Azienda Agricola Sordo Giovanni, Castiglione Falletto, 1995.
Found in a rack in the liquor storeroom, below all the Smirnoff flavored vodkas. Covered with dust. Another example of why people stay in the wine business.
Color: beautiful. Indescribable. The glowing russet-brown of autumn oak leaves, as if seen shimmering through crystal. The aroma: Band-aids. (Yuh-oh.) Nail polish remover, faintly. (Yuh-oh. Perhaps I'm imagining things.) The texture: absolute silk in the mouth.
The flavor: cherry compote, albeit old and mature. Leather, faintly. So thin, so delicate, so elegant.
Paired with a chicken risotto, luscious with real chicken broth, olive oil, butter, cheese, and big pieces of chicken meat. My goodness, who knew that the alcohol content of this wine is 13.5 percent? But one must have a second glass, regardless. And then as Lucia would say, voyaging through Italy -- "goodnight, Georgino. Me so, so sleepy. "
P.S. Ought one to have a chocolate doughnut, afterward?
By all means, have that chocolate doughnut - especially if, as I suspect, it's a Wolf's chocolate doughnut.
ReplyDeletePat
The aroma of band-aid and the faint nail polish remover is a bit scary. Surely, you must be imagining things...
ReplyDelete...and a slice of Baracco's pizza would be a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteWhy yes, it was a Wolf's doughnut, and so delicious. And as for the band aid and other off aromas, I wonder if those ideas were in my mind because I recently read Karen MacNeil's rundown, in The Wine Bible, of what you should not taste in a good wine.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's Baracco's pizza ... yes. NOM NOM NOM as all the cool young folks say.