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Vintage
Plays Havoc with Classic Contenders
A Delicious Knockout for 2002 Ornellaia
©
Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post
Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday,
May 27, 2006
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Call it the battle of the Titans, but in today's Vintages release and the upcoming one on June 10, feature two mega Italian reds, which might normally be found in the Classics Catalogue. They have many things in common. First, they both come from the cool, wet 2002 vintage, which has been dismissed by many wine pundits. The second thing is that they both come from Tuscany. Third, they are based on Bordeaux grapes and cost over $100 a bottle.
When
I tasted Tenuta
dell'Ornellaia 2002 Ornellaia (722470) in
today's release, it was love at first sip. Refined, very gently smoky,
intense ripe plum and sandalwood on the nose. Lovely, complex and yet
harmonious, well structured, ripe plum flavours with elegant, rounded
tannins. One of the most accessible, delicious Italian reds I have tasted
in a very long time. The fact that it cost $139.95 didn't disturb me -
"at last something worth the price," I thought.
But then I started to have second thoughts. The reason? I saw the score awarded this wine by the Wine Spectator (aka WS) - a miserly 90 points! With all the wines achieving 90 points these days, surely something was amiss. While the 2002 certainly didn't have the intense backbone and structure of the coveted, intense 2001 Ornellaia, which scored WS 95-points, it did have something that the 2001 didn't have - perfect 100-point drinkability.
Well that apparently is not important to the folks who invest in wine. They need to have something they can put away for years, perhaps even decades, before it becomes drinkable. To hell if it tastes awful now. Who cares if we will never know when it will be at its "peak" of drinkability? Or that it is challenging to marry with food. It's a 100-point wine and that's all that matters. Indeed, some palates have actually become acclimatized to drinking hard, aggressive, youthful wines that cost a fortune.
Surely something is wrong with this picture, at least for the simpler folk, who are prepared to fork out $139 on a blissful red only to be told that it's really isn't that good because you can actually enjoy it today. Whoever coined the moniker, the Wine "Speculator" hit the nail on the head. If you can't lay it away, it's not worth a second look.
Some might argue that this 2002 doesn't deserve a higher score because it comes from a challenging year. Thankfully, some wineries can rise to the occasion by being extremely careful in the selection of grapes. At Ornellaia, the grapes were carefully sorted with only the ripest unblemished ones surviving. After passing through the destalking machine, all remaining stalks were removed by hand on sorting tables. Also, all unripe grapes clusters were left in the vineyard. This resulted in a huge reduction in production - only 110,000 bottles the lowest level since 1991 (vs. 218,000 bottles in 1995), but a tremendously delicious red with 14.5% alcohol.
I wish I could be as enthusuiastic about the upcoming release of Marchesi Antinori 2002 Solaia (987586), but I can't. While Solaia means the "sunny one", inclement weather seems to have wreaked more havoc here resulting in a lowly WS 87-point score. While my own tasting note is more generous - bright with ripe plum and chocolate flavours and garrigue notes - one has to contend with the reality that at a breath-taking $129.95, Solaia just does not deliver.
Usually 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 20% Sangiovese, the bad whether meant that the 20% Sangiovese part of the blend had to be cut out all together. The result was 90% Cabernet Sauvignon (highest ever) and 10% Cabernet Franc. Sadly, Solaia simply doesn't have the depth of flavour and richness of Ornellaia, which is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. It is the Merlot component, actually a unique clone of Merlot called Masseto, that brings a lush quality to this reliably delicious red.
Moving
on the best white of the release, one should set sail for California. But
remember - bring lots of money. Recommended by Vintage Assessments! For
the first time in memory, a Kistler Chard has shown up in Vintages. I
don't know who to thank, the LCBO or its agent, Rob Groh at The Vine.
Whatever, Kistler
2004 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (642710) at $79.95
is a blockbuster - probably as big as it gets in terms of structure and
intensity. The nose is essence of key lime pie nose with hints of
smokiness. On the palate it is intensely rich and mouthfilling with smoky,
very slightly sweetish, lime custard flavours and a lingering caramel
finish. Forget fish; try it with a rack of lamb.
For
those of us who are searching for value, the best buy white of the release
is Val
de Vid 2004 Condesa Eylo Verdejo (673525) at
$13.95. Made exclusively from Verdejo grapes, it is considered to be the
pride and joy of Spain's Rueda region, which is located northwest of
Madrid. It has a very light straw colour but surprisingly intense, very
appealing, honeysuckle, ripe white peach aromas. Its dry, tasty, unoaked,
zesty, ripe rhubarb, peach and dried pear flavours stand up and say hello.
With only 200 cases in Vintages, better stock up now for the summer.
If
I had one best buy red to choose from, it would have to be Australia's Elderton
2003 Friends Cabernet Sauvignon (595389) at
$17.95. As part of their Barossa Vineyard Series, it is starting to show
some maturity and is in top drinking form. The nose is quite seductive
with spicy, chocolate-cherries. On the palate it is rich, spicy and
medium-full bodied with plummy, cherry flavours followed up by a
lingering, cedar-sandalwood finish. Weighing in at 14.5%, it shows fine
versatility - great with steak, lamb or even ribs hot off the bbq.
2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006
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