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La Brancaia Il Blu 2006: “La Brancaia Il Blu 2006
La Brancaia Il Blu 2006 is one of the best Super Tuscan wines around and with a growing reputation it won’t stay on my QPR doozy list for long. The 2006 vintage is sumptuous. A fantastic year for Merlot in Italy, that supple little grape has provided the knock out punch to the other great red of La Brancaia’s, Ilatraia. Usually, vintage after vintage these two wines can barely be separated both excellent though with very different flavour profiles. However, this year Il Blu is a baby giraffes neck ahead and with 96 points from Galloni and a Tre Bicchiere award, I had to get hold of this years vintage and see if the wine justified this stonking rating.
Swiss owned La Brancaia are foremostly fine exponents of Chianti Classico, and, like many other Tuscan estates with Chianti holdings, soon turned their attention to the cheaper and Bordeaux-esque Maremma to begin producing Super Tuscan wines. Still today these wines are wowing the critics. A little out of fashion in the noughties those in the know still swear by the Super Tuscan often rivalling, sometimes surpassing, the quality of Bordeaux and often for a fraction of the price. The interesting thing about Il Blu, a 50% Sangiovese, 45% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon wine is that it’s not actually from Maremma but grown within the Chianti jurisdiction.
The excellent thing about it, is that this wine can still be found for under £40. 96 Point wines at £40 are very few and far between especially from such a famous region. Although I wasn’t quite as impressed, to me 96 represents a unique barrier to push through, I happily award this wine 95 Points and a rubber stamped BUY.
As frequent readers of this blog will know, I spent 3 of the last 4 years living in Italy and one of the most beautiful things about it, excluding the people, countryside, food and wine, was the way these 4 qualities were often married. We spent many Friday evenings drinking and eating at the local Agriturismo’s, where you ate the produce from the working farms, many of these were not just farms and restaurants but also hotels too. At La Brancaia you can also take a vacation with a stunning location, great food and wine of course, and set yourself right in the heart of a gorgeous Italian wine holiday. Check it out here.
Back to the wine. I popped and poured the La Brancaia Il Blu 2006 on Sunday which, to be honest, was a good 5 years too early. The wines of La Brancaia, apart from the Chianti Classico which is surprisingly accessible young, should all be given at least 5 years in the cellar. Despite this it was very clear to see that this was a very special wine and after some time to breath I can say that, for 2009 so far, this is the best QPR wine of the year. If you love Italian wines you have to seek this out, if you are into Bordeaux you have to seek this out, if you collect wine to sell for profit… you have to seek this out. If an alien were to come down from Mars, point a gun to my head and forced me to choose just one wine to attempt to please his palate…I’d choose this wine.
Food Match: Duck, Pigeon or Venison.
Best Wines from this Producer: Consistently excellent within their varietal.
Chianti Classico
Brancia Il Blu
Tre
Ilatraia
La Brancaia Il Blu 2006 – BUY – £39
Deep dark ruby red edging on purple, the wine sits thick in the glass. On the nose you are taken on a power tour of fruit with cherries, plum and spicy vanilla oak. The wine is full bodied with the aromas carrying through to the attack. The mid palate is powerful and tannic at the moment but still enjoyable with the finish almost endless. Brilliantly structured, the wine hides the alcohol brilliantly and is sure to improve with age. 95 Points
Where can I buy this wine?
Europeans – Chicago WC – $47.50
Americans – Divine Golosita Toscane – €40
Brits – WineDirect – £39
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Which wine would you give to an alien to showcase the best planet earth had to offer?
Italian Wine Blog – Wine90
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(Via Italian Wine Blog – Wine90.)
Eater Inside: Behold Againn, DC's New Gastropub (and Its Expansion Plans): “
[Photos: Powers and Crewe Photography]
The pretty lady seen here is Againn, a new gastropub opening tomorrow in Washington DC. The chef is Wes Morton, whose resume boasts places like Citronelle and the French Laundry. And then there’s the booze side of the operation, where San Francisco cocktail stars Scott Baird and Josh Harris are consulting on the opening, and they’ve put together an insane beverage program that includes 100+ scotches, 100+ beers by the bottle and 17 beers on tap.
Even more notable might be the people behind Againn, the Whisk Group headed by Ritz-Carlton vet Mark Weiss, who is looking to expand aggressively both nationwide and globally. Up next is a pastry shop in DC called Cioccopan, and if all goes to plan, a second, similar gastropub concept in Dubai of all places. Plus, as seen on the website, there are several other concepts (Italian, Belgian, et al.) currently being shopped around the country by Weiss and Company.
· The Whisk Group [Official Site]
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(Via Eater National.)
Alois Lageder Cabernet Sauvignon Cor Romigberg: “Alois Lageder Cabernet Sauvignon Cor Romigberg
Alois Lageder is one of the major players on the South Tyrol wine map producing a large and varied quantity of quality and affordable wines. In it’s fifth generation, the latest Lageder is one of the pioneers in bio dynamic wine making in the region. Lageder, like many producers in the area, buy in grapes from local growers for many of their cheaper, single varietal wines. Most of these wines are fair priced and jolly good examples of the vast variety of grapes able to reach full ripeness in the cool but endlessly sunny Southern Tyrol.
The single vineyard–Lageder produced wines are grown along bio dynamic lines and the entire estate is environmentally adapted to the nth degree with solar panelling propelling the operation.
Alois Lageders Cabernet Sauvignon Cor Romigberg is practically unrivalled in the Southern Tyrol. Although the area is blessed with a ridiculous amount of sunshine hours, Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps not one of the varieties that springs to mind when we envisage the Southern Tyrol because Cabernet Sauvignon likes to bask in the heat to fully ripen. However, it is the exceptional management of the vines here, as well as exhaustive analysis of the grapes that has produced a cool climate Cabernet without the ‘green’.
The Romigberg vineyards are one of the most southerly of the Lageder parcels, several miles south of Bolzano and just north of the town of Termeno. Nestled between lake and mountain, it is little surprise then that this Cabernet Sauvignon has a very real and pronounced vein of minerality. What is a surprise is the luscious fruit, spice and floral notes that the wine offers. Containing just 3% Petit Verdot as an accompanying grape it seems improbable that the PV is driving the fruit.
The Cor Romigberg is the pride of the Lageder brand and spends 20 months in two thirds new french oak followed by a further 8 in bottle before release. The vines are at high density using the Guyot trellising system. In Italy these wines come onto the market around the €30 mark which, comparing to Tuscan Cabernet Sauvignons of this standard is a remarkable bargain. This is a classic cool climate Cabernet so don’t imagine that the flavour profile will be anything like a Tuscan or southern Italian Cab.
Recently I had the opportunity to try the ’03, a blazing hot vintage throughout Italy that played a part in reducing the usual minerality of the wine and gave further notice to the fruit. The Cor Romigberg is a wine that can benefit from cellaring in more typical vintages, however with the ’03 I’m happy to say the wine is drinking beautifully at the end of 2009.
Alois Lageder Cabernet Sauvignon Cor Romigberg 2003 – BUY – £32
The darkest brooding ruby red. The nose is at once cherries, oak inspired spice, cassis and tobacco, a real aroma fans wine. On the palate the wine has strong but not aggressive tannins, it is powerful and the fruit is complimented by a straight minerality that gives this wine it’s cool climate Cabernet feel. The finish is long and fruit driven the same as the attack. 90 Points.
Without tasting previous vintages it is hard to know if the Cor Romigberg is never green due to the grape selection process or if this particular vintage was so warm in the Southern Tyrol that this vintage is an anomaly putting it somewhere between a hot and cold climate Cabernet, it is at the very least a delicious wine.
Food Match: Lamb cutlets.
Best Wines from this Producer: Consistently excellent within their varietal.
Cabernet Sauvignon Cor Romigberg
Sauvignon Lehenhof
Chardonnay Lowengang
Pinot Grigio Benefizium Porer
Pinot Nero Krafuss
Where can I buy this Wine?
Europeans – Superiore.de – €36
Americans – SS Wines – $26.99
Brits – Superiore.de – £32
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Favourite Cabernet Sauvignon growing regions and favourite producer?
Italian Wine Blog – Wine90
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(Via Italian Wine Blog – Wine90.)
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