Tasting Neil Empson Italian Wines : A Barolo 2002 CANTINO FANTANI & A 2003 Aglianico Del Vulture Terra Dei Re VULTUR Dry Red On April 3, 2010

This was a really fun impromptu tasting where I had at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits two really very fine Neil Empson wines that I had opened the day before at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) where I have managed the wine department now for nearly ten years here in our nation's capitol. What a grand ride it all has been!




The two wines are the Aglianico del Vuture from Basilicata, Italy. It's the 2003 VULTUR from a single vineyard and it was better on the second day than on the first! I have it ON SALE for $18.99 and we still have some in the store to sell. It needs to age more to get to that point where it is really ready to drink. Don't rush it and serve it now unless you have to. My advise is to buy some and hide the wine for another two or so years and at that point it will be hopefully completely ready to drink and enjoy fully? That's the plan anyway. The challenge is that it may indeed need more time : it's hard to judge unless you buy enough now to open a bottle every six months or so to get a really good reading.




I also offered my three customers here a taste of the 2002 Barolo from CANTINO FANTANI ( ON SALE for $39.99 ) and it showed still quite well this second day. That impressed me quite a bit as it was such a difficult vintage and to have it still taste very good on the second day was impressive indeed. It had lost some of it's elasticity and it was not quite so fresh or firm and composed. It had lost some of it's form and was simply not as flavorful or distinct. However, it had some lovely nuances of flavors that was beginning to show their various nuances and distinct tastes within the whole. I liked this and think that in this medium-to-light-bodied state that with a slight chill of twenty minutes or so and a meal that it would shine nicely all over again.





On the first day this 2002 Barolo ( what a difficult vintage it was and how amazing to get such a fine wine here - amazing, impressive! ) it was heartier, firmer, more closed and less revealing. The nose and the intense flavors were all there and I quickly agreed with Gary Diamond that the wine still offered up quite a bit to be enjoyed today. Thanks for telling Sal Furfari about these two wines Gary. I am glad to still have both in the store and I think that they both offer amazing values for what they are and give us.




Funny, as the Barolo CANTINO FANTANI 2002 showed so well on the first day the VULTUR Aglianico Del Vulture single-vineyard " Terr Dei Re " from Basilicata , Italy was closed and tight and though the bouquet was there the flavors were tight and closed and hard. I just could not wrap my palate around the inner core of these flavors as the wine would not open enough for me. That's okay. This is why there are wines to enjoy now while you wait for those that need more time in the bottle before opening.




Tonight I took a bottle of the Neil Empson 2002 declassified Barolo PODERI COLLA to the Jameson's to enjoy with the lamb stew that he had made. The combination was great! Paul opened the wine at the table and it was ready to enjoy within ten minutes. I immediately poured some to try to be sure that there were no problems as the 2002 was a very challenging vintage. Here PODERI COLLA decided not to make any Barolo at all and call it all Nebbiolo. Smart decision I believe as the wine is a great buy at $12.99 ON SALE ( we bought it all as we have sold so much PODERI COLLA red wine over the past six or so years at Cleveland Park. We bought lots of the 2003 Barbaresco and Barolo I believe. I think we started with the wines going back to the 1997 vintage and even some of the 1996 vintage, too? It's been awhile now so I will have to check my notes at the store.

I am home now and it's Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 11:39 Pm as I get ready for bed now. I want to post this tonight as there is a Neil Empson Barolo tour of the current vintage to try with the owners/wine-makers traveling through the United States currently. Tomorrow's tasting is in Washington D.C. at the popular and trendy Potensa restaurant. I will have to call Naomi Barber at the Empson headquarters in Old Towne, Alexandria tomorrow to get the time as I have forgotten. I would like t go to see the owner of PODERI COLLA that has now been to our store at least twice to do in-store wine-tastings for our customers. I have already blogged about him here at chatwine so simply use this search engine to read that blog entry as well.




I also have some of the single-vineyard PODERI COLLA Dolcetto 2006 ( ON SALE for $16.99 ) in the store : maybe a case now? ) for sale. It's smooth and silky and very polished and elegant. It's medium-to-light-bodied and showing a tremendous brightness and finesse as the dusty-dryness of the flavors blossoms into a really pretty toasty red berry/cherry freshness of flavors and taste with an hour and a half or so from when it was opened.




The declassified Barolo Nebbiolo 2002 from PODERI COLLA was a silky, velvety and elegant traditional style that is immediately ready to enjoy now. It's got all these lovely dried fruits and herbs and subtle spices in both the nose and the flavors. Pour it and drink it up don't wait. The bottle tonight needed to be drunk within an hour or so to get all the " blush " of brightness and freshness and fruit that the bottle still held.

Funny, the original bottle that I opened a month ago at the store was amazing the fist day and into the next still delicious and fresh and bright and lively. On the third day it was definitely pale and fading but still quite drinkable and enjoyable with a meal and a slight chill. There is always some bottle variation and so you have to evaluate bottle by bottle to be fair.

I have enjoyed all these bottles from the Neil Empson portfolio and I hope to make it to the Grand Tour Barolo wine-tasting tomorrow with Paul Jameson. We will see. I will add any notes from that here as soon as I can if we are able to attend.

In parting I want to say that I was having fun taking these pictures and letting my artistic temperament dictate the style and the poses and the compositions which I hope you all enjoy. These three certainly enjoyed these first two wines.

Cheers and stay-tuned for more. TONY

Francesco Russo Of TERRABIANCA ( Vino Di Toscana, Campaccio 2005 ) At Cleveland Park Wines/ Later With Naomi Barber 'N Me @ Potenza For Dinner

I had a busy day yesterday at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) where I manage the wine department with the help of Mike Martin. We are remodling the store and it's been quite hectic / frenetic even at times.

Our local. Empso Imports rep Gary Diamond came by around 3 PM and had with him Francesco Russ the general manager of TERRABIANCA ( San Fedele a Paterno / 1-53017 Radda in Chianti ( Siena ) Tel: +39 0577 540 29 Fax : +39 0577 540 214 info@terrabianca.com / www.terrabianca.com ) a very fine winery in Tuscany, Italy. We have been selling the TERRABIANCA wines now for six or more years and have done very well with them. Franceen Khang brought me one of the owner's daughters ( Maja Guldener )to meet on at least two occasions. They would both come - two beautiful ladies armed with a bag filled with excellent bottles of each of these TERRABIANCA wines and Mike and I would inevitably buy at least two or three of the different wines as they have a nice range. Back then ( maybe four-five-six years ago ) the dollar was much stronger and thus the prices were so much more affordable to us.

As a matter of fact we are out of them entirely and so this visit prompted me to order the wines ( the 2005 " Campaccio " Toscana in particular ) because the price has gone down on it considerably and we will be able to now sell if for $32.99 instead of $50. I like that kind of reduction in price, really I do very much! WHAT A DEAL!!

The Campaccio 2005 is showing really well now. I had just had it a couple of weeks ago with Gary Diamond ( check my earlier blog at Nam Viet restaurant with Gary ) and so this was my second taste. It was smoother and more forward than when I tasted it with my food at Nam Viet. I took some pictures of Francesco when I tried it and will include those here with the blog.

Gary invited me to dinner later this evening with Francesco and Naomi Barber. Gary said that Naomi had asked me if I would join them. After checking with my wife I accepted this kind, generous invitation to dine at Potenza, a new Italian restaurant that I had never heard of. It's at 1430 H. Street, NW, Washington D.C. 2005 Tel : 202-638-4444 www.potenzadc.com ). I like discovering new restaurants and especially when it is the company of such great people as Naomi and Francesco ( as I was going to discover I have a lot in common with ).

We drank a half bottle of JERMANN white ( I never even saw what it was - it tasted rich, textured and flavorful and balanced - was it a Tocai or a Pinot Blanc or a Pinot Grigio? I was enjoying the conversation and the setting/mood so much I never asked. It was excellent, that's really what mattered the most ) to begin with and then passed to the Campaccio. Naomi and Francesco were already seated when I arrived. After a nice welcome from both I sat down and the conversation, animation and sense of a good time awaiting us all we were off in a flash like the start of an exciting horse race. This was going to be fun and it sure was. It was Naomi and my first time at Potenza. It sure was packed and sure did seem to be the " hot spot " to be when I got there. There was just a whole lot of people there and a certain air/buzz about it speaking to it's popularity and success. I had to wait to see the hostess and then for someone to escort me to my table.

A few minutes after I sat down our waiter came by and I recognized him and said " hello ". He used to shop at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits when he used to live in our neighborhood. He's now living around MacArthur Boulevard. It was great to see Carlo ( Rossell ) again and he took really good care of us. I asked his suggestions of what was popular and selling well off the menu. He asked if I liked pork to which I immediately responded that I did. He made that recommendation and then the one of the octopus salad to start with. He continued with two others and was about to go on to another one when I stopped him saying I already had enough to consider. Both Naomi and I had the Cotoletto di Maiale Alla Milanese- Milanese-style pork ( with arugula, charred lemon, parmesan and arugula pesto ). and we varied on our appetizers. I tried the antipasti: Polipetti Carbonizzatti ( charred octupus, croutons, tomato, cucumber and red nions ). I don't remember what Naomi ordered. We both loved the pork!

And the 2005 Campaccio showed fabulously with the Milanese-style pork : it was even better at dinner than it was earlier in the store. Imagine that? Both Francesco and I agreed that the bottle at dinner was even more forward, even more elegant, polished, and not quite as heavy as the bottle that he and Gary sampled from this day earlier.

Elli, the sommelier came by and Naomi introduced us. Naomi knew her well and they spoke several times. The experience was marvelous : things just kept getting more fun and relaxed and we just kept telling story after story. We spoke of so many things like the movie " Babette's Feast " and children and James Suckling that wrote about Maja's husband and his cooking and restaurant in California where they both now live. We spoke of other wineries, too and of our histories. It was a great meeting/relaxing together of our three minds.

Thanks Naomi and Francesco for a lovely dinner and evening. Francesco, your 2005 TERRABIANCA " Campaccio " 2005 red Toscano is now back in the store at 5 PM on this Friday afternoon, May 1st, 2009. Love the red of the label : love the red hues of the wine. Look at the picture here in the store and also refer to the earlier pictures with Gary Diamond in the blog where we both had lunch at Nam Viet here in Cleveland Park, Washington D.C. I love the color and the way the light makes it sparkle and shimmer and almost glow with a life of it's own from within that explodes outwards!