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WBW #42 Just Seven Words: Marchesi Alfieri La Tota 2005


"Better than 2004's -- now I taste oak!"

San Martino, Alfieri, Italia. 13.5% <-- half a percent less alcohol than the 2004.

(Thanks to Andrew at Spittoon for this great great idea. I haven't participated in the last few events for WBW and hadn't really planned on contributing -- until I realized this could be my shortest post of all time and a little brevity always has its place . . . except in War and Peace.)

10 comments:

grazza said...

Nice one!! Do you think the oak adds to the enjoyment of the wine?

Marcus said...

Grazza,

I do, but of course, oaking can be done poorly, in which case it very much detracts from wine's enjoyment.

My seven-word review for this 2005 vintage is a bit of cheating because it's a kind of addendum to my review of the 2004 vintage, which I linked to:

"An oak presence, I would hazard, is quite a nice thing for a Barbera. It seems to me that Barbera -- a rustic, often abrasive, frequently light-bodied varietal -- stands to gain a lot from oak's softening tannins and smoothing vanilla."

I really thought the 04 was done in stainless steel. The 05 clearly isn't and immediately I preferred it. Didn't taste them back to back of course, so I'm sure there are other differences but this is the one that really struck me.

Nicolas Ritoux said...

Guten Abend, Doktor Weingolb :)

Congratulations for your seven-worder. And thank you for the precision; oak is not really an indication of anything. It can have the best and the worst results, doesn't it?

I quoted your 7-word review on the Vinismo article about that wine. Feel free to add to it if you want!

-niko

Andrew said...

Allowable I think, many thanks says me

David McDuff said...

Mine's shorter, Marcus! My posting, that is.... I went for seven all around. A seven word title (if you don't count the WBW 42 tag), a seven word acrostic poem and two seven word credit sentences.

Good to see you back in WBW action.

RougeAndBlanc said...

Welcome back, Dok. I have to admit WBW 42 is the best WBW so far. It is so hard to come up with meaning and unique description of a wine in just 7 words, no more and no less.

Joe said...

nice choice - I have been meaning to try this one...looks like the '06 at SAQ is a half percent lower.

Kelly said...

Well done Marcus!!

Marcus said...

Niko, Andrew and David,

Each of you is more clever than the last one. Vinismo is an ambitious and attractive site -- I hope to get visiting with more frequency soon.

Andrew, your WBW was such a hit, right down to the classy 7 word replies to each participant.

David, an acrostic review too? You must win the mind like a steel trap award at all the blogging events.

Marcus said...

RandB, Joe and Kelly,

Thanks for these notes. I feel bad for not visiting your sites, never mind my own, more often than I have been doing. More tasting notes discovered recently so more is on the way!