Skip to content

Super Tuscan Blind Tasting

2009 June 8
by Eric Hwang

20090689Thursday was a busy day. Starting with going to the airport at 9am and flying to San Diego via Salt Lake City and arriving to shop for some appetizers for that evening’s tasting, it was hectic. But ultimately, it was a lot of fun meeting new people and tasting some wines that I’ve never had before.

20090687The blind tasting this evening was supposed to be 2006 Super Tuscans. You know, those Tuscan wines that aren’t officially classified as Chianti but rather the lower classification of Toscana Indicaxione Geografica Tipica. However, they are anything but a lower class of wine produced in this region and can include any number of varietals grown in this area including, but not limited to, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. And because it was a BYOB event, we had more than just the 2006 vintage. This is understandable since many 2006’s are just now being bottled and are somewhat hard to find.

20090695Because of the unique format of this tasting, it was hard to rank these wines. We had eight total wines with two flights of four wines which we tasted and ranked separately. Going strictly by points, we ended up with a 4-way tie to second place, however, it was agreed that the second flight of wines was much better than the first flight. Here are all the wines ranked based on their point scores and ties broken by a complicated formula of number of first place votes minus the number of last place votes added to their score.

200906968. 2004 Die Vole Broccato – dark garnet in color with a nose of leather and cherry. Flavors of blueberry and cherry on the palette with a peppery medium finish and firm tannins. $36

7. 2006 Lagone Aia Vecchia – deep garnet color and aromas of black olives, leather, tobacco and cherry. Primarily cherry and blackberry flavors with a firm tannic bite and tart acidity. $16

6. 2006 Argiano NC Non Confundilur – garnet color and tight aromas that eventually opened up with a nose of dusty licorice, tomato and brambles. Flavors of cherry, tobacco and ashtray with a long finish and firm tannins. $19

5. 2003 Argiano il Duemilatre di Argiano – brick color with amber edges. Smokey, leather and spice aromas precede flavors of cherry, olive and cedar. Medium finish with rounded tannins. $39

200906884. 2005 Tenuta di Valgiano Palistorti – garnet color with a nose of tobacco, cedar and a touch of brett. Very fruity taste of cherry and blackberry with a touch of tobacco. Medium long finish with smooth tannins. My no. 1 ranked. $34

3. 2006 Villa Pillo Syrah – Bright red color with a bouquet of bacon, leather and tobacco. Tasted somewhat young with sour cherry and raspberry on the palette with a finish of high, hard tannins. $20

2. 2006 Crognolo – Bright red color with a phenolic olive nose. Flavors of black currant and olives with a medium finish and rounded tannins. $32

1. 2006 Grilli Del Testamatta – Garnet colored with aromas of raspberry and an initial medicinal smell that eventually reveals a smokey aroma. Flavors of dark cherry, blackberry and plum lead to a long finish with firm tannins and nice acidic balance. $29

Special thanks to James for arranging and hosting this tasting at his house. I truly appreciate his hospitality as well as not having to drive after this event.

Copyright © 2009, Eric Hwang and Bricks of Wine. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Eric Hwang and Bricks of Wine with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

No comments yet

Leave a Reply

Note: You can use basic XHTML in your comments. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS