![]() In other words, it’s time to drink them, there’s a lot to enjoy. This example, with nearly twenty years, tells me more than any of the other wines ever did: It’s fully mature, it’s not getting better from here, and it’s also far from being over the hill, and it’s delicious. Which is another way of saying that I’ve tasted most of the others when they’re just being released, or within 5-7 years of release. Tonight’s wine is the first Villa Fidelia Rosso I’ve had in some time. Block out the noise of points, labels, vintages, etc., just taste. I’ve probably gone on an on about this in one of my previous posts, but it’s important. In both instances, it’s probably best to just taste the wine, blind, preferably, consider its merits as wine, and then make a judgment vs deciding upfront that a certain style does/doesn’t appeal to you. If you’re one that considers consultants/labs in the pejorative, if you’re one that subscribes to the idea that these are divisive issues – with some choosing only traditional producers, some choosing only modern producers. I’m pretty sure anyone producing wine for commercial sale on the level of a few thousand cases or more per year is using a lab of some sort. But it’s not fair, in fact it’s pretty foolish, to call these (or similar wines that are produced in concert with consultants, ‘ wines produced in a laboratory‘. everyone’s on the same page, and harvested grapes will arrive in the best condition possible.Īnd yes, he’s using laboratories to make sure what he’s tasting is correct. The same should apply to all of us, taste, decide if it’s likeable or not.īut, since the winegrowing is being managed by Cotarella’s team in concert with the winegrower’s team, this is not really a likely outcome – i.e. If he does, the wine gets produced, if not, it’s rosé wine, or bulk wine, or declassified, etc. Period.Ĭotarella’s consulting role is much the same – to work with winegrowers to make sure that they’re growing the best grapes possible then he’ll taste, then he’ll decide what the plant(s) are saying, what the soil is saying. Taste the wine, first, live with it a little while contemplating what’s in the glass, what might be possible with time, then decide if you like it. For instance, to dismiss, out of hand, the use of barrique, before knowing anything else about the wine, or for that matter, even tasting it, is simply foolish. Let me expand on that idea of ‘style’, it can be a divisive issue relying on that ‘style’ label, can, and often is, a pitfall for (some) wine drinkers as much as it is a tool for other wine drinkers. But tonight was different, I wanted to see how this ‘style/blend’ had held up over after a rest of nearly 20 years since harvest. As I’ve said, I’m not one to drink these types of wines, I prefer to drink single variety wines as opposed to blends most nights. The 15 days of maceration, the international varieties, and the use of small, French oak barrels are all evident in tonight’s wine – but that’s not a good or a bad thing, it’s just a fact. This, the 1998, marks the first year of the Sportoletti family’s relationship with Riccardo Cotarella, an enologist/agronomist known for his enologic/agronomic consultancy for more than 80 wineries, in Italy, and in other countries, too. I think I’d have liked to have tried that in its youth, if only to have as a reference point. The first Villa Fidelia Rosso was produced in 1990. That said, the wine, like most, needed some air at first so that it could shake off the damp soil smells that often come with age after 30 minutes, the wine was completely opened up, and stayed that way until it was finished some two hours later. Cork, fill, and color all in excellent conditionĪs you can see in the photos above, the fill, cork and condition of this 1998 Villa Fidelia Rosso were as good as one could hope for at twenty years old.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |