From the Cellar

Barde Haut meets Pirramimma (France / Australia)

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Category: Uncorked Tonight

(March 13, 2016) ... Out for dinner and I really decided to dig into the back of the cellar for these two wines: starting with one of the older bottles from my cellar a Chateau Barde-Haut 1999 St Emilion, and it's pretty much where I would expect it to be showing both secondary and tertiary characteristics: earthy, black licorice, sour cherry, dried leaves, spiced-dried-raspberry, along with cedar and pencil shavings.  I then stepped it up five years and went Down Under for a bottle of Pirramimma 2004 Petit Verdot, this too was pretty amazing stuff with the aromas of coffee, blackberry, and black cherry leading to a palate of rich dark fruit along with smoky notes, a tinge of vanilla and coffee on the finish.

A Double Dose of Farina Ripasso (Italy)

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Category: Uncorked Tonight

(March 7, 2016) ... I seem to have come across a couple of bottles of Remo Farina Ripasso in my cellar during my semi-annual clean-up and thought: "why no give these two wines a taste together" - here's how they stacked up:

2010 (L) - 2011 (R)Starting with the Farina 2010 Ripasso "Le Pezze"; lots of baked dark fruit here with some plum, burnt chocolate, sweet leather-tarry notes; but after about a half hour it became too harsh to drink because of all those baked and burnt notes - sadly this one has not aged well.  

On the other hand, the Farina 2011 Ripasso "Le Pezze" was a true joy: fresh plum and raspberry on the nose with great ripe red raspberry, strawberry and hints of chocolate on the palate; the finish added subtle tannins and sweet vanilla.

This was the tale of two wines and the 2011 emerged victorious.