Barolo

Last weekend there was a beef barolo and some polenta to consume, a not so tough job.  It was made less tough by the choice of wine, a 1998 Luciano Sandrone Cannubi Boschis Barolo.

Three hours before eating the wine was decanted. It was tight and closed and offered very little in the nose except for the requisite road tar.  A small sip revealed little beyond that tar and some basic fruit taste and a huge tannic bite.  Over the next couple of hours the wine sat, and occasionally swirled in the decanter while we sipped a couple of other wines.

Shortly before eating we poured a small amount into some glasses and swirled.  The wine had come alive with an aroma of fruit and flowers, a little bit of road tar, and warm spice.  It was hard to take my nose out of the glass long enough to drink it.  The taste was totally ripe fruit with cherry flavors and some berries supporting.  Full and lush in the mouth with bits of earth and tar floating by along with cinnamon and a wee bit of nutmeg.  Wonderful acidity.  The tannin in this wine was abundant, but it didn't assault the tongue, it simply wrapped it in a strong embrace and squeezed.  Remarkable length of finish to this wine, it seemed to go on for about a minute.  The tannin and acid at the very end just refreshed the mouth.

With the food the wine was even better as the two played off one another.  A rare treat and one of the better wines I've had in some time.  

Price - quite expensive.   13.5% alcohol.