WINE =======: 1997 Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio
AOC         : DOC
Tasting Date: 2004-08-26
Varietal    : Sangiovese
Score       : 84
Country     : Italy
State       : Tuscany
Region      : Gaiole di Chianti

Notes
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This wine has a lovely amber color and a wonderful scent. It
smells first like alcohol, then like brandied peaches, then
exactly like brown sugar. I would have been very happy if it
had tasted like brown sugar. Mmmm. Instead, it tastes rather
harsh; there are some nice rich velvety fruit flavors, even
a hint of that brown sugar, but they seem overpowered by the
flavor and burn of alcohol, like brandy. This is my first
try of Vin Santo, so I'm not sure if it's supposed to taste
like that or not. But it doesn't seem very sweet for a
dessert wine. I should have wondered at the alcohol level of
17.5%--rather high for a sweet wine. The texture is very
nice, a bit thick and rich in the mouth. It drips down the
side of the glass like a drop of syrup.

Production Notes
----------------
For the Castello wine was used the Sangiovese from the
historic Brolio plantings, with very low yield (39 quintals
of grapes per hectare) and a quality level of rare
excellence. A textbook year contributed decisively to this
success. The Sangiovese used for the Castello di Brolio was
harvested from September 30 to October 6.

Additional Notes
----------------
This was a half-bottle.
Output generated by La Wine Club - http://LaWineClub.com/
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