Opened yesterday – cherry liqueur, toasted nut, truffle nose with a bit of onion sulfide action.

Intensely flavored with strong acidity adding major thrust to red cherry and light charcoal and earth flavors. Lean – reminds me very much of Nebbiolo – as did the nose. Seems to lack the precision/clarity of some other vintages I’ve had.

$35.   100% Nerello Mascalese. 15% alcohol – the highest I think I’ve seen for this bottling.

www.passopisciaro.com

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Discreet nose of white peach, nectarine and incipient petrol.

Sugared, perfectly ripe nectarine/peach in the mouth, with mineral/acid structure to balance. Beautiful “interplay” between ripe stone fruit and acid.. Mineral/acid structure dominates the finish and extends fresh nectarine flavors. Yes, this is RFG, and well-timed for the approaching summer.

$25.   100% Riesling

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Opened yesterday – beautiful nose of herbs, toast, black raspberry, melted chocolate. Fresh, nuanced.

Round and luxurious in the mouth – all over the place – and yet has a firm spine of acid-driven tannin that slowly manifests itself.
Bright flavors of mint, tar and blackberry. Even shows a slightly saline aspect. This is RFG. Acid/tannin structure coats the front
in “chew”. Only one bottle left – not touching it for at least 8-10 years..

$60 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc.

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Opened yesterday – deep smoke, tar nose with black fruit submerged. A bit more nuanced yesterday when it showed some fragrant herb action.

Round and loaded in the mouth, slightly saucy/baked. Fairly strong acidity keeps this playing in the center of the mouth, despite its breadth. Very serious action. Finishing acid/tannin synergy is significant but reasonable refined. Interestingly, I think this was brighter and more complex yesterday without aeration. Nevertheless, extremely impressive dry red from the Douro.

$50   30% each Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), 20% Touriga Franca, 17% Tinta Amarela and 3% Sousao.

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Vinturi – smoked meat/bacon, grilled and wilted herbs, tapenade, black pepper, coriander and roasted almond nose. A PFG meal.. Very composed/integrated.

Round, plush middle-weight in the mouth. Beautiful mid-palate flesh and density, with smoked meat and herb “inner-mouth perfume”. Really saturated flavor pixel count – grainy. Acid/tannin structural synergy builds slowly to ultimately impede flavor flow in the finish, but this is brilliant for a middling vintage. I’d guess this will continue to improve for at least another 3-4 years and drink well for many more..

$45 on release.   100% Syrah.

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Deep, fleshy aromas of mead, candied pineapple and butterscotch with lemon and light spice underneath.
Continues to unfold with air – lime, popcorn, hazelnut…

Very deep in the mouth, with a light oxidative note. Shows dessert wine-like density, but has an acid spine  that keeps it light on its feet. Even manages to sprinkle some mineral “chew” on the front teeth. Wild, idiosyncratic white wine. My last bottle several years ago was also FK..

$50.   100% Roussanne. Tasted at 60F.

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Vinturi – fragrant, lifted nose of sexy wood/oak spice, blackberry coulis, hazelnut. All very discreet and beautifully perfumed. A late hint of greenness adds interest.

Immediately center-packed in the mouth. Has great density and mid-palate flesh, but tightly wound, and, literally, tasted down the middle of the tongue. Great “inner-mouth perfume” (Tanzer). What a beautiful wine already, and built to age for many, many years. FK. With additional air time, this expands to cover the whole mouth with grainy tannin and refined perfume. No sense of weight, ethereal. Holy shit.

$60?   100% Syrah

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Vinturi – Awesome, totally sexy nose of fresh herbs, smoky oak/grilled meat with raspberry and hazelnut underneath.

Round and dense in the mouth – earth, herbs and raspberry raspberry repeating. No extraneous textural sweetness, mid-palate suffused with grainy tannin. This still has another decade or more to go. Killer action.

$50 on release?

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Opened yesterday – nose of woodsmoke, earth, hazelnut, grilled meat and black fruit.
Nicely integrated.

Deep, with good life, especially for a 2003 (presumably very hot here too). Creamy black fruit, oak spice and earth/nut flavors. Excellent mid-palate density and sweetness countered by significant acid/tannin synergy in the finish. This is still young. Very impressive

$40 on release. 80% Syrah, 9% Mourvedre, 7% Bobal, 4% Tempranillo. From Victor de la Serna – one of Spain’s top wine writers.

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