the tannins are ferocious and primal. Patience is the key.

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: $100

Rated: 96 +

Drink: 2020 - 2040

Importer: Negociants Australia

 

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Ornellaia 2008

Ornellaia, Sassicaia and Gaja are the three top wineries that come to mind when I think about quality Italian wines.  This winery was part of the Antinori  but is not owned by Robert Mondavi and Marchesi de'Frescobaldi.  When compared to Sassicaia this wine has more in common with Latour as it has up front power.  The team at Ornellaia are very selective in the winery, only allowing the best material to make it into the final blend.  This results in pure wine gold in the bottle.

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Ornellaia 2008

What a brute of a wine as the flavours of blackberries, licorice and roasted meats slowly unfold in front on me.  The wine smells almost sweet with the amount of fruit that they have crammed into this wine but once this gorgeous liquid touches my mouth it explodes with savoury coffee beans and dried sour cherry goodness. It tastes so sophisticated now but it is a little too tight for full enjoyment.  Everything is in the right place and will seduce the senses when it is ready to come out to play in 2018.


Alcohol: 15%
Price: $240
Rated: 95+
Drink: 2018 - 2030
Importer: Negociants

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2006

Tenuta San Guido and the Bolgheri region reside close to the coast near Pisa.  It was here, in the 1940s that Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchette took cutting from Bordeaux, it is rumoured that they originated from Chateau Lafite but the Italian estate disputes this,  to plant his original vineyard with eighty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and fifteen percent Cabernet France. As the first commercial or public release was in 1968 one can imagine that for a large proportion of Sassicaia’s life it was a homebrew for family members.  Now that’s good homebrew! On many occasions older bottles of Sassicaia have be mistaken for Mouton-Rothchild and Chateau Lafite which leads me to my fascination with this estate.  I have a love for Bordeaux and Italian wines so I thought why not combine the two.  Compared to top Bordeaux’s this is cheap but at $220 its not like you can splash it around too often, except if you earn big bucks. There are now three vineyards, the original which contributes much of the Sassicaia blend, on a variety of soils and elevations that contribute to the three Tenuta San Guido labels. 

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2006

I had high hopes for this wine as it comes from a much hyped vintage but does it live up to expectations?  The wine is very reserved and focused but as the wine opens you get a rainbow of flavours cascading over your mouth.  There is a bergamot tea taste that is very enchanting that shows its head every now and again through the essence of blackcurrant, fresh violets, fresh fired clay pots (ok so I liked my pottery teacher when I was young) and hickory smoked leather and while these are inviting flavours it is the spectacular length and mouth feel that leave you breathless.  You may need to drink this standing next to a wall just encase you faint! The wine is a conundrum in that you have elegance, structure and intensity. This makes the Tignanello 2007 look clumsy.

Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $220
Rated: 97 +++
Drink: 2021 - 2035

Importer: Negociants