Barrel Tasting of an Italian blend of Primitivo & Negroamaro IGT 2006
I had the opportunity to have a barrel tasting of an Italian Primitivo Negroamaro 2006, brought in by a wine merchant friend of mine, but unforunately, other than knowing its grape varietal, he didn't know which region it came from, or what was the estate name, so this entry really is a hit or miss, venture guessing.
Ok, once again from my research, Primitivo & Negroamaro blends are dominated and grown extensively in the Italian region of Apulia, under the IGT district of Salento, which is west of the Italian heel. In the past, Apulia was called "the cellar of Europe", producing very fine quality wines comparable to Veneto & Sicily.

Although Salento is more popular with its local varietals especially the early ripening & highly exported Primitivo grape, some websites have indicated a shift of production to Rose wines and even full fruity white wines.

This particular wine i'm tasting has a majority of Primitivo, an early ripening grape which is a relative to the US Zinfandel & the Croatian Plavac Mali grape. This wine tends to be more alcoholic & deep in colour. This wine's color is further deepen by the addition of Negroamaro, which means "Black and Bitter" in Italian, and when produced in DOC regions,is heady and ageworthy wines.

APPEARANCE

A vibrant deep dark ruby color with a slightly transparent rim, a very deep core and has a rather mulky clarity. Definitely unfiltered wine, but of course, it is from the barrel.

NOSE

It has a very prominent liquor sponge cake aroma, with some hints of coffee oak. It was a very fine ripe plum texture with a strong alcoholic finish

PALATE

A lovely dense texture with middle body, with distinct plum and black berries. Very velvety tannin which hits you from the beginning leading to a medium finish.

COMMENTS / EVOLUTION

Surprisingly delicious for its youth, with very well behaved tannins throughout the tasting. Very straight forward and easy to appreciate. The aroma has evolved slightly from liquor sponge cake to a very fine tiramisu and hints of candied bananas(ok, it sounds stupid i know!)

Chateau Moulin de Curat 1998
Puisseguin Saint-Emilion

Ah...another evening of wine & dine in its most basic form, an interesting bottle of wine, a simple chinese dinner and of course, wonderful conversations. Today, I had the pleasure of opening a bottle of Chateau Moulin de Curat 1998, a wine from the Puisseguin Saint Emilion AC.

From my basic research, this appellation comes under the "Saint Emilion Satellites", North of Saint Emilion. With a soil content of Limestone, Gravel & Cobble, I would guess that drainage is a concern as the calcium Calcareous clay has the ability to retain water. This might be good for water scarce, non-irrigation regions like Puisseguin Saint-Emilion whose moderately warm maritime climate (caused by the river Gironde), and its lower rain fall in summer. Apparently, the only time it rains in Puisseguin Saint-Emilion is during the harvest season in Autumn.

Ok, this wine supposedly comes from a relatively good year for Bordeaux right bank wines, according to Jancis Robinson (Jancis Robinson, Wine Course), with a very hot summer and rain during the harvest, so now here comes the fun part. TASTING!

APPEARANCE
the wine shows a dull dark ruby with a hint of brown, possibly because of its age, with a semi-transparent rim & light core. this wine has pratically no tears, letting off its lower alcohol content (12.5%)

NOSE
A nose exhibiting some dry earth notes with hints of fresh leather & mothballs. There are some hints of dried preserved berries but it fades in and out.

PALETTE
A light bodied wine with smooth ripe blackcurrants. I would say a good structure, with a surprisingly lively & long tannic finish.

EVOLUTION / THOUGHTS
After about 30mins of airing, the nose begins to show some meaty backbone and the Palatte begins to show more fruit characters with fresher blackcurrants. The finish for this wine is really really good and remains long!