Hadn't enjoyed Coturri in a while - too long - what better way to get back in the groove than to slip a favorite into a brown bag for the Thursday night tasting ritual -
Coturri Founders Sangiovese 2003 - proved a stumper -
Shared tasting notes with the winemaker - Tony Coturri - who himself had some thoughts to add on a great bottle of wine -
From Red Is Life to Tony
Opened a bottle of your Founders Sangiovese 2003 with our wine group last night -
Claims of coffee nose - chocolate taste - up and down - most swore it was a Zin - jumped all over the globe - when I said it wasn't a Zin - everyone swore it was a Petite Syrah - when I said it wasn't a PS - blood oaths that it must be a Cab -
David - who is our second most "American" wine buyer - your truly being the first - asked - "is this Coturri??" - and when I said it was - he still couldn't get the grape - even to name it - seemed so far beyond the norm -
Most importantly - every one was serious thumbs up - in our impromptu Manhattan Caucus (Jan 3) - voted most interesting wine of the night -
From Tony to Red Is Life
Many times wine drinkers mis-understand our wines when the wine is young. Given a bit of age they start to pull together.
Sangiovese is a difficult wine to pin down to a certain style or flavor. One needs to taste many different Italian Sangioveses before having any opinion on the varietal.
Our 2004 is very different. More in a sense Zin-like than the 2003, with a bit of sweetness in the mid palate.
I was scratching my head over it. Then a visitor came by and tasted it and flipped out. He was just over in Tuscany and tasted a producer who had the very same style.
Enjoy -
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