Dinner out last night to welcome a visitor from overseas. An excellent local ristorante waives their corkage fee on Monday nights, so it was an easy decision to head there.
We started with an appetizer of “Sushi Pizza”. We were first given this at a prior dinner as a complimentary appetizer and have been ordering it ever since. Essentially, it’s a warm, but crispy risotto cake topped with sushi grade tuna, a drizzle of soy, a spicy sauce of some sort, and garnished with chives. It is stunning. A pic is below.
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| Sushi “Pizza” from “The Vine” |
For dinner, I ordered one of the most decadent risotto I’ve ever eaten; Risotto with escargot and lump crab meat. The pairing with the Brunello was absolutely otherwordly.
The 2001 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino was opened at the table and not decanted. I was worried that this would impair the wine, but my fears were completely unfounded. This Brunello was absolutely stunning and easily one of the best Brunello I’ve had all year. I suspected it would be delicious, but it surpassed my expectations. In the glass, it’s a dark garnet, with a large copper rim. You can tell that it’s 11 years old. The nose of the wine is captivating with crushed red fruits, spices, leather and earth. In the mouth, the wine is full bodied with masses of sweet ripe red fruit that completely coat the palate. Rich, unctuous bottle sweetened wine with added complexity from earth, sage, brush, spice, leather and licorice. The balance is perfect, that tannins completely resolved and the finish went on and on. My words damn with faint praise. Drink now, you won’t be sorry. 98 points, about $40 on release.
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| 2001 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino |
As a final postscript – I would say that if you’ve got the 2006 Caparzo in your cellar, hold it for 10 years and hope it turns into this. The 2006 Caparzo I had upon release was good, but didn’t approach this sort of stature.
John, last year I tasted this wine (2006), and as it's been with almost every Brunello I've tasted, I've loved this one as well; I have another waiting for some years in the future or for an Indian-like blackout!
I think when critics reviews these Brunellos, they need to keep in mind that they're best with some time on them. As for me, I have to catch-up, but I'm trying to get two bottles at a time; one to drink now, and one for the future.
Yeah, that's a good strategy to have. With the 2006 being as cheap it is, I'm wondering if that wine is made from a younger vineyard, or perhaps the 2001 was made from fruit that now goes into their La Casa bottling. The difference in quality was striking to me and I don't know if the 2006 will turn into the 2001 or not. I actually may ask Caparzo. I know a guy there.
J