David Raines Wine Newsletter
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Spectator 1, Parker Nil |  |
The Gordon's Daily Flash: Friday May 26, 2006 Robert Parker never reviewed the 1999 Sottimano Barbarescos, so I don't know if he would have gotten them as wrong as he got several of the other wines we tasted yesterday, but the consensus between Cheryl, one of our best customers for Italian wines, and myself was that Mr. Parker's reviews of the Marc DeGrazia portfolio of Barolos and Barbarescos were distinctly . . . inconsistent. We tasted about 30 of them, a mix of 1998s, 1999s, 2000s, and 2001s, and I was surprised, when I looked them up this morning, to find that the Spectator's scores were closer to ours than Mr. Parker's were. Of course Mr. Parker, according to his biography, doesn't actually ever GO to Italy. (He's apparently been there once.) And the Spectator's reviewer actually LIVES there. But in that same biography Mr. Parker is quoted as saying he knows Piemontese wines better than the Piemontese know them themselves. Okay. Actually Mr. Parker, despite knowing the wines better than the people who produce them, doesn't review Italian wines at all anymore. He's delegated that to someone else now. But back when he DID review Italian wines, he missed the 99 Sottimanos. Povero ragazzo. The 1999 Sottimano Barbaresco, Fausoni, is a soft, complex, deeply flavored wine that opens with sweet fruit and continues with a layered, gripping middle. It is COMPLETE from start to finish and absolutely CLASSIC in its rich, refined and delicious flavors as well as in the expansively structured architecture of its tannins, which are fully ripe. For all the publicity the 2000s have had, yesterday it was the 1998s and 1999s (and even the 2001s) that provided the best examples of great Piemontese Nebbiolo. The 2000s were tight and closed. Some would say they seemed promising. But given the refinement as well as the clear aging potential of the others it would be hard right now to argue against an investment in the 99s or the 01s in preference to the 00s. Now here's this from our Dept. of Corroboration: "Sottimano Barbaresco Fausoni 1999 Score: 92 Complex aromas of plums, tea, berries and cedar. Full-bodied, with big and velvety tannins and a long, long chewy finish. A big yet balanced red, with lots of aging potential. Best after 2006. 335 cases made. (JS)" Wine Spectator Nov 30, 2002 |
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1999 Sottimano Barbaresco, Fausoni $48 NET (DUE TUESDAY) -Added 2006-05-26 |
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