Tasting with Marchese Lodovico Antinori

Dinner at Pierre, tasting a range of wines from Lodovico Antinori's new projects.

2008 Mount Nelson Sauvignon Blanc - nose of minerals, a little pipi de chat, toasty and a bit of muscat.  Fairly ripe on the palate with good acidity balance.  As always, a very refreshing drink.

2007 Il Pino di Biserno - very ripe and jammy, fruity, cassis, herbs, sweet and almost bubblegum.  Lots of concentration here.  This wine was showing beautifully tonight, and the display of opulence meant it was probably drinking best among all the reds.

2007 Biserno - concentrated, more reserved than Il Pino, minty, smoky, toffee, and much later sweet coconut butter.  Very silky tannins but they are definitely there.  Nice, long finish.

2007 Lodovico - I had the privilege of tasting this wine with Lodovico before its release last year.  At the time Lodovico asked me not to name it in the blog, so I called it a "mystery wine".  I was totally blown away, and the wine was so young back then!  Tonight the nose was a bit ripe, concentrated and alcoholic.  But it was more muted and definitely not as open.  A second batch was opened during dinner, which was smoky and alcoholic.  Lodovico was disappointed in Lodovico - pun fully intended - but there's always going to be bottle variation...  I'm not worried, though... since I've got bottles stashed away that I'll wait to open over the next decade or more.

2000 Baron Bornemisza Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos - honey, apricot, marmalade, plastic, dates, and concentrated grapes.  Very sweet as expected, since this was a 6 puttonyos.

Full post on dinner is here.