2019 Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore

Community Tasting Note

sfwinelover1 Likes this wine:

94 Points

Thursday, November 16, 2023 - One off ($89.99) from Costco several months ago. On the nose and palate, mild to moderate notes of black currants, blackberries, plums and to a lesser extent, black cherries, earthy herbality, cedar, and lighter notes of anise, tobacco and forest floor. Impenetrably purple black, medium to full bodied, medium legs. Racy acidity, potent but not inhospitable tannins, no heat. Good+ complexity, VG+ persistence and intensity. It had been a NY resolution of sfwl to try to drink more young cabs and BDX blends (I mean, for me at this point, 2013 is a young wine), but as we approach the end of this year, I only seem to have incrementally tried to do so, and in the case of this particular bottling, have done so because, after paying what had seemed to be a surprisingly high price for this—until I comparison shopped and noticed everywhere else was even worse—I stumbled onto 3 improperly priced bottles ($50@!), and I was curious, if skeptical, to try this in light of TNs. My results were mixed, incrementally better than expected, if a bit less than could have been hoped. This is pretty shy and primary off the pour, with the fruit mostly hiding behind the tannins and acidity, even if the end product isn’t displeasing. It took a full 3.5 hours on night #1 for this to really come out, and even then, this felt a lot closer to the Rauzan Segla than the Ovid of the past week (or even a Guado or an Ornellaia for that matter). This continued to deepen and soften on night #2 so that, like the Rauzan, the last glass was solidly best, approaching if not at a 95. Still, I have no doubt that this cuvees bottling’s best days are still to come, probably 5+ years out, and I’d encourage those holding, unless you have multiple bottles, to put these somewhere cool and dark with mondo trazadone and let them settle into a good sleep. Much more of a food wine at this point—as it may or may not be in the future—this was quite great with spaghetti and meatballs, not so much with sushi (before you nominate me for the year’s dumbest pairing, know that I had a half bottle of this going into the sushi, which hadn’t been planned, and an early flight this (11/17) morning, and I had no intention of burning the remainder, let alone uncorking a new bottle of white). The scores for this wine seem to be taking potential into account more than where it is now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if my score rises a couple of points in the years to come. 93-94++

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14 comments have been posted

Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

11/18/2023 6:06:00 PM - Off topic but have you tried any of the Produttori del Barbaresco 2015 Riservas?
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

11/18/2023 7:45:00 PM - I haven’t. Don’t think I’ve had any of theirs since the ‘10s, which I like, but can I confess to liking Barolos over Barbarescos almost always, even though I like that producer? Btw, on the subject of ‘15, my sis plied me with a Haut Baillly of that vintage tonight, will write up in the next day or 2. Why is everyone trying to convince me to drink more BDX? Cheers!
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

11/18/2023 7:47:00 PM - I’m much more of a BDX fan as you know. 60% of my cellar. Haut Bailly is outstanding. The 15 won’t be close to being ready to drink.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

11/18/2023 8:07:00 PM - Had several ‘10 Rauzan Seglas with my client-friend last weekend. That and the HB were both really good, around where I rated this Grattamacco, but all 3 were blown away, for my tastes, by the earlier in the week ‘08 Ovid. Cue Cheap Trick playing, “I’m a California Man”. Different strokes, ne c’est pas?
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

11/18/2023 8:29:00 PM - As a motorcycle guy we always say..It doesn’t matter what you ride as long as you ride. Same with wine. We all like different things and everybody should drink what they like. No issues. All wine is good. Some are just better than others. Cheers !!
Comment posted by Mark1npt:

12/3/2023 5:14:00 AM - sf, nice note here! I've been tempted on many occasions to try these but always shied away thinking it would need 10 years to be ready. Don't know why but I have a lot less faith in decanting Italians than I do Cali or Bdx. Like you I've seen some great pricing on these and that made me pause, wondering, what's wrong with them? Now, I wish I'd picked up a couple of these......
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

12/3/2023 8:38:00 AM - Mark, I find aeration usually works, but sometimes it takes forever (see my note for the ‘18 Montrose), and you may have to watch carefully as the wine may go flat or even ball back up afterward, wherever it’s from. This is worthwhile at what I paid for it, and it’s pretty hard to find it for less, but it’s a screamer at what I paid for the other 3 bottles from BWG, which they acknowledged was a mistake, while honoring my price (their other bottles have been priced at $99.99). Cheers!
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

12/3/2023 10:07:00 AM - I have 4 bottles of the 16 I paid $72 for from GrandVins Wine Merchants. Haven’t tried it yet. I didn’t buy more because the price kept going higher.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

12/3/2023 10:12:00 AM - I’m far from expert on this, but it seemed like Napa started the upward price spiral about 5 years ago, then France and Italy joined in a couple of years after. In terms of the latter, some of our trade policies probably aggravated this. Anyway, for those of us for whom price is definitely a consideration, it puts more of a premium than ever on careful shopping.
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

12/3/2023 10:21:00 AM - Careful shopping is for sure a key for me especially given so many wines are so modern now. It also depends on what Countries wines you prefer. I always migrate to comparing to Bordeaux. 1st World problems.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

12/3/2023 10:33:00 AM - For sure. When I contemplate whether an Abreu is worth $100 more than an Ovid, I realize how ridiculously fortunate I am compared to 99.9% of others. Always good to keep in mind, especially around this time of year, wherever you are on the political spectrum, IMO.
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

12/3/2023 10:41:00 AM - I’ve rarely had a $200 wine that was twice as good as a $100 wine. Probably why I have no $200 wines in my cellar. Is the 15 Cos or Ducru twice as good as Pontet Canet? Probably not. There are many reasons people buy wines and people should buy and drink what they want. I could have an entire cellar of 1st Growth Bordeaux if I wanted. So could most of the folks here. I just choose more reasonable options. I haven’t been able to impress my wife for years so spending more on wine won’t make her more impressed with me LOL.
Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

12/3/2023 11:01:00 AM - And, in fact, unless your wife is a fellow wine geek, it may have exactly the opposite effect, in my experience . . .
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

12/3/2023 11:08:00 AM - She loves wine but thinks I spend to much on it already. 😜