Good Friday Wine

The title here is somewhat of a play on words because this was really an excellent Friday wine that just happened to get opened on Good Friday.

This was my last bottle of the 1995 Fontodi Chianti Classico Riserva, Vigna del Sorbo. The color was beginning to turn on the edges from red to reddish umber (Sienna?) but the body of the wine was still dark red. The nose was bright, tart cherries, smoke, and some dried herbs. The taste was mouth filling with the cherries, tasting darker than the nose promised. The oak was totally integrated and gave the slight smokiness to the wine. The finish was long and ended with just a bit of the smoke on the back of the palate. This was like Chianti meets Burgundy and it was an outstanding wine. It lasted throughout the evening with only the least bit of fading. There is one more glass left for later today.

It rather overshadowed the small steak and the mushroom tortellini, not that I minded with this wine.

There was a reason that I opened this wine. There was an on-line sale and one of the loss leaders in this sale was the 2004 vintage of this wine at more than 50% off the price I've seen on it locally. The merchant is a reputable one that I've dealt with in the past and they were even offering free shipping. What more was there to do but order three bottles. I doubt that any of them will see their thirteenth birthday as the last 1995 bottle did.