Three old Italian wines from different vintages, producers, and regions

Lou and I met up to try a trio of wines which, besides being old and Italian, had nothing in common.  Our first wine, 1967 Anton Lindner, Eppaner Justiner Auslese, Alto-Adige, was a dead-ringer on the nose for a Vintage or Tawny Port.  It is quite aromatic, suggesting strong potential but ultimately a let down in terms of flavor.  Our next two wines proved more interesting.

The 1968 Castello di Drugolo Lonato, Riviera del Garda Rosso Superiore, Lombardy is most likely a blend of Gropello and several other varieties including Barbera and Sangiovese.  I cannot find much specific to this wine other than the vineyards are located near Lake Garda.  It is an flavorful wine, from a vintage unknown to me.  It is attractively pungent on the nose with bloody, meaty, animale flavors.  Despite the tense start, it plumped up a bit becoming a bit short and soft by the finish.  I am curious to try better vintages (if they exist) of this wine.

How tickled I am to note the Cabernet Sauvignon like nature of the 1964 Azienda Agricola Ca Loredan-Gasparini, Montello e Colli Asolani Venegazzu Rosso, Veneto only to find it is one of the components.   I should also write that two years ago I enjoyed a more recent vintage from 2011.  Conte Loredan Gasparini planted his estate in Venegazzu with French varieties during the 1930s.  This bottling is not the Riserva dell Casa etichetta bianca, so the exact blend is not known to me but it is safe to write it has at least Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot with potential for Malbec and or Petit Verdot.  This is surely an early modern example of a successful Italian Bordeaux blend.  It could stand a bit more fruit at this age but that would not stop me from trying other vintages.

I remember commenting that my ideal wine, from this evening, would be a blend of the Drugolo with the Loredan-Gasparini.  I am kicking myself for not trying the actual blend!

1967 Anton Lindner, Eppaner Justiner Auslese, Alto-Adige
Imported by T. Elenteny.  Alcohol 12.5%.  A light, garnet-black color.  Sweet, vintage Port-like aromas with sweet fruit that become more like tawny Port with air.  Clean flavors in the mouth, still a fine texture of tannins and tart acidity.  The nose offers much more. * Drink up.

1968 Castello di Drugolo Lonato, Riviera del Garda Rosso Superiore, Lombardy
Imported by T. Elenteny.  Alcohol 12%.  A deep, good color of mahogany-garnet.  Slightly sweaty and pungent on the nose with dark soil.  A tense start with watering acidity carrying the wine through the drier, structured finish.  The tannins are attractive, lending texture.  With air the flavors turn bloody and meaty with an animale finish and chalky aftertaste.  It leaves fleeting notes of gentle, old wood.  **(*) Now but will last.

1964 Azienda Agricola Ca Loredan-Gasparini, Montello e Colli Asolani Venegazzu Rosso, Veneto
Imported by T. Elenteny.  Alcohol 13%.  Aromas of earth with some sweet, wood box notes.  Structured with wood tannins yet fresh and juicy in the mouth.  The wine is in a framed style, like a structured Cabernet Sauvignon, but is still balanced by tart acidity and firm black cherry flavor.  With some air there is more lift to the red fruit.  **(*) Now but will last.

A Fine Surprise: 1974 Trefethen Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon

The Trefethen family moved to Napa Valley in 1968 where they acquired several small farms to form a single wine estate.  After the inaugural vintage of 1973, Trefethen Vineyards soon became known as a small producer of fine wines.  Thanks to Carole Hicke’s interview of Janet and John Trefethen in 1997, we know just how remarkable it is that the 1974 Trefethen Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley I recently enjoyed remains a fine wine to this day.

Janet and John Trefethen planned their marriage around their very first crush in 1973.  John had made wine on a private scale in 1971 and 1972 but the 1973 vintage, produced at the 19th century Eschol Ranch winery, was their first commercial effort.  Built in 1886, the winery had last been used for storage in the 1940s and for producing wine even further back, perhaps the 1920s.  When the Trefethen’s purchased the property in 1968, the winery still had dirt floors and stood in the middle of 280 acres of mass producing grape vines.  For the first vintage, they cemented over part of the ground floor, brought in a press and had storage for some 2,000 gallons of wine.  Curious enough, Domaine Chandon was located on the second floor!

There were just 25 wineries in Napa Valley when the Trefethen’s arrived.  Between 1968 and 1973, they replanted the vineyard.  For the 1973 vintage, they produced 2,000 cases of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  In 1974, they added in Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon.  1974 turned out to be an excellent vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon and it  caught the eye of Harry Waugh.  He purchased a stock of it to be served on the Queen Elizabeth II.

This bottle had good fill and deep color.  In the glass it was in fresh condition, developing with air and proving to be an enjoyable drink.  It is rounded and balanced, confidently mature with bottle aged flavors yet still offering cherry fruit.  This is a remarkable achievement given that this is the first release of Cabernet Sauvignon.

1974 Trefethen Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Alcohol 13.5%.  An aromatic wine, herbaceous with a touch of roast.  Fresh in the mouth with a rounded edge to the flavors which are carried by fresh, watering acidity.  It is saline with old wood notes mixing with cherry fruit and baking spices.  It is quite solid with air for it proves satisfying and does not crack up.  *** Now but will last.

A pair of 1960s Oleggio and Beccaro from Alto Piemonte

On a dark December night, Sudip and I tried two old bottles of wine from the Novara-Vercelli hills of Alto Piemonte, home to such wines as Gattinara and Ghemme.  I can find little on the 1961 Cantina Sociale Cooperativa di Oleggio, Vino Vecchia Collina Riserva.  It probably has a base of Spanna with some amount of Bonarda and Vespolina, all three of which were certainly blended together for our second wine.  We know more about the 1964 Armando Beccaro, Vino Mesolone since this Mesolone was solely made by Armando Beccaro and son, of whom Mario Soldati recounted his visit in “Vino al Vino.”

The Oleggio has promise with its attractive and pervasive earthy note which matches its vinous nature.  Perhaps in a vintage like 1964, if it sports more fruit, then the acidity will be balanced out.  For now this is a solid table wine to consume with a meal.  The Beccaro opens up with air.  Regarded as a full-bodied wine in its youth, the dense, sweet flavors of fruit compote come out, anchoring the wine with pleasure as wood-box notes and spices add to the pleasure.  It is a successful blend, showing a profile different than that of pure Spanna, and definitely a wine I would be happy to drink again.

1961 Cantina Sociale Cooperativa di Oleggio, Vino Vecchia Collina Riserva
Imported by T. Elenteny.  Alcohol 12.5%.  Earthy at first.  Fresh menthol flavors in the mouth with tart acidity driving earthy red fruit into a vinous, old bottled aged wine middle.  The fruit is sweeter in the finish, likewise the attractive earthy note is longish in the aftertaste.  A solid wine whose acidity is taking over the flavors.  ** Now.

1964 Armando Beccaro, Vino Mesolone
Imported by T. Elenteny. A blend of roughly 50% Spanna, 30% Bonarda, and 20% Vespolina exclusively from family vines.  It was fermented for three weeks then racked once a year until it was bottled in the third or fourth year. Alcohol 13%.  A fresh nose with menthol notes.  This builds sweetness with air forming a sweet, fruity middle with a wood box finish.  A mid-weight wine, it is mixed with spices which become slightly spicy by the finish.  It responds well with air becoming dense in the middle with a compote of sweet, textured fruit extract.  *** Now.

Holiday Time Wine: 1977 Dessert Wines from California

I have become swamped with work and despite a lack of posting, I have still managed to drink some interesting wines this fall.  The 1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery, Late Harvest Zinfandel, Amador County is a fine find.  Founded in 1974, Monterey Peninsula Winery soon developed award winning Zinfandel from a county which became synonymous for the variety.  Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Nathan Chroman found the group of Zinfandels submitted at the 1976 Los Angeles Fair the finest in its history.  This included the 1974 vintage of the wine we tried.  Chroman found this “high-alcohol” or “late-harvest” style of wine a great success due to their balance with the alcohol.  Indeed, that is a quality which persists with the 1977 vintage to this day.

A lack of balance with alcohol is the affliction of the 1977 JW Morris Port Works, California Vintage Port.  Founded in 1975, JW  Morris Port Works soon ran into problems with capital and was sold off to the Toth family in 1983.  Morris bought Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel from 70 year old vines in Black Mountain as the basis for his ports.  In 1986, the Toth’s still had a stock of the 1977 Port which had been aged in wood for 6 1/2 years.  They planned on releasing it as the first of the Late Bottled Ports.  The goal was to produce a smoother drinking port without “the ‘hot’ alcoholic qualities” of the younger ports.  Perhaps the wine we tried had issues from the very beginning.

1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery, Late Harvest Zinfandel, Amador County
Alcohol 17.8%.  The nose is a dead-ringer for a classic, less-sweet tawny port.  Ample, fruity flavors with baking spices, and still with fine rugged texture.  A certain robustness yet balanced all around, fine wood flavors…simply a treat.  ***(*)  Now but will last.

1977 JW Morris Port Works, California Vintage Port – half-bottle
Alcohol 20%.  A lovely nose, quite fruity and deep, revealing plentiful leather aromas with air.  In the mouth a fruity start, still youthful and well preserved but out of balance with the spirit.  Becomes hot by the end which I find distracting and a shame given the nose. *(*) Now but will last a long time.