2001 Contrade di Taurasi Cantina Lonardo Taurasi Riserva
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The 2001 Taurasi Riserva is off the charts. This dense, sumptuous Taurasi almost has enough sheer extract to cover the tannins. Almost. The fruit here is dark, jammy and super-ripe, but also perfectly balanced with the wine's structural components. With some time in the glass signature notes of tar, smoke, licorice, leather and minerals appear, rounding out this massively constituted Taurasi. Here too, patience is the key, but readers will not be disappointed. This is striking juice.
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Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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The 2000 Taurasi Riserva saw an unheard of four months of maceration on the skins followed by a year in tank and 18 months in oak. It is a generous, complex Taurasi endowed with a multitude of smoke, leather, wild herb and mineral aromas that complement its core of plush fruit. Even though it is a massively structured wine it is also relatively approachable for a Taurasi and should be ready to go fairly soon.
The estate's 2001 Taurasi Riserva is best left alone for a minimum of a few years although it will be hard to resist, especially if opened several hours prior to serving. The wine explodes from the glass in a stunning display of sheer force. Violets, black cherries, earthiness, ash, dried, cured meat, mint and licorice all make an appearance in this awesome, authoritative Taurasi. This is a wine that will leave lovers of classically-built, old-style wines hankering for another taste. Like the 2000 Riserva, it saw four months of maceration on the skins followed by a year in tank and 18 months in oak. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2026. I was delighted to discover the pure, bold wines of Cantine Lonardo. This small, family-run estate makes just 10,000 bottles from its four hectares of vineyards. These classically built wines see extended periods of maceration on the skins and are aged in 600-liter French oak barrels, of which 30% are new. The wines are neither fined nor filtered prior to being bottled and can therefore throw off some sediment which readers may not be used to in younger wines. Importer: Doug Polaner, Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404