Super 1997 Tuscan Wines - How are the top wines from this outstanding vintage drinking now

“History’s lessons drowned in red wine”

Children’s Crusade by Sting

This is the last tasting that we have before I leave for France to visit Champagne and Burgundy so you know this will be a night to remember.  I like to have at least one great tasting before I travel and this week we have three!!

I will give you a full report on my tastings in Champagne and Burgundy when I get back in the WIDY part of our e-mail.  Check out the reviews from our German tasting at the end of this e-mail.

If you want to drink some of the top wines from this highly touted vintage from Tuscany you better respond quickly to this e-mail as there are only a few seats left for this event.  We have no wines for sale tonight this is serious scientific research we are conducting this evening.

The Top Super Tuscans of the 1997 vintage...

How are they drinking now??

Saturday, May 9, 2015
7:00 PM

1997 Argiano Solengo

(94 points) The profound 1997 Solengo vino da tavola (a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon with a tiny dosage of Syrah) is spectacular. Opaque purple-colored, it displays a fabulously sweet nose of creme de cassis, new saddle leather, toasty new oak, licorice, and flowers. This wine boasts amazing richness, a huge, full-bodied impact on the palate (yet no sense of heaviness), low acidity, gorgeous ripeness, and a finish that lasts for 35+ seconds. I predict a brilliant future for this compelling proprietary red wine. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2016. (RP) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

1997 Castello dei Rampolla Vigna d'Alceo

(97 Points) "What a great Cabernet. Dark ruby red color. Intense aromas of blackberry and black truffle. Very pungent. Full-bodied, layered and caressing. Wonderful flavors of licorice, dark chocolate, meat and berry. Super long. Fabulous structure and length.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Best after 2010. 1,000 cases made." Wine Spectator

1997 Felsina Fontalloro

(92 Points) The 1997 Fontalloro may be the finest made from this single vineyard (and I have tasted them back through the early eighties). Aged two years in French oak, there are 3,000 cases of this spectacular wine. Dense ruby/purple-colored, with a chocolate espresso-scented nose infused with cherry liqueur, it is a full-bodied, sweet wine with wonderful fatness, terrific ripeness, plenty of glycerin, and a chewy, long, spicy finish. There is some tannin in this youthful offering, but its appealing flamboyance is attention-getting. It should last for 12-15+ years.  Wine Advocate #130, Aug 2000

1997 Fontodi Flaccianello

(95 Points) The 1997 Flaccianello della Pieve wraps around the palate with endless layers of dark fruit. In 1997 the grapes were very small because the intense heat of the year dehydrated the fruit. Dark red berries, pomegranate, spices, smoke, licorice, anise and rose petals burst from the glass with notable energy, power and grace. Even with all of its intensity, the 1997 is beautifully balanced from start to finish. This racy, full-bodied Flaccianello can be enjoyed today or cellared for up to a decade. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022. Wine Advocate #201, Jun 2012

1997 Antinori Solaia

(96 Points) The 1997 Solaia is awesome. Sweet, open aromatics lead to a rich, full-bodied expression of dark cherries, plums, menthol and spices. This sensual, full-bodied wine remains youthful and full of life. The 1997 is a great Solaia. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2017. In the Cellar, Jan 2009, Antonio Galloni

1997 Tenuta San Guisto A Rentannano percarlo

(97 Points) The 1997 Percarlo impresses for its pure seduction. It is also impossibly young. Dark red cherries, flowers and mint wrap around the palate in this sensual, inviting wine. In keeping with the qualities of the warm year, the 1997 emphasizes textural depth and richness rather then the more aromatic, firm style that defines cooler years such as 1996. The 1997 is drop dead gorgeous today. I imagine the 1997 will age faster than the 1996, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem given the wine’s exceptional balance. Layers of fruit built to the huge, textured finish. This is a decidedly flashy wine. I have always had a soft spot for the 1997. This bottle more than exceeded my expectations. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. Wine Advocate #201, Jun 2012

1997 Castello Fonterutoli Siepi

Created from a mixture of Sangiovese and Merlot grapes harvested in the Siepi vineyard, which is situated at an altitude of 230 meters (568 feet) and benefits from exceptional climatic and soil conditions. A highly concentrated wine with sweet and dense tannins, it features a unique and original character that is appreciated by wine lovers throughout the world.

1997 Falesco Montiano

(95 points) Proprietor Riccardo Cotarella's 1997 Montiano vino da tavola (100% Merlot, bottled unfined and unfiltered after spending 12 months in new French oak) is fabulous. It displays multiple layers that build in the mouth, exploding at the back of the palate. From its opaque purple color, the huge sweet notes of chocolate, smoke, black fruits, and toast satiate the olfactory senses, yet please the mind's intellectual yearnings. Pure and powerful, yet brilliantly knit together with no hard edges and no sense of high alcohol or heaviness, this sensational wine is one of the finest Merlots made in Italy. Production was 1,000 cases. Anticipated maturity: now-2014. (RP) (8/1999) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

This tasting is $195 Per-person for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Menu

Selection of Cheese: beemster Gouda, Beemster Gouda

Mixed assortment of Crostini:  Meat: Veal, Salami and Pork Belly, Vegetable:  Harpke Farms Heirloom tomato with sage and Roasted Garlic   Fish:  swordfish puttanesca

Wild Boar Stew

Almond and sundried cherry Biscotti with Felsina Vin Santo

Here is a little information about the 1997 vintage from the Wine Advocate:

THE GOLDEN AGE OF ITALIAN WINES?
Issue 130 - August, 2000
Fair or not, for most wine consumers, Italian wines still revolve around two regions, Piedmont and Tuscany. As the following tasting notes indicate, an explosion of interesting wines are emerging from many other areas of Italy, but these two regions dominate that country's wine publicity, and tend to form consumers' views of the vintages. However, they have different grape varietals, and, for the most part, radically different micro-climates, so a great vintage in one region does not necessarily hold true for the other. There is no doubting that after a lousy succession of uninteresting vintages in the early nineties (1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994) for both Piedmont and Tuscany, things have turned decidedly in favor of both consumers and producers.
Piedmont has had an unprecedented succession of four terrific vintages. 1995 initially seemed like a very good vintage, but now looks to be merely an above average quality year when compared to the four vintages that follow. 1996 is a stunning vintage for Barolo and Barbaresco, producing wines of classic strength, power, and ageability. While vintage comparisons are always difficult, it appears to be a modern day clone of such years as 1989, 1978, and 1971. The finest wines are powerful, backward, deep, and will be impressively long-lived. 1997 is a freakish vintage given the fact that the wines are opulent, low in acidity, and flamboyant, with high levels of glycerin, color, and alcohol. Both consumers and connoisseurs of Nebbiolo will love these offerings, which are as flashy/ostentatious as Nebbiolo can be. Barbera can also be unbelievably stunning in 1997. These wines will be gorgeous to drink young, but no one should discount their excellent aging potential. 1998 and 1999 are both shaping up well, although I have yet to complete my comprehensive tastings. While the 1998s appear to be less concentrated than the 1997s and 1996s, they are elegant, symmetrically-balanced efforts with more depth than the 1995s, but not the power and massiveness of the 1996s, or the opulence and voluptuous textures of the 1997s. They are more typical of the region as well as extremely consistent throughout all areas of Piedmont. It is too early to get a handle on the 1999 vintage, except for the bevy of Dolcettos that have been released. However, after talking to the producers and seeing the quality of the Dolcettos, I feel this vintage will come closer to 1997 than 1996 or 1998. The wines are hugely colored, high in alcohol, rich in glycerin, and almost bizarre in terms of their super-ripeness and jammy voluptuous characteristics. It looks to be a very exciting vintage.
Tuscany enjoyed a very fine vintage in 1990, followed by mediocre, irregular vintages in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994. Even 1995, which was considered a top notch vintage at the time, looks to be good to very good, but the wines' high levels of astringent tannin continue to provide worries about their future. 1996 is mixed in Tuscany, and not close to the level of quality achieved in Piedmont. However, as in almost every viticultural region north of Rome, 1997 is a spectacular vintage in Tuscany. Having completed almost all the tastings of the major 1997s from Tuscany, I can unequivocally state that this is the greatest Tuscan vintage I have ever tasted. It surpasses 1985. 1998 is more typical and classical, with less ostentatious and voluptuous wines. Throughout the region the wines are successful, with very strong efforts from the Bolghieri area on the Tuscan coastline. It appears that 1999 will be a spectacular vintage for Tuscany, with some of the Brunello di Montalcino producers claiming it is the finest vintage in history.
Other areas of Italy have enjoyed stunning vintages in 1997, and very good vintages in 1998 and 1999, particularly Umbria and Campania. In Veneto, the 1997s are extremely impressive.
The Explosion of Quality
Combine the recent top vintages experienced by virtually all of Italy's top viticultural areas with the emergence of more producers committed to making high quality wine, and the result is a veritable explosion of top-notch offerings. This is particularly evident in the wines from Sicily, Sardinia, and southern Italy (i.e., Apulia, Puglia, and Abruzzo). The emergence of good efforts from the hinterlands has given the consumer a veritable smorgasbord of good values, and, occasionally, world class wines.
The Strong American Dollar
Readers should not discount the great buying opportunity that exists. The dollar is at its strongest point vis à vis the Italian lira in fifteen years, which often translates into very reasonable prices for Italy's less prestigious wines. Furthermore, the combination of a strong dollar, the qualitative movement, and Mother Nature's benevolence of providing top-notch vintages all work in favor of the wine consumer.
Influence Makers
One of the ironies with respect to Italian wine is that many of the most influential people behind the movement for high quality Italian wines are Italian. Of course, for the most part the producers are Italian, but I am referring to the finest importers and brokers of Italian wine. The irony is that with respect to French wine, most of the cutting edge work to date has been done by Americans. Witness the efforts of Paris-based American broker Peter Vezan, and high quality American importers such as Robert Haas (Vineyard Brands), David Hinkle (North Berkeley Imports), Robert Kacher (Robert Kacher Selections), Fran Kysela (Kysela Père et Fils), Dan Kravitz (Hand Picked Selections), Kermit Lynch (Kermit Lynch Selections), Don Quattlebaum (New Castle Imports), Neal Rosenthal (Neal Rosenthal Select Vineyards), Abdulla Simon (Châteaux and Estates), Eric Solomon (European Cellars), and Peter Weygandt (Weygandt-Metzler). Oddly enough, only a few French nationals have significantly influenced the sales of high quality French wines to the United States at the import level. They include Alain Junguenet (Wines of France), Patrick Lesec, a Paris-based broker, Martine Saunier (Martine's Wines), and Gérard Yvernault (Kobrand). In Italy, most of the cutting edge work has been done by Italian-Americans. These include Leopoldo Bisio (Vias), Leonardo Locascio (Winebow), Dominic Nocerino (Vinifera), and perhaps the biggest influence maker in Italy, the Italian-American broker, Marc di Grazia (Marc de Grazia Selections). Add to them the work being done by Seth Allen (Vin Divino), Steven Berardi (Elizabeth Imports), Neal Empson, a New Zealander, (Empson USA), and some of the large national import firms such as Rémy Amerique, Kobrand, Palm Bay, and Paterno, who have long championed the virtues of Italian wine. This is hardly an exclusive list, but the fact is, consumers have never had it so good!
Lastly, it is impossible to measure the enormous influence of two wine producers, Piedmont's Angelo Gaja and Tuscany's Piero Antinori. Both men have long pursued the road less traveled - the path of quality, innovation, and courageous experimentation. They are an inspiration to all of those who care about the quality of wines we consume.
In summary, all of this adds up to a singular opportunity to purchase the finest wines from Italy ... at a time that wine historians may look back on as Italy's Golden Age.
—Robert Parker