Michele Moschioni, Pignolo, Friuli Colli Orientali

Getting up in years, but still enjoyable. Dark, plummy and roasted red fruits with solid acid. Glad I got to try a Pignolo.

Aerated to decanter 90 minutes. Firmly in a secondary stage, this is wildly complex at hour 3, with exceptional balance, and rustic elegance, if that makes any sense. Soil-filled finish goes on and on. Love it. 100% Pignolo. highly recommended https://www.ItalianWine.blog

Aged for a year in barriques, followed by whopping 4 years of aging in oak botti casks, bottling and remaining in bottles for another year in bottles before release. 15% alcohol. Brooding, dark-toned and basically fully opaque black cherry color with a hint of developed maroon hue. The nose feels robust and somewhat rustic with dry aromas of wizened black cherries, some vague meaty notes of cooked organs, a little bit of sweet blackcurrant marmalade, a developed hint of beef …

PnP; modest Shiraz-like vegetal bouquet. The palate however was something else to behold: bold, smokey rich fruit, tobacco, cocoa and what I can only describe as a caramelized anise note underlying a long finish - truly unique and outstanding.

Double decanted, with a lot of aeration. Notes from day two. Deep garnet color and a bit cloudy. A reluctant nose of dark fruit and earth. Complex and rich dark fruit on the full-bodied palate with relatively low acids but considerable tannins. A substantial and impressive wine that may improve with further age and should still be drinking well at 20 years.

This is wine is quite a mouthful and is very idiosyncratic. Predominantly ripe to dried to overripe black currant, black plum and black cherry, with some dried herbs. Some tasters found a somewhat contradictory herbal and vegetal component - and some found a touch of volatile acidity. There's a grounding overlay of earthy components and baking spice on the finish. The tannins are still medium (+), the acidity is medium to medium (+). The alcohol is high at 15.8%, although …

Friday Night Double Blind Semi-Mondo $80+ (Bin 75) : Intensely black core with browning rim; tobacco and dark fruit on the nose; tannic and brooding, dark fruit, not very expressive, very low acid; reminds me of Sagrantino that is harsh and unrelenting...which will not improve with age; its placement in the lineup hurt this showing but this was the overall consensus amongst the group.

Nice. Tannic on the front end and nice finish with complex fruit. Will be better in a decade.

Sunday Wine Lunch Group does Italian (Donato Enoteca, Redwood City, California) : Opaque black red violet color; tobacco, charcoal, tart black fruit, tar nose; very tannic, tight, tart black fruit, charcoal, tar palate, reminiscent of a big Petite Sirah; long finish 92+ pts. (had been decanted for 3 1/2 hours; needs 6-8 years)

Impressive wine. Ruby red. Smoke, dark fruit, earth & tobacco on the nose. Elegant structure and tannins throughout. Had this with porcini gnocchi. The earthiness of the wine held firm with the dish. Lasting finish with continued to develop in the glass. Those that read my TN's know I'm stingy with the scores. This wine was one for the ages.

Wine Watch Best of 2008 Tasting (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) : My favorite wine of the tasting among some pretty strong competition. Rich, dark fruit yet with a nimble texture and nice structure with depth and layers of flavor. Medium to full body with low acidity. One of those where fruit meets complexity and elegance which is a marriage I love.