Oct. 29, 2007
Tenuta Casabianca
Toscana IGT
Merlot, Cabernet, Sangiovese
Murlo (Siena) Italy
2001
13.5%
$25? – Weaver St. Market, Chapel Hill, NC
Color: Beautiful deep cherry red, tinged brown at the edge
Nose: Meaty, spicy strawberry
Body: Medium—not heavy, but not thin
Front: A little fruit--cassis
Middle: Fuzzy and tannic
Back: Leathery, blackberryish
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Long cork
This one takes time to open up. It’s all old world leather and tannin, with three distinct stages of structural unfolding and an awesome shift in mouthfeel from watery to tannic to chewy. It’s not great with salty cheese, interestingly—but something medium would be good. As it sits open, it gets better: cherry enters the front of the taste, a little wood and vanilla enter the nose, and the end of the taste gets more rounded and soft.
