Some time ago I spoke with my friend Dr. Renzo Cotarella, managing director of Marchesi Antinori s.p.a., since every now and then we meet for dinner to talk and to taste new wines or new vintages of the wines they produce. Last time Renzo invited me to dinner at Luciano Ghinassi’s Florentine restaurant La Buca Lapi. I have known Luciano for a few decades and have followed him to all the restaurants he has had.
On the evening of the dinner Luciano told me: “I started working right at Buca Lapi, I was a kid, together with Giorgio Pinchiorri. I owned several restaurants until about 30 years ago I bought the restaurant that baptized me into the world of catering”.
Luciano is a perfectionist, his products are top quality, he usually cooks meat, but sometimes he cooks fish, which he proposes off the menu, needless to say that when he proposes fish, the dishes, as they say, are mouth-watering.
Let’s go back to the evening. Also invited to this friendly evening were Sergio Antonini and Leonardo Grint, a friend of Renzo, a person not working in the world of wine but a lover of excellent wines. Renzo brought the Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2012, mindful of the fact that I really like it, the Badia a Passignano 2019 and the Solaia 2019.
Badia a Passignano, 100% Sangiovese, in a new guise because up until this vintage, in recent years, at least for me, the wine was a little too influenced, I would say conditioned by the wood and therefore the fruity notes on the nose were hidden by the mint and chocolate, typical of a somewhat invasive wood.
Fortunately Renzo, an immensely competent person, decided to replace the Hungarian wooden barriques with Tonneaux (double barriques lit. 450) of French wood. The result was seen immediately because the wine has fruity notes on the nose and the tannins are not drying to the taste as in the past. In response to my observations, Renzo told me that I am at the beginning of this change. This pleased me because the new Badia a Passignano has once again become a pleasant wine for me. As for Solaia 2019, I can confirm that it is at great levels. It is a wine that I have always loved. In recent years Solaia has reached very high levels even if I remember well and with pleasure the vintages 1997, 1994, 2001 and 2007. The vintages 2015 (100/100), 2016 (100/100) and 2018 (98/100). Obviously at the beginning of the evening I was very curious to hear about these wines. Luciano offered us his menu, as always I chose his excellent ribollita and a veal loin, excellent with white beans and roasted potatoes, to end with his fantastic apple pie. Aldo Fiordelli, a journalist and friend who is an expert in cooking and wine, in his book on Florentine steak, considered Luciano’s steak to be the best in Florence. Going to dinner at the “Buca Lapi” is always a great joy to share with friends like this evening. As regards the width of the tannin, it is important that you make the following clarifications, so that it can be understood. I feel the tannin of the wine on the upper gum. The total width of the tannin is 6/6, i.e. the entire width of the upper gum. Obviously, if the tannin is less wide, it could be for example 5/6 and so on. The width of the tannin is important when the quality of the same is of a good or high level. If the tannin is wider, the wine is more worthy of attention, but the tannin, as I specified, must in any case be of good quality.
Let’s now go on to describe the wines tasted.
Now we come to the tasting notes of the wines of the evening.PERRIERE JOUET BELLE EPOQUE, vintage 2012
(Grapes: 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot noir e 5% Pinot meunier)
Shiny golden yellow with slight gray-green reflections.
The bubbles are fine and quite numerous. The olfactory examination highlights flint and brackish. Followed by aromas of juicy thigh pear, white flowers among which anemones stand out, blond leather, cotton starch, mineral smoke, both ripe and dry banana. Slightly pastry finish and salted grilled almond. On the palate the bubble is fine and caressing. Sapidity and minerality accompany notes of lemon, yellow grapefruit and thigh pear. The body is moderately medium, set on elegance rather than power. Thanks to sapidity, minerality and generous but dosed freshness, the wine is perfectly balanced, not making you feel the alcoholic mass, not even with the imagination. Its delicate but present persistence is long with a mineral and citrus finish of lemon and yellow grapefruit right away. (96/100)
MARCHESI ANTINORI
BADIA A PASSIGNANO, vintage 2019
Chianti Classico D.O.C.G.
Great selection
(Grapes: 100% Sangiovese)
Ruby red color with slight purple textures. Olfactory mix made of pleasant fruity aromas of fresh plum and cherry, glaze of varnish, black pepper, nutmeg, mint, eucalyptus, hints of boisè, licorice, chocolate, to finish with final references of peeled tomato. This last perfume feels good even when the glass is empty.
When tasted it reveals a medium dosed body and a perfect balance between alcohol and freshness, while the tannins are wide (6/6 -), sweet, initially silky and then slightly dry the upper gum.
Its gustatory persistence is long with a finish of light wood and violet.
Resting in the bottle will help the wine lose some of its boisé taste. (93/100)
MARCHESI ANTINORI
SOLAIA, vintage 2019
(Grapes: 75% Cabernet sauvignon, 16% Sangiovese e 9% Cabernet Franc)
Intense purple colour.
The olfactory approach reveals aromas of mint, eucalyptus, boisé, Tuscan cigar tobacco, pea skin, blackberry, cassis, laurel, chocolate, internal white part of watermelon, black pepper, candied cherry and vegetable leather (it is the worked leather that looks like the sweet of the leather).
On the palate it has a medium body that is not powerful but fine and elegant.
Well balanced wine with freshness dominating the alcoholic mass.
The tannins are sweet, wide (6/6) initially silky and then slightly dry the upper gum (exuberance of wood tannins). Flavor of mint, chocolate and boisé that remains throughout its long persistence. (96/100)
Wonderful evening for company, food and wine. Those are the evenings that stay in your heart.
