[wine] TN Italians at Trattoria da Vinci 4-7-05

Good food! Bubbly - rich rose color, attractively berryish nose; clean, rich, minerally, quite full-flavored; lip-smacking finish. Castillo Perelada, Cava "Torre Galatea" Brut Rosado (nv). 1.1 - quite dark color, nose of full young fruit, big astringent midpalate forcefully states "I'm Italian," balanced tannic bite, well structured, could wish for more fruit on the finish but this is very good. La Valentina, 2002 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. 1.2 - dark color; sappy oak nose less forthcoming than first wine; quite full bodied and full flavored midpalate, purple plums and blackberries with the oak, delicious in an unusual way, aromatic finish, quite attractive. Allegrini, 1996 Palazzo della Torre (Valpolicella Classico Superiore). 1.3 - medium purple, reticent mushroomy nose, midpalate smooth, earth and fruit, some tannin, finish pleasant, quality OK plus, prefer the first two wines. Terenzi, 2000 Cesanese del Piglio "Colle Forma." 2.1 - corked. 2.2 - medium color, sharp-weird unattractive nose, not tasted. Lamborghini, 2001 Trescone (Umbria IGT). 2.3 - young dark color; very vegetal stemmy green note on nose, plenty of fruit too; midpalate round and sweet, the note of greenness continuing; finishes as it tastes. Gives the impression of something unripe (cab? merlot?) blended into other very ripe grapes. Massotina, 1997 Colli di Conegliano Rosso. 3.1 - quite dark; reticent nose, chocolatey oak on nose after much airing; midpalate flavor picks up the mushroom sauce on the ravioli VERY nicely, good-sized rich wine, some acid to lose, smooth transition to finish though, nice length. Best on the finish, probably needs time, improved quite fast with time in the glass. Felsina, 2000 Fontalloro (Toscana IGT). 3.2 - clear light aged Burgundy color; nose of herbs, spices and sappy dried fruit, attractive vegetal notes, fish, very complex bouquet; smooth taste basically as it smells but sweeter, long and aromatic, excellent. Antoniolo, 1995 Gattinara. 3.3 - dark color, sharp-smoky nose, big sangiovese midpalate, very ripe but not all that sweet, finish rather alcoholic at this point, midpalate is the wine's best feature, quite long, needs more time in bottle. Castello di Brolio, 1999 Chianti Classico. Dessert - light to medium golden bubbly; perfectly fresh, rich and exotic muscat nose jumps out of the glass, midpalate rich, honeyed, sweetness perfectly balanced by the acidity, flowers, baking spice, pronounced lemon custard flavor, very long, superb. La Spinetta, 2003 Moscato d'Asti "Bricco Quaglia." An extraordinary example of what the influential British critic Tom Stevenson considers the world's greatest sweet sparkling wine. Moscato d'Asti is very light - this one was five and a half percent alcohol - and only "frizzantino," much less fizzy than Champagne (or Cava); because of the lower pressure, it comes in a standard bottle with a standard cork rather than the heavy bottle, fat cork and wire cage setup of fully sparkling wines. Cheers!