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From:
Mark
Category: Wine
Date: 24/03/2007
Time: 17:57:52
Okay, okay so I declare an interest in this wine. It is imported by a good friend of mine, Marc Millon - food and wine writer, raconteur, yellow jersey cyclist (yup, in my book he is...when I get off my bike to cycle up sleeping policemen) and all round good-guy. It comes direct from a family friend in Italy. So...you might think I am biased. But this is the first time I have recommended his wines in nearly two years. Not that I don't think they are worth it...he stocks many excellent wines. But I thought it was about time I did. I also thought I would recognise a truly excellent wine that is drinking its very best. Go and buy it. It will give you a lasting memory. It will also introduce you to the world-class wines of Donatella - the First Lady of Tuscan wine (well...just try the wines and you will see!)
Rosso di Montalcino 2002, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Tuscany,
Italy. £10.30 (Club Members)
This red is very much an entry-level wine to Donatella's Brunello range. So you might think that there is nothing to shout about. But you would be wrong. Finished in small oak barrels (for 3 months) this wine exhibits all of the class and some of the refinement of its bigger 'sisters'.
Looking at it from the safety of a glass it is blood red with a distinct, mature 'bricky' tone and a glossy look in the glass. At 13.5% it sheds big tears. I can tell this is going to be an emotional experience.
On the nose it is both full throttle and fully mature (although it should stay at its peak for a while) and drinking at its best - rather like Mrs Robinson picking you up in a 1962 Ferrari and driving you - fast - through the warm Tuscan night. The primary fruit has now melted into mature bouquet, making it a harmonious whole. The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso would be pleased that this wine is now 'at one with itself'. One can still pick out the swirl of individual aromas - red cherry and raspberry fruit, dried goji berries (yes sweetie...I'm sooo with it!). The spice is mainly vanilla (from the casks) you can pick out a slight whiff of mace (not the 'back-off punk' aerosol variety), dried juniper and barber-stropped leather. This is now bound together with a characteristic maturing gamey note.
The palate is medium-bodied but with great fruit, great acidity, excellent tannic structure and nearly obvious alcohol. Picking up on the notes on the nose the wine exhibits cherry, raspberry, oak vanillins and a rich gaminess coming from its recent maturity. The wine has all its bits in the right place. The attack is pronounced (with the acid), the mid-palate is rich and fully-fruited with the alcohol giving a glossy veneer to the mouthfeel. The medium-to-finely grained tannins frame the ensemble and lead to a lovely raspberry pip finish and a length just shy of infinite. I'd happily get mugged for another bottle. Any takers? I'll be on the corner of 52nd and 1st at midnight tonight. Bring me a bottle. I'm yours.
A slice of world-class at a smidgeon over a tenner? It's so good you'll feel guilty.
Go visit www.vino.co.uk to buy and www.cinellicolombini.it/inglese/montalcino.asp for more information.
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