Forgotten Bottle

The last two days have been spent completely re-cataloging the wine on hand, putting like wines together and entering correct locations in the database.  When all was said and done there were three bottles that seemed to have disappeared and three that seem to have never been entered in the database.  The three that disappeared were more than likely consumed, and none was anything more than an every day wine.

The other side of that coin was a rather nice bottle that never got entered into the database, a 2005 Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco.  I originally entered two bottles as having been purchased and have notes of having consumed one of them, but here was a third bottle. 

Not one to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth we opened it yesterday evening. There was a chicken roasted on the grill and some fresh ricotta gnocchi.  The wine was extremely tannic upon opening but we gave it two hours in a decaanter and that resolved those issues.

There was an intense nose of strawberries, cherries, roses, tar and earth.  This was a wine that I could enjoy just by sniffing it.  There was a lot of fruit in the taste, but this was not a fruit bomb, there was a lot going on underneath that fruit.  There was tannin and acid and a wonderful structure that promises more development.  The finish was wonderfully sweet and long and ended with both acid and tannin.

We finished the wine this evening with some white and wild rice and the remainder of a rack of lamb, reheated in a hot skillet in duck fat.  The nose was still there singing wonderful Italian songs and the wine had in no way faded.  For an entry level Barbaresco this was a tremendous effort and a very fine wine.    $28 and 14% alcohol.